If you know someone who could use a reminder of what can happen to innocents in real life when ordinary people lack the courage to question authority, you might want to suggest an outing to see Half Moon Theatre’s newest production, Yours, Anne, which opens on March 25 and runs through April 2 at the Culinary Institute of America’s Marriott Pavilion.
Premiering Off-Broadway in 1996, Yours, Anne is an 80-minute musical adaptation of Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl and the stage play based on it, The Diary of Anne Frank, with libretto and lyrics by Enid Futterman and music by Michael Cohen. Michael Schiralli directs the Half Moon production. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 8 p.m. on March 25 and 31 and April 1, plus 2 p.m. Sunday matinées on March 26 and April 2. A post-show reception featuring traditional Jewish dishes will follow the March 25 Opening Night performance, and a talkback with the cast is scheduled to follow the March 26 matinée. Special showings for students and groups are set for 10 a.m. on Friday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 3. Ticket prices range from $18 to $35.
If you really want to get into the meat of the story, its historical context and contemporary relevance, visit the Henry A. Wallace Center at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum – just up Route 9 a ways from the Culinary in Hyde Park – at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 19. Yours, Anne adaptor Enid Futterman will join Bard College president Dr. Leon Botstein Edna Nahshon, professor of Jewish Theater and Drama at the Jewish Theological Seminary, for a panel discussion titled “Anne Frank: Contemporary Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities.” FDR Library director Paul Sparrow will be the moderator. Cast members of Yours, Anne will also perform musical excerpts from the show, and a reception will follow.
Admission to this program is free, but advance reservations must be made online at www.fdrlibrary.org. For more info about either event, call (845) 235-9885 or visit www.halfmoontheatre.org.
Join the family! 
