‘THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’ — When the Culture House Stage and Studio presents “The Diary of Anne Frank” beginning next week, its only Jewish cast member, Emma Jacobson, will play Miep Gies, the non-Jewish character responsible for helping the Franks hide from the Nazis. Emma is an eighth-grade student at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.
While preparing for the play, Jonathan Edelman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (and an HBHA alum) led a session with the cast about the Holocaust and the life the Frank family faced during World War II. Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn also spoke to the cast about anti-Semitism and “They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust,” the book he co-wrote with Bill Tammeus.
A member of Congregation Beth Shalom, Emma is the daughter of Beth Jacobson and Eric Jacobson, and the granddaughter of Sharon and Al Cohen, and Gregor Zellhofer. She is an active member of B’not Lev BBG.
The show is appropriate for ages 10 and up. The Culture House production will be staged at Oak Park Mall on the second floor near Nordstrom. Performances are April 19-22 and April 26-27. Times are ticket prices are available at http://culturehouse.getmytix.net/ticketing.
Emma is also in the chorus of the Culture House production of “Annie Get Your Gun,” which will be presented May 3-6 at Musical Theatre Heritage (MTH) at Crown Center.
‘BIG SONIA’ TO BE SCREENED AT U.S. CAPITOL — This is a big week for “BIG SONIA.” This week will be the 73rd anniversary of Sonia Warshawski’s liberation. Today, on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day (April 12) the Warshawskis have been invited by Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder to the U.S. Capitol to screen “BIG SONIA” for a bipartisan group of legislators.
“We’re honored to be invited to the U.S. Capitol to screen ‘BIG SONIA’ for members of both parties to promote the theme of love over hate. We never imagined our film would have this unique opportunity to make a big impact in our nation’s capital,” said filmmaker and Sonia’s granddaughter Leah Warshawski, noting Sonia and her three children will attend the screening.
By now Chronicle readers are familiar with the film about Sonia, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives in the Third District of Kansas represented by Yoder and owns John’s Tailor Shop in Overland Park. The film has been playing at the Glenwood Arts Theatre for 19 weeks!
“I’ve known Sonia for years as a friend and customer,” Rep. Yoder in a press release. “Now she is a local celebrity. ‘BIG SONIA’ is a wonderful tribute to her life and her story from Holocaust survivor to small business owner right here in Overland Park. It’s a story about survival, a true example of the American Dream, and a wonderful tribute to Sonia and her message of love. We must never forget and work every day to fight against forces of evil and hatred and that’s why I’m proud to bring ‘BIG SONIA’ to the U.S. Capitol to share it with my colleagues in Congress.”