Slam Frank

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Inspired by the Twitter debate in July 2022 as to whether Holocaust victim Anne Frank acknowledged her white privilege (as much good as it did her), Slam Frank, the musical satire of The Diary of Anne Frank which ran last fall at the AsylumNYC, has reopened for an Off Broadway run at the Orpheum Theatre. This new musical by the clever pair of Andrew Fox (music and Lyrics) and Joel Sinensky (book) takes on many of the buzz words and hot topics of the 21^st century in what seems like a full-length Saturday Night Live skit intended to either include or insult everybody (take your pick.) Sam Lafrage’s slick professional production barrels on to its outrageous conclusion covering just about everything one could satirize at this time.

The show begins with a frame (or as a show-within-a-show) of an artistic director addressing the audience from “a highly-respected and forward-thinking regional theater company” who when he tries to do the currently popular land acknowledgement to Native Americans he can’t remember who he is paying tribute to: “they were here first, and we are here now, and shame on us! Then he goes on to tell us that what we are about to see is “The Diary of Anne Frank reimagined, brought powerfully into our modern century, our modern moment … transformed and translated and transgendered into something, new, a profound statement of our shared humanity. Anne and her family after all found themselves as immigrants in their own country, much as many amazing people do right here, in America… they were victims of fierce bigotry, much like the members of our LGBTQIA+ communities that we know, and cherish, and love and respect…”

And how does the show do this? Of the two families hiding from the Nazis in the Secret Annex in Amsterdam, father Otto Frank is neurodivergent, has Attention Deficit Disorder, and later discovers he is also gay, his wife Edith is Black, and daughter Anne who wants to be called Anita believes herself to be LatinX. Their older daughter Margot who silently reads the Torah all day is the only one who embraces her Jewish identity. Among the members of the Van Daan family who join them in the Secret Annex are Mr. Van Daan, a misogynistic cis male, his brow-beaten wife multiracial Mrs. Van Daan, and their gender-questioning son Peter who wished to dance in the ballet and eventually comes out as non-binary at which Anne announces that makes her pansexual. Anne’s Abuela (her grandmother who we are never told whose parent she is) is Spanish from their original home of the German Barrio of Frankfurt.

The first half of the musical follows the same events as the play of The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne writes in her diary, talks to Peter, and the families argue about the small space, while having to keep quiet until 6 PM each night, they all give Anne advice particularly her mother who reminders her that if she continues to write her diary intended for publication in Spanish no one will read it. However, the songs are mainly about inclusion and diversity, those hotly debated terms these days: Anne sings that she is an “Immigrant Girl,” her mother Edith sings a feminist statement in “Yeast of Edith,” all three women sing of female empowerment in “Herstory,” Peter reveals his sexual orientation in “Non-Binary” where Anne comes out as pansexual, she and her Abuela sing “Rewrite My Diary” mostly in Spanish, the entire ensemble sings “Allies” about marginalized groups, and the previously silent Margot sings “Safe Space” by which she means Zionists taking over Palestine after the war.

However, in the last 20 minutes, Anne gets the fact that the Zionists want to kick out the Palestinians from their homeland just the way the Americans did to the Indians and she decides to do something about it, as does the musical. Unfortunately, from here on in the satire trivializes the Holocaust, or is it enough years that we are ready to mock something this serious? Only future audiences or walk-outs can tell us if this crosses a line, shades of South Park.

Much of the humor is very funny, but a great deal of it is also scattershot like the authors think they have to get everything in. The lyrics are clever for songs both rap and Broadway ballads (some have found bits of Hamilton and Suffs and other appropriations in the music), and the music is melodic and catchy as played by keyboard, bass and percussion ands conducted by Alex Harrington. There is no intermission so that theoretically if you are offended you can’t leave. At almost two hours, the show is a bit too long considering the lack of a break – satire and parody eventually pall when they go on too long without a shift to something else.

The talented cast sing well and keep up their poses throughout the evening. Olivia Bernábe is a feisty Anne/Anita with a big voice. As her father Otto, Rocky Paterra is a consummate clown always announcing he is suffering from what anyone else professes to have. Austen Horne’s Edith is strong-willed and uncompromising. John Anker Bow plays two roles: the forgetful Artistic Director and the villainous Mr. Van Daan, while Jaz Zepatos is amusing as the mousy wife until she becomes the worm who turns under Edith’s tutelage. As Peter, initially Anne’s love interest, Alex Lewis is a bundle of energy. Amelia Louise Barr also has two roles as both silent sister Margot and the talkative Abuela. Assistant Stage Manager Walker Stovall puts in a few appearances in charge of the live video feed (a parody of director Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard?)

The scenery by Adam Koch is colorful and serviceable along with the video design by Zack Lobel that helps create various environments. Sarah Lockwood’s costumes are witty in keeping with the diversity of the cast and characters. The lighting by Jamie Roderick helps create different moods. Devin Orr is responsible for the many visible props. Gage Baker’s astute sound design allows the words to come through bright and clear. The uncredited logo for the show is a combined parody of the one for Hamilton and the Jewish star

Slam Frank (through November 30, 2026)

Orpheum Theatre, 126 Second Avenue at 8^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.slamfrankmusical.com

Running time: one hour and 55 minutes without an intermission