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Rutka’s Notebook, a holocaust story recently named one of the 15 must see shows in the U.S. by the New York Times, has a Miami connection.
Rutka’s Notebook is based on the real-life diary of 14-year-old Rutka Laskier. She lived in the Jewish Ghetto in Bedzin, Poland in 1943. She and a non-Jewish friend conspired to hide the diary so that one day others could read of the horrors of the era.
Producers David B. Schwartz and Amy Langer of Think System Productions, who produced Broadway’s Spring Awakening and Indecent, grew up in Miami, meeting at Southwood Middle School in seventh grade and later graduating from the New World School of the Arts.
Schwartz and Langer will visit the Michael-Ann Russell JCC, Nov. 5; Dave and Mary Alper JCC, Nov. 18, and Miami Beach JCC, Nov. 19, and to talk about the musical, which opened in Cincinnati with the dream of finding a home on Broadway.
Schwartz said they first came across the diary in 2016.
“Once we read it, it jumped off the page,” Langer said.
Today, the story feels more relevant than ever, Schwartz said.
“Her writing was so visceral. She was a teen; there was a boy she had a crush on, juxtaposed with all of these challenging things that were happening in the streets around her. It’s something we can relate to. Trying to maintain hope when the world is going a mad around you,” Schwartz said.
Althought the Holocaust was a grim time, Langer said Rutka’s words felt hopeful.
“She is a beacon of hope. She refused to give up the idea, no matter how dark, that she will have an impact,” Schwartz said.
She believed her words would survive and she made sure of that by hiding the notebook with the help of a friend.
Schwartz and Langer optioned the rights to the story and commissioned the writers.
“And it’s been a journey from there,” he said.
While Rutka’s Notebook is similar to The Diary of Anne Frank, there are significant differences. Frank’s story took place in the Netherlands while Rutka’s took place in Poland.
“Anne Frank’s story took place in hiding,” Langer said. “These kids took place in the ghetto.
How the surrounding impacted them — and how they try to rise up.”
“It was the same historical event but with different perspective,” Schwartz said.
There is one significant similarity. Anne Frank and Rutka were born on the exact same day.
Schwartz said they are excited to come home to bring the community into the process.
“Miami was so important to us and impactful for us growing up,” she said. Schwartz agreed.
“Miami really formed us. We have so many Miami people involved in the process and want to bring more Miami people into the project and into the piece,” he said.
Eventually, they hope the musical will have a Broadway run and then go on to have a tremendous life in schools.
When the musical opened in Cincinnati, there were several Holocaust survivors in the audience.
“They came up to us after, saying you have to make sure more audiences get to see the show. It inspired us,” Schwartz said.
“There is an educational component to this. This is a mission. It’s more than a show to us. We worked with the Holocaust and Humanity Center. There were lobby displays and workshops. A lot of students hadn’t heard of the Holocaust,” Langer said.
When creating the play, Schwartz and Langer needed to expand the story because the notebook was only 60 pages.
“It was important that were telling Rutka’s story with authenticity,” Schwartz said. “We had to do research. We went to Poland.”
They read everything they could find about what happened in that town. And they sought out those who knew Rutka.
“We are very close with Rutka’s half-sister. Going there was educational for us,” Langer said.
Schwartz said that helped them write the show.
“We went to the house. We saw the stairs where Rutka hid the diary. It was powerful to be there,” he said. “We toured Auschwitz and saw the area of Birkenau where she had been. It helped to form and inspired the work.”
The Holocaust was a dark period in our history, but Schwartz and Langer want audiences to come out of the play with hope in their hearts.
“We want audiences to feel activated and not devastated. The composers, authors, the book writing have done an amazing job of bringing Rutka’s humor into it,” he said. “This show and Rutka herself exemplify the fact there is still hope in the world. This piece can bring that message to audiences around the world. And it’s a really good show.”
Langer said the play also depicts coming of age, first love and all the universal aspects.
“Art is a living, breathing thing and it keeps evolving. It’s really exciting,” she said.
Both Schwartz and Langer laud the music, which they say is hauntingly beautiful. Rutka uses a contemporary indie-rock score.
For more information on the play, go to www.Rutkathemusical.com.
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