Marine Park
Broadway-bound students light up stage
Budding thespians at Marine Park Junior HS made history come alive during their standing-room-only performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the riveting story about a brave young Jewish girl forced into hiding with her parents during World War II. The book which was made into a movie in 1959, starred Millie Perkins as Anne Frank, Shelley Winters as Mrs. Petronella Van Daan, and Ed Wynn as Mr. Albert Dussell. In this Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett production, Valerie Kostioutchenko put on a Broadway-worthy performance of the ill-fated girl that would later die in a concentration camp. The audience was moved to tears by a cast that should be working the boards on the Great White Way — they were that good. Along with Kostioutchenko, the cast included Tyriq Nelson as Mr. Frank, Sapphire Brown as Mrs. Frank, Melani McDonald as Mrs. Van Daan, Ryan O’Connor as Peter Van Daan, Dylan Wheeler as Mr. Van Daan, Taylor Rosado as Margo Frank, Tabiya Springer as Miep Gies, and Joseph McGlashin as Mr. Kraler. “I was amazed by the respect for the material that these students showed, they truly felt the emotions of the characters,” said Amy Wilkinson, drama teacher at the school.
Marine Park Junior High School [1925 Stuart St. at Fillmore Avenue in Marine Park, (718) 375-3523].
