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A new version of "The Diary of Anne Frank' debuts on Broadway.

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to The Jewish News

T

his week, a new adaptation
of The Diary of Anne Frank
took the stage at the Music
Box Theatre in New York
City. But it isn't just a new generation
of Americans who will learn the chil-
ling details about a family in hiding in
Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Even those
who have read and re-read the diary
will gain a fresh perspective on the
confined teen who ultimately died in a
death camp.
"We have taken the 1950s Pulitzer
Prize- and Tony Award-winning play,
added recently released diary entries,
and turned it into a new Diary of
Anne Frank," explains Amy Nederlan-
der-Case, who co-produced the play
with David Stone.
New material — including Anne's

Alice Burdick Schweiger is an Ann
Arbor based freelance writer.

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12/5
1997

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conflicts with her mother, her own
sexuality, her ambitions to become a
writer and go to Hollywood, and her
intense feelings for her Jewish faith —
has been adapted by playwright
Wendy Kesselman. The production is
directed by James Lapine (Into the
Woods, Sunday in the Park with George
and Falsettos).
Originally, the diary was edited by
Anne's father, Otto Frank, the only
surviving member of the family. But
given the times and fresh wounds, he
chose to omit passages that might be
perceived as offensive.
In gathering new material for the
production, Nederlander-Case, 36,
referred to Doubleday's The Diary of A
Young Girl: The Definitive Edition,
which is 30 percent larger than the
original text, and The Diary of Anne
Frank: The Critical Edition, which was
prepared by the Netherlands State
Institute for War Documentation.
"The Critical Edition provides a
complete history of the family, the

people who hid them, and three dif-
ferent editions of Anne's diary," says
Nederlander-Case. "Many people
don't realize three versions exist.
"When [Anne] was in hiding, there
was a radio broadcast asking people to
save their diary to collect eyewitness
accounts. This prompted Anne to
begin editing her diary for publica-
tion. The 800-page Critical Edition
contains Anne's original diary, her
edited version, and the one that was
edited by her father and ultimately
published."
Nederlander flew to Amsterdam to
visit the Van Daan home and secret
annex, where the Frank family hid for
two years. "I was struck by the honesty
of the people I met," recalls Nederlan-
der-Case. "Although the general
impression was that the Dutch were
helpful in hiding Jews, the people I
met said the majority of the Dutch
cooperated with the Nazis. In fact, on /
a percentage basis, more Jews from
Holland were taken away and mur-

dered than anywhere else in Europe."
This Broadway production stars
Natalie Portman as Anne. Portman
was born in Israel and grew up on
Long Island. Her film roles include
Goldie Hawn and Alan Alda's daugh-
ter in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I
Love You and the president's daughter-
in Mars Attacks.
Portman reportedly turned down
the role of Grace in Robert Redford's
The Horse Whisperer and asked direc-
tor George Lucas to reschedule the
filming of the prequel to the Star Wars
trilogy, for which she'd been cast, so
she could star as Anne.
"[The Diary] is not a sad book,
although the end is tragic," Portman
told the New York Times. "It's funny,
it's hopeful, and she's a happy person.
I loved it so much that I began keep-
ing diaries." Portman's grandparents
came to Israel as sole survivors, having
lost their entire families in the Holo-
caust.
The play also stars Linda Lavin as