Yours, Anne

The award-winning J*Company Youth Theatre, a program of the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, is pleased to announce its production of YOURS, ANNE, a musical based on the classic Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.  Libretto is by Enid Futterman, and music is by Michael Cohen.  YOURS, ANNE runs December 2 through 10 at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla.  

Anne Frank’s diary is one of the best-selling books in history and has been translated into 67 languages. The renowned chronicle of two Jewish families secreted away in a cramped attic in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation is now a haunting and powerful story set to music.  While remaining faithful to its acclaimed source, with all of the original suspense and humanity, the timeless story is enhanced by a moving and lyrical score.  Propelled by the undying faith of a young girl on tip-toe before life, Anne Frank’s heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting diary stirs deep emotion with its depiction of the ability of the human spirit to find hope in the face of terrible unfolding events. 

A Dialogue with Dr. Edie

Dr. Edith Eva Eger was just 16 years old in 1944 when she and her family were sent to the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.  Her story has remarkable parallels with the story of 14-year-old Anne Frank, whose famous diary, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, has been adapted for the musical play YOURS, ANNE, a production of J*Company Youth Theatre running December 2 through 10 at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center.  Eger has been called “the Anne Frank who survived.”  She will share her experience at “A Dialogue with Dr. Edie” following the opening night performance of YOURS, ANNE on December 2.  

Eger’s parents died at Auschwitz, but in 1945, when the American Army liberated the camp, a young soldier noticed Eger’s hand moving slightly as she lay with others in a mass grave.  He quickly summoned medical help and she was brought back from the brink of death.  At the time of her rescue Eger weighed 40 pounds and had suffered a broken back.  Some years after the war, Eger and her husband moved to the United States.  She has a clinical psychology practice in La Jolla and a faculty appointment at UCSD.  She is also a prolific author and has appeared on numerous television programs including “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and was the primary subject of a holocaust documentary that appeared on Dutch National Television.  She is frequently invited to speak for organizations throughout the United States, Mexico, and abroad.   

Inside Anne Frank’s House

“Inside Anne Frank’s House,” a life-size re-creation of the attic where Anne and her family hid for more than two years from the Nazis and neighbors collaborating with the Nazis during World War II, will return to the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center for the run of YOURS, ANNE.  The display was designed and built by the JCC staff and volunteers for the 2005 San Diego Jewish Book Fair Holocaust project.  It proved so popular that it has been on tour to libraries and schools throughout San Diego County since last year.   

The exhibit is a 16-by-18-foot structure that includes a small bedroom about the same size as Anne’s bedroom, and a living room with kitchen and dining area which was also used as a bedroom. Visitors enter through a small doorway hidden by a movable bookcase as on the original stairway landing.  A tour of the Anne Frank house is included in the ticket price for YOURS, ANNE.  

YOURS, ANNE runs Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from December 2 through 10.

Production dates and times:

Saturday, December 2, 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 3, 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 7, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 9, 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 10, 1:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 10, 4:00 p.m. 

The David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS is located at 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla.  Tickets for YOURS, ANNE and a tour of the Anne Frank house are $12.50/$10.50 JCC/Members for children and $16.50/$14.50 JCC Members for adults. They are available online at www.lfjcc.org or by phone at 858-362-1348.  A complete listing of production dates and show times are online at www.lfjcc.org/jcompany.