Diary of Anne Frank

::Drama opens
1: Friday at Wood
.3:
By Cathy DeDe
Chronicle
Managing Editor
Most everyone is familiar with Anne
Frank. Her diary, received as a gift on he'r
13th birthday, and chronicling the family's
two years in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World
War II.
The Glens Falls Community Theater
presents The Diary oj Anne Frank, Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of the play by
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.
Performances are Friday and Saturday,
May 4 and 5, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 6,
at 2 p.m. at the Wood Theater in downtown
Glens Falls.
Tickets cost $24, $21 each for groups of
15 or more. Box office: 874-0800.
In addition, the company will give one
daytime performance ofthe play on Friday,
for middle students at Whitehall and Hudson Falls schools. Anne Frank's diary is
part of the state's eighth grade curriculum.
Through a grant, the student show performance is free to the schools.
Director Avery Clark's debut
Avery Clark, 29, of Glens Falls, directs
the show. It's her debut as a director for the
Community Theatre, but she's got plenty of
experienc7 on stage.
A standout at Glens Falls High School
and in Youtheatre, after graduation (and a
one-year Rotary exchange to Bolivia), Ms.
Clark began her studies at SUNY Adirondack.
.
"That was when I joined the Community
Theatre, 10 years ago," she notes.
She transferred to Marymourit College
in New York City, where she received a degree in theater and musical theater. She
received her Master's in Spanish education
through the SUNY Plattsburgh extension
at SUNY Adirondack, and currently teaches eighth grade Spanish in Whitehall.
When she returned to Glens Falls in
2007, she took on increasing roles as a director: The Fantasticks for Corinth The-
Presents the Regional Premiere Production of
Southern Comforts
In the Annex - Cast members on the set of The Diary of Anne Frank, Wendy Kesselman's
adapt~tion of the Holocaust S!9ry. It's.directed by Ayery Clark.
Photo by David Cederstrom
atre Guild, Stephen Sondheim's Company
for Schuylerville Community Theatre, and
two ensemble dramas for Glens Falls High
School's theater program, among others.
She also acted in numerous Community
Theatre produc.tions, including as Little
Red Riding Hood in Sondheim's Into the
Woods.
"Two Years ago, I was on the play selection committee for the Community Theatre
and I came with Diary of Anne Frank. 'It's
one we should do,' I said." The show was selected through a long winnowing process.
Ms: Clark says, "Six monthls later, they
called and asked me to direct:'
'Eye-opening for us'
Her approach? "From the get-go, I read
the play five times, and I read Anne's diary
in full. I went back to the play, to find the
parallels so I could make the connections
for the actors," Ms. Clark said,
She also visited the Holocaust Museum
in Washington! D.C., and the Anne Frank
Education Center in New York City.
"It's been an educational and eye-opening experience for me, and I think for the
cast.l,
As part of their research, Ms. Clark invited
Glens Falls Holocaust survivor Lily Muller to
speak with the cast about her experiences in
the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and as a slave
laborer liVingunder a false identity.
"One thing she said," Ms. Clark recalls,
"is that what she missed the most was the
radio. That hit home for us. The radio is so
important to the play. It's the symbol of the
outside world, and a character. in and of
itself, really. It effected the actors, to hear
her talk about listening to the soldeirs
creeping right behind a wall, and wondering, are they coming Jar us?"
In her program notes, Ms."Clark adds,
"This play is so much more than Anne's
final fate. -It is a story of a girl who lived,
loved, fought, cried, laughed, comforted,
hoped and dreamed to life's fullest....
It is her optimism that has changed my
perspective of the world and I am forever
grateful for being a part of this poignant
and powerful production. It is my hope
that you, too, Will believe that 'despite everything, people are really good at heart: "
Ms. Clark said, "I don't think you're going to come our of here with a smile on
your face, but you will be thinking of your
own family and the things that you appreciate the most. It's changed me, I know:'
The accomplished local cast includes
14-year-old Carolyn Shields of Saratoga
as Anne Frank (see right); Filomena Rivi·
ello-Capalbi and John Kearney as Anne's
parents Edith and Otto Frqnk; Paula Carras as Miep Gies (the Dutch woman who
hid the family in her attic); South Glens
Falls student James Greene as young Peter Van Daan; Queensbury graduate Kayla
Kreis as Anne's sister Margot; Jerry Sawn
as Mr. Kraler, Carol Pines and John
Muller as fellow fugitives the Van Daans;
Jim Chaffin as Mr. Dussel, Stephen Babson as a Nazi officer; and John Farrell
and Garret West as Dutch collaborators.
by Kathleen Clark
Featuring Marilyn Detmer and
Barry Streifert
General Admission $12.00 in Advance
$15.00 at the Door
$10.00 Seniors & Students
Friday May 11,
Saturday May 12 @ 8PM
S
;y May 13
er's
'ii 3P
Knights of Colmnbus Hall SOPine Rd Saratoga Springs
Friday
May 11th, 5-9PM
BUY-SELL-TRADE
I
Sa~urday
May 12th, 10-4PM
,Saratoga teen, back
for her 2nd 'Anne'
"I love telling this story in particular,"
says Carolyn Shields, the 14-year-old Saratoga High School freshman who plays the
title role in Glens Falls Community The:
atre's The Diary of Anne Frank (May 4-6 at
the Wood Theater; see left).
Carolyn says she had just performed
the same role at Curtain Call Theater in
Latham in October. Her grandparents
Mary Lou and Nick DiNicola of South Glens
Falls alerted her to the auditions here. (Mr.
DiNicola is a member of the Chronicle delivery crew. Carolyn's parents are Lisa and
Daniel Shields).
- Despite the emotional challenge of the
role, Carolyn says, "I thought it had a lot
of impact over the audiences that saw it. It
wouldn't hurt much to do it again. Usually,
when I'm in a play or musical, it's not real
to me. I have to remind myself that she was
real, and this was really happening."
It's been a year of Anne Frank for Carolyn: She had also read The Diary of Anne
Frank in school just before the Curtain
Call production. Her thoughts on Anne?
"She's a very complex person," Carolyn
says. "This second time, I'm learning different things within the lines. You get so
much from even a little, and the different
ways that people are interpreting the lines.
She had two sides to herself. She wanted fo
seem grown up to everyone around her, but
she had a young side and wanted to have
fun. She didn't even understand what was
happening at first."
.
Carolyn said meeting Glens Falls Holocaust survivor Lily Muller with the rest of
the cast was especially meaningful.
"She hid in her own way," Carolyn observes, "in a more tense way, maybe even,
by changing her identity, changing who she
was. It's different from other things I've
heard about [the Holocaust]."
Carolyn, who lived in California before
moving to Saratoga with her parents in the
fifth grade, says she has been acting since
she was a little girl, most seriously beginning around the third grade.
Of Anne Frank, she says she wants to
tell people, "If you do see it, spread the
message of it. It's something people need to
know about through the generations. She's
a remarkable girl. It's a shame 'she had to
be lost at such a young age." - C. DeDe