Anne Frank's Last Living Relative Opposes Diary Musical
A Spanish musical based on the diary of Anne Frank is scheduled to open in Madrid on Feb. 28, but at least one person is not pleased: the late Ms. Frank’s 82-year-old cousin, Buddy Elias, the New York Times reports via Agence France-Presse. Mr. Elias, who is Ms. Frank’s last living relative, said his Swiss-based charitable organization, which holds the rights to The Diary of a Young Girl, was against the production because "The Holocaust is not a theme to be made into a musical,” but that his “foundation had no recourse against the musical since it does not quote directly from the diary." The director of The Diary of Anne Frank: A Song to Life, Rafael Alvero, maintains the musical is "very faithful" to Ms. Frank’s famous Holocaust text, and that he has the support of the Anne Frank Foundation. "I do not think we have trivialized the story in any way," he said.
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Please see http://www.HistoricNewAmsterdam.com, a Tolerance Park on Governors Island where Rafael Alvero's musical will be welcomed.
The Tolerance Park will be a place where 350 years of contrasts will visually dissolve harmoniously into a new and unique village, just as divergences and boundaries melt away through the ethical force of tolerance into common humanity.
Visitors arriving via Governors Island’s Lima Pier can board the anchored 17th-century exhibition ship “Servitude.” The Tolerance Walk will take them to exhibitions in the Tolerance Monument.
Throughout Historic New Amsterdam, guests will experience commercial and artistic endeavors including music, visual, theater and performance arts along the themes of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance.
The artistic programming will be inspirational which can be captivating, uplifting or joyful entertainment such as, for example, the musical that celebrates racial and religious tolerance – Ana Frank, Un Canto a la Vida – by the Spanish writer and producer Rafael Alvero.