Riverdale Rising Stars/Riverdale Rep to Present THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, 4/26-28

In commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), Riverdale Rising Stars/Riverdale Repertory Company is honored to present THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK for three performances only: April 26 - 28 at the Riverdale YM-YWHA, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue (just off of Riverdale Avenue and West 256th Street), in Riverdale, Bronx, NY.

This powerful dramatization of a Jewish teenage girl's true account of her family's experiences during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands is a deeply moving reminder of the atrocities of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

In collaboration with local religious institutions, each performance will be preceded by an introduction from a local rabbi.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for seniors and students if purchased online at www.riverdaley.org/annefrank, or $22 for adults and $14 for seniors and students if purchased at the door prior to showtime. Tickets are also available by visiting www.BrownPaperTickets.com. For group sales, please email mraider@riverdaley.org.

After World War II and the closure of the concentration camps where 11 million people perished, including one million children, Anne Frank's notebooks were discovered in the attic where she and her family had been in seclusion from 1942 to 1944. Her father, Otto Frank, had the diary published in Dutch as Het Achterhuls (The Secret). Anne Frank's account of her time in the "Secret Annex" has since been translated into over 60 languages. She has become a very human symbol of hope in the face of unspeakable horrors.

The Diary of Anne Frank, as it has become known in English, was adapted for the stage by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, and premiered on Broadway in 1955. It received the Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The film version was released in 1959, and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won three awards. A new adaptation by Wendy Kesselbaum ran on Broadway in 1997-1998 in a production starring George Hearn, Linda Lavin, and, as Anne Frank, Natalie Portman.

The Riverdale Rising Stars production utilizes the Kesselbaum adaptation, and will be directed by Shawn Renfro. The company includes Rachel Abrams, John Close, Wylie Cohen, Deborah Lupkin Gross, Timothy Mathis, John Palacio, Marilyn Raider, Nava Schorsch, Trevor Scott, and Katrina Snyder. The design team includes Penelope Margeotes (Costumes), and David Pentz (Lighting).