B
ringing and mounting a new production of The Diary of Anne
Frank from Michigan to Arizona in the middle of a pandemic
has been a labor of love of epic proportions, to say the very least.
But with grit and clever resourcefulness, one fiercely determined snow
birder extraordinaire and her small, but mighty, Scottsdale-area team of
friends and relatives were able to make it happen.
For more than 27 years, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) of West
Bloomfield, a nonprofit, has produced The Diary of Anne Frank for stu-
dent audiences in Metro-Detroit — that’s more than 200,000 students
attending a live theatrical performance, some for the very first time.
Shows were held at JET’s former space at the Jewish Community Center
of West Bloomfield and, later, at The Berman Center for Performing
Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts, sponsored by
the Nancy and Stephen Grand Support Foundation.
“But what if JET could reach middle-schoolers out-
side of Michigan with this very important story about
the Holocaust?” JET Executive Director Christopher
Bremer would often ask his all-volunteer board of
directors.
“I felt that it was a strong mission — something
that I really believe in — so I raised my hand
and that’s when it all began,
” said Sally Ginn of
Farmington Hills, who has wintered in Phoenix for
the past 30 years.
That was five years ago.
“Truthfully, people told me that it couldn’t be
done. The logistics and money-raising has been
monumental and non-stop,
” said Ginn, who just
wrapped producing the first local Arizona JET pro-
duction of The Diary of Anne Frank at The Scottsdale
Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 11.
By January 2020, Ginn had put her Arizona con-
tacts in motion and was able to have JET’s Detroit
cast of The Diary of Anne Frank flown out to Phoenix
to perform the show for one week to more than
4,300 students.
And then the pandemic hit, and JET pivoted to
having virtual conversations about the life of Anne Frank.
“The students could Zoom in and talk with ‘
Anne’ and understand
what it was like to be in hiding and not being able to come out because
they were quarantining themselves,
” said Bremer, who has been working
at JET since 1999. “Now, with our Arizona production and the Michigan
one coming up at the Berman Center March 7-18, children can once
again experience the human connection of live theater as an art form.
”
continued on page 42
JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER
TOP: The Diary of Anne
Frank, produced by the
Jewish Ensemble Theatre
(JET), was performed at
the Scottsdale Center for
the Performing Arts Jan.
31-Feb. 11, 2022.
BOTTOM LEFT: Ariella
Centeno of Prescott,
Arizona. Her paternal
great-grandparents were
Holocaust survivors.
Now 97 and living in
New York, Erwin Pearl
received the 2015 Anne
Frank Distinguished
Humanitarian Award.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Actors
remained masked at all
times during rehearsals.
Sally Ginn and her team
scoured resale shops
to find authentic set
pieces and props or cre-
ated their own including
this tablecloth made by
Toby Haberman for the
Chanukah scene.
DETAILS
School groups can still purchase tickets to attend The Diary of
Anne Frank at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts at
6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield. Performances are at
10 a.m. Monday-Friday, March 7-18. Tickets are $10/student
and $16/adult, with special financial arrangements available.
There will be one public performance open to everyone
at 10 a.m. Friday, March 18. Reservations must be made for
school groups and individual tickets by calling (248) 788-2900.
MARCH 3 • 2022 | 41