A musical of Anne Frank's story has been slammed as tasteless, writes Derek Scally
Musicals thrive on unusual source material. Cinema audiences around the world are enjoying the tale of a blood-splattered barber whose victims end up in meat pies. Angela: A German Story attracted plaudits in Germany for its retelling of the life of the woman who would be chancellor. There's Cannibal! The Musical and even Caucus! The Musical.
And, long before André Previn adapted A Streetcar Named Desire for the opera stage, The Simpsons had a go with Oh Streetcar! Memorable lyrics included: "Stella! Stella!/Can't you hear me yell-a?/You're putting me through hell-a, Stella!"
Now controversy surrounds a new €4.5 million musical to open in Spain later this month entitled Anne Frank: A Song to Life. Director Rafael Alvaro conceived the project a decade ago after visiting the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. Here, the young girl hid with her sister and parents from the Nazis before being betrayed and deported with other Jews to concentration camps.
Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen aged 15, weeks before British soldiers liberated the camp in March 1945. Of the Frank family, only Anne's father Otto Frank survived, along with the secret diary she named "Kitty". Since its publication in 1947, it has sold more than 45 million copies.
"If the musical, done in an exquisite, delicate, important way, reaches the great public not only here but worldwide, that is success for me," explained Alvaro after a press performance at Madrid's Calderon Theatre.
The musical retelling of the German girl's life has attracted the ire of Anne's last surviving cousin, Buddy Elias, director of the Swiss-based Anne Frank Fund. The organisation, which holds the copyright to the diary, has not opposed previous stage and screen adaptations of the work because they were considered "realistic".
"I don't like Anne Frank being treated as entertainment," said Elias, speaking on Swiss television. "The Holocaust is not a theme to be made into a musical. We are very much against it." Alvero says he is surprised by Elias's opposition, pointing out that other musicals, such as Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, have dealt with serious subjects.
"I do not think we have trivialised this story in any way," he said.
The director found his Anne Frank - 13-year-old Isabella Castillo from Cuba - after posting a message on the internet. Critics who have seen the show have been full of praise for her poised performance.
"You find this girl in such bad circumstances [ but] she always finds hope. That has helped me a lot," said Castillo.
Because the work does not quote directly from the diary, Elias has admitted that he is unlikely to be able to stop the show. However, it could cause a rift between his Swiss-based organisation and the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam, which runs the house. The Dutch organisation has worked with Alvero during the show's preparation, and foundation director Jan Erik Dubbelman has praised the director's "quality and high standards".
"The musical makes you want to weep rather than laugh," he said.
Curiously, a musical version of Anne Frank's life already exists. I Am Anne Frank was written, with Otto Frank's blessing, and premiered in 1996 at New York's Lincoln Centre with actress and cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci. A recording of the work is available; songs include Dear Kitty, I am Thirteen and I Think Myself Out.
"It is our attempt to present Anne Frank as the woman she was and the survivor she is," said lyricist Enid Futtermann in an interview. "She was a Jew who transcended her own suffering, and her own death."