Opening Tonight: "Anne Frank" at Krannert Center

"The Diary of Anne Frank" is not what you would call normal summer rep fare. The dramatized story of a young girl and her family hiding out from the Nazis during World War II is in turn sweet, sad, funny and tragic, as young Anne grows up a little, writes in her diary, imagines a new world outside the confines of the attic, and always remains the optimistic, curious, clever, insightful girl she was before the horror began.

"Anne Frank" stands apart from the usual musicals, comedies and Shakespeare that fill our summers with its examination of that dark period of world history, as well as its contemplative mood and larger cast. When it opens tonight as the last piece in the University of Illinois Summer Studio Theatre, "Anne Frank" will feature a cast of twelve plus one understudy, mixing two local high school students (Dominique Allen and Max Keagle), three current acting students at U of I (Mark E. Fox, Naomi Mark and Nick Narcissi), two recent grads from U of I (Ethan Gardner and Luke Grimes), three adult actors with connections to the Station Theatre (Sarah Heier, Carolyn Kodes-Atkinson and Lincoln Machula), one Chicago actress (Karen Vaccaro) and one PhD candidate in theater history from U of I (Zachary Ross).

That means there is enough of a range for age-appropriate casting and some interesting interplay among actors with different levels of experience.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" as a play is based on the real diaries of a real Dutch Jewish girl, recording her experiences under the Nazi occupation from 1942 to 1944. Her diaries were published in book form after the war, in the German edition you see at left, and then in English in 1952.

Authors Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett adapted the book into a play for a Broadway production in 1955 featuring Susan Strassberg as Anne; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama that year, as well as the Tony Award for Best Play.

Playwright Wendy Kesselman created a new adaptation in 1997, and it's that second "Anne Frank" that opens tonight at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Lisa Gaye Dixon. The Kesselman take on the Goodrich-Hackett play came to Broadway in December 97, directed by James Lapine, with a then-16-year-old Natalie Portman as Anne and Linda Lavin as Mrs. Van Daan.

Tonight's performance begins at 7:30 pm, and it will be followed by performances on July 6 and 7, 11, 12, 13 and 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, all at 7:30. You can see ticket information and even open a pdf of the program for the Summer Studio production if you click here.

Adventure, Music and Drama at U of I's Summer Studio

The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has announced the selections for this year's Summer Studio Theatre at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Krannert's summer season begins June 1, but tickets go on sale Monday, May 7th, for three shows and one special cabaret offered for only two nights in June.

"Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself)" is first up, opening June 1 in the Studio Theatre. This picaresque adventure is by Donald Margulies, who won a Pulitzer Prize for "Dinner With Friends." "Shipwrecked" couldn't be more different from that realistic look at marital woes and friendship; this one is about a young man, the same Louis de Rougement mentioned in the title, who takes off from London on a ship-board journey, only to encounter a shipwreck, an octopus, an Aborigine romance, and a place back in London as a storyteller of tall tales. With eight performances from June 1 to 22, "Shipwrecked" begins the Summer Studio season.

Then there's "Gone Missing," a collection of songs and sketches based on the lost and not necessarily found. What kind of lost items are we talking about? How about "a black Gucci pump, an uncle’s fortune, Sniffle the doll, Atlantis, a sweetheart’s photo, various body parts. Based on interviews with New Yorkers, this witty musical tracks emotional and philosophical responses to life’s transient pleasures and the many ways we cope." Sounds intriguing, even though I just found the sweater I'd been missing for awhile. Sometimes, there are happy endings (although the missing body parts thing sounds ominous.) "Gone Missing" opens June 7, with ten performances before June 23.

"Gone Missing" was created by the Civilians, who bill themselves as "investigative theater." This piece was written by Steve Cosson, based on interviews conducted by the company, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman.

A two-night cabaret called "Sprung and Awakened" will spring into the Studio Theatre on June 16 and 17, with Paul Johnston on the piano and Kent Conrad offering his vocal stylings on the subject of change. "Using a mixture of biography and invented truths, a series of meditations on the effects of change—real or imagined—are presented through monologue and song," Krannert's press materials tell us.

And the last show for the summer will be "The Diary of Anne Frank," newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman from the 1955 play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, telling the story of a young girl sent into hiding with her family to escape from the Nazis during World War II. Bright, lovely Anne Frank tries to maintain her optimism and hope for the future, even as the world turns very dark outside. U of I's summer production will feature local adult actors from the Champaign-Urbana community as well as younger actors Dominique Allen and Max Keagle.

"Anne Frank" will have the Studio Theatre to itself for 12 performances from July 5 to 21.

You can order your tickets beginning at 10 am on Monday the 7th, with a variety of options. You can shop online at KrannertCenter.com, phone the box office at 800-527-2849 or 217-333-6280, email kran-tix@illinois.edu, or visit the ticket office in person at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the U of I campus between 10 am and 6 pm daily.