40 | APRIL 2 • 2020 

A 

total of nearly 4,500 
Arizona middle school-
ers of diverse heritages 
watched a dramatization of a 
Jewish middle schooler con-
fronting the Holocaust, and they 
wanted to know more about the 
terrifying times.
These students became the 
first out-of-state audiences to 
see performances of The Diary of 
Anne Frank as staged by Michigan’
s 
Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET). 
In February, the Detroit troupe of 
16 performed the play five times 
at the Madison Center for the Arts 
in Phoenix. Each performance 
included a presentation by two 
Holocaust survivors, along with a 
question-and-answer period.
Student surveys showed 89 per-
cent of those attending remained 
interested in additional facts about 
Anne Frank and the Holocaust, 
and 87 percent felt they had 
changed their minds about feel-
ings toward people of other reli-
gions, races and backgrounds.
“It was so heartening to see all 
these young people — Jewish, 
Christian, Latino and Native 
American — have a shared 
emotional experience and seem 

to bond together because of it,
” 
said Christopher Bremer, JET 
executive director. “Our young 
audiences watched intently and 
asked questions that showed they 
thought about what they learned.
”
JET spent three years raising 
funds — $75,000 to bring the pro-
duction to Arizona — and arrang-
ing for this student experience 
in Phoenix. Instrumental in the 
effort was Sally Ginn, a JET board 
member who divides her time 
between Michigan and Arizona. 
Her ideas and efforts became the 
driving force for putting every-
thing together, Bremer said. Now 
the focus is on future performanc-
es casting actors based in Arizona. 
The Walled Lake-based JET 
has staged The Diary of Anne Frank
more than any other theater com-
pany in the world, bringing the 
play to Michigan schoolchildren 
for 25 years and reaching more 
than 100,000 students. 
Ginn, who had public relations 
and cable production jobs, used 
her skills to engage organizations 
and individuals inside and outside 
the Jewish community to raise 
funds and gain educator interest. 
With the support of the Jewish 

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Theater troupe takes its Anne Frank play and educational 
component on the road.
k
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A
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JET in Phoenix

Arts&Life
theater

JET’S 
2020 SEASON
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the mainstage JET season 
is on hold. Check the website at jettheatre.org or call 
(248) 788-2900 for updates. 

TOP: Students in Phoenix took away an understanding of the suffering 
experienced in the Holocaust by watching JET’
s performances of The Diary 
of Anne Frank. ABOVE: JET’
s Christopher Bremer with Pearl Laufer and 
Katie Egett, both survivors who spoke at JET’
s Anne Frank performances for 
students in Phoenix. 

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