World premiere of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' on Broadway
The play 'The Diary Anne of Frank' premiered at the Cort Theatre in New York.
Playbill for the Cort Theatre 'The diary of Anne Frank', programmaboekje voor het toneelstuk, 1956
Vervaardiger: onbekend. Collectie: Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam. Copyright: In copyright
On 5 October 1955, The Diary of Anne Frank premiered at the Cort Theatre in New York. Before the premiere.[1] Otto Frank wished the cast good luck; he himself could not see it, and did not want to. The thought of his family being portrayed on stage was too much for him.
The play was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden and directed by Garson Kanin, with as cast:
- Joseph Schildkraut as Otto Frank
- Gusti Huber as Edith Frank
- Eva Rubinstein as Margot Frank
- Susan Strasberg as Anne Frank
- Lou Jacobi as Mr. Van Daan
- Dennie Moore as Mrs. Van Daan
- Peter Levin as Peter van Daan
- Jack Gilford as Mr. Dussel
- Clinton Sundberg as Mr. Kraler
- Gloria Jones as Miep Gies
The decor was designed by Boris Aronson and the costumes by Helene Pons, with lighting by Leland Watson.[2]
The last performance on Broadway was on 22 June 1957. After 717 performances, the play toured the country, beginning a tour of cities across the United States. The Diary of Anne Frank won major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.[3]
Footnotes
- ^ Adam Langer, How the premiere of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' was different from any other Broadway opening, in: The Forward, 30 januari 2023.
- ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), reg. code B_Toneelstuk_I_020: Programmaboekje voor het toneelstuk The diary of Anne Frank, Cort Theatre in New York, 1956.
- ^ Wikipedia: The Diary of Anne Frank (play).