By James Still, Directed by J. E. Ballantyne,
Jr.
First produced by the George Street Playhouse and Young
Audiences of New Jersey
Cast–
Young Eva Schloss - Ginny Rangos
Anne
Frank – Cara Cambest
Young Ed Silverberg – Dakotah West
With
Linda Levine, Josh Stanson, and Ben Balik
And
David Giles as the Hitler Youth
AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME is based on the true stories of
Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg who grew up with Anne and were forced
into hiding after she disappeared from sight. Eva eventually became
Otto Frank’s stepdaughter, and Ed, who was known as "Hello" in
Anne’s diary was her first boyfriend.
As said by James Still, the playwright, "This is not a
"history play." -- it is a play about families and their histories.
. . . I am a write who remembers vividly reading Anne Frank’s diary
the first time at the age of 12. Something stirred inside me - -
still stirs inside me twenty-five years later . . . The only way we
will remember the Holocaust is if we hear from the people who were
actually there. Then, I’m convinced, we’ll never be able to forget.
And maybe then, by remembering, it will never happen again. . .
Finally, this is a play about questions. Many of the questions about
the Holocaust are unanswerable. Even so, that does not diminish the
importance of asking the questions.
CAST
 |
|
From left to
right:
Ginny
Rangos as Eva Schloss
Cara
Cambest as Anne Frank
Dakotah
West as Ed Silverberg also known as
"Hello" |
Ginny Rangos -
(Eva Schloss)
Ginny is a 5th grader at Hartwood
Elementary School. She performed in Prime Stage's BEST CHRISTMAS
PAGEANT EVER. Ginny was a member of the Dream Choir in CLO's
production of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT and
performed with the Academ at Phipps Conservatory's Fall Flower Show.
She played Goldie in the original production of JACK AND THE TALK
BACK BEANSTOCK and the role of Harpy in the reprise of the show for
the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Ginny is in her 8th year of dance
at Ken & Jean's Studio and takes voice and acting at the CLO
Academy and Gargaro Productions. His heart goes out to the families
of those who died in the Holocaust and she thanks God for her
family.
Cara Cambest (Anne
Frank)
Is an 8th grade High Honor student at
Harrison Middle School in Baldwin-Whitehall. She studies voice,
dance and acting at the CLO Academy. While this is her first
performance with Prime Stage, she has recently appeared in the CLO
production of PHANTOM and ON THE TOWN.
Dakotah West (Ed -
Hello)
As well as attending classes at the CLO
Academy, Dakotah is a freshman at Vincentian Academy-Duquesne
University. He has been involved in theatre for 5 years. This past
fall, he played Tom Sawyer in Prime Stage's production of THE
ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. He also played The Artful Dodger in
OLIVER for the Assumption Theatre Guild and has been in several CLO
mainstage productions.
Linda Levine - (Mutti - the mother of Ed and
Eva)
She has performed at many local theatre companies,
including Little Lake, South Park Theatre, Pittsburgh New Voices and
Pittsburgh New Works Festival. In addition to acting, Linda works at
Buchanan-Ingersoll as a Real Estate Paralegal. This Fall you will
see her as Ms. Pryce in the upcoming movie DOGMA, starring Matt
Damon and Ben Affleck.
Playwright Profile
James
Still has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading
writers for family audiences and is the recipient of the Charlotte
B. Chorpenning Playwright Award for Distinguished Body of Work.
Currently Still writes for the Nickelodean/Nelvana television
series, Maurice Sendak’s LITTLE BEAR (Nick, Jr.) for which he was a
finalist for the 1997 Humanities Prize for television and film
writing. The Columbia/Tri-Star feature film The VELOCITY OF GARY
from Still’s screenplay will be released soon and stars Vincent
D’Onofrio, Salma Hayek, Thomas Jane and Ethan Hawke.
James’ award winning plays have been produced at theaters
throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. A musical
theatre adaptation of John Gardner’s novella IN THE SUICIDE
MOUNTAINS was workshopped at Robert Redford’s Sundance Playwright’s
Lab in Utah. It premiered at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth in March
1997 and received the Po’okela Award for Best New Play from the
Hawaii State Theatre Council. His plays are published by Dramatic
Publishing, Samuel French, Anchorage Press and Music Theatre
International.
Director’s Profile
J. E.
Ballantyne, Jr is starting his 36th year in the
theatre. As a director, He has directed and produced such shows as
MY FAIR LADY, ANNIE, WAIT UNTIL DARK, THE MIRACLE WORKER, SLEUTH,
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. As a Stage Manager, he has worked
with notable people including George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Maureen
McGovern, Ken Berry, and Paul Anka. Within the past 15 years, he has
also written a variety of shows including GERSHWIN – LOVE IS HERE TO
STAY, THE INTERVIEW and JFK; A BREACH OF FAITH. His production of
SPECTER OF TREASON, The Oswald Trial was premiered by Move Over
Broadway Productions in 1996. He is currently developing a script
based on the book, ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED by Miep Gies and Alison
Leslie Gold. He is also the founder and a producer of The
Playwright’s, Inc. an organization that presents original scripts
from playwrights around the tri-state
area.
