Keating, Robinette, Rupert Set for Paper Mill’s Diary of Anne Frank

Isabel Keating, Nancy Robinette, and Michael Rupert will be featured in the Paper Mill Playhouse’s upcoming production of The Diary of Anne Frank, January 18-February 26. Directed by Carolyn Cantor, the show will open officially on January 22.

The cast also includes Shana Dowdeswell as Anne, Dana Powers Acheson as Margot, Peter Kybart as Otto, Christa Scott-Reed as Miep, Michael Stahl-David as Peter, and Jeff Talbott as Mr. Kraler, and David Wohl as Mr. Van Daan, along with Steve Brady, Peter Bretz, Donna Davis, and Seamus Mulchay.

Keating, who will play Edith Frank, received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for her work as Judy Garland in The Boy From Oz. Robinette, a Helen Hayes Award winner and one of Washington D.C’s most respected actresses, will play Mrs. Van Daan. Rupert, who won a Tony Award for his performance as Oscar in the 1986 Broadway revival of Sweet Charity, will play Mr. Dussel.

The creative team for The Diary of Anne Frank includes Cantor’s husband, David Korins (sets), Ilona Somogyi (costumes), Kevin Adams (lighting), Randy Hansen (sound), and Charles LaPointe (hair and wigs). Cantor has directed the Off-Broadway plays Orange Flower Water, Stone Cold Dead Serious, and Eve-o-lution.

Based on the real-life diary of young Anne Frank, who lived in hiding in Amsterdam from 1942-1944, the play was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It debuted on Broadway in 1955 with Susan Strasberg in the title role, going on to win the 1955 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A 1997 Broadway revival starred Natalie Portman, Linda Lavin, George Hearn, and Austin Pendelton.