Auditions set for The Diary of Anne Frank'
By Staff
special to The Star
Dec. 29, 2002
Auditions for the play are Jan. 6-7, at 7 p.m., at the MLT playhouse on Highway 39 North.
The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner calls for a cast of eight and will be directed by Jimmy Pigford.
The play is a drama about the lives of eight people hiding from the Nazis, concealed in a Amsterdam attic during World War II.
In this powerful drama, Anne Frank emerges from history a living, lyrical, intensely gifted young girl, who confronts her rapidly changing life and the increasing horror of her times with honesty, wit and determination.
During the course of the play, Anne matures from a 13-year-old to a 15-year-old. She flowers from a funny, intelligent, giddy, perceptive girl into young womanhood in front of the audience. Natalie Portman, the last actress to play the role on Broadway, was 16.
Other roles include:
Mrs. Frank, Anne's mother, is a patient and fragile woman. She has a big heart and suffers in silence.
Margot Frank, is Anne's quite slightly older sister who later takes ill. She should appear to be 16-19 years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, decent people in ordinary life, who come close to cracking in the terrible circumstances of their confinement.
Mrs. Van Daan, a rich Dutch woman, who puts her fur coat ahead of safety at times, can be petty, grand and flirtatious, all in a span of minutes. The role won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Shelly Winters and a Broadway Tony featured player for Linda Lavin in 1997.
Mr. Van Daan is her stress-battered husband, whose dry sarcasm infuses the dire circumstances.
Peter Van Daan, the Van Daan's awkward teen-age son with whom Anne falls in love, should be about 16 years old.
Mr. Dussell is the timid, bewildered and, at times, comical dentist who comes to share the refuge.
For more information, call MLT at 482-6371.
