Friday, December 05, 2025
The Composer Making a Hip-Hop Musical About Anne Frank
The New Yorker: A few years ago, Andrew Fox was struck by a transcendently bad idea. He would turn the story of Anne Frank into a satirical hip-hop musical: intersectional, inclusive, and inane. Fox was a theatre-loving composer who had grown dispirited by the industry in general, and by humorless and preachy productions in particular.
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6 comments:
i. Things I never would have thought to see in a sentence together now include the words Hip-Hop and Anne Frank. I understand getting dispirited by the arts in general, but more specifically from musicals and theatre. The same could also be said about Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. This article does a really good job at following the inception of this idea to its opening and giving an interesting view on the paths that it takes to get a new work created. This all culminates into a review of the work and the industry as it stands today.
I am very confused as to how I feel about this show. To be honest, I do not think I like the idea and think it is a bit offensive. It seems like the playwright does not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. Turning the story of Anne Frank who experienced so much hate and prejudice into a story called “Slam Frank” that turns her story into light-hearted entertainment seems incredibly disrespectful to me.There is a big difference between people being offended by shows that are used to tell stories about aspects of history or present day that are uncomfortable and people being offended by shows that take a story that should be treated with respect but do not produce them in the “right” way. “Slam Frank” is definitely the latter. I can understand making shows to comment on how some people do not take parts of history seriously, but I feel like this production took it too far.
So, I actually heard about the production prior to seeing this article from my dad. My dad wanted to go see it, and he asked if I wanted to come with. Admittedly, I may be judging too quickly and making assumptions, but I feel very conflicted in regards to this show. It feels off, and this is coming from someone who enjoys dark humor. I understand comedy that leans into offensive or controversial things can be done well at times, but this feels like it's going to be done the wrong way and I’ll walk out feeling worse about myself and the world rather than with some interesting new insight or joy. I told my dad I didn’t want to go as a result, and while I am still curious, I stand by that decision. This just doesn’t feel right in a way? I’m not sure how to describe it, but it feels like the wrong way to handle these topics and the author's “disillusionment with theater.” I look at it and I think that it's not going to handle these topics properly.
The title of this article throws me off to places unknown because: who thought this was a good idea. Like. Why? This is an example of the hamilton effect which is so frustrating. Not all historical events should be made into musicals, it isn't topical or plot relevant at all to have the music genre be hip hop either. It made more sense with Hamilton but slam frank is insane. I understand that this is a satirical take on woke-ism but i dont know.. It just feels weird and unneeded. Sometimes producers and writers need to be told no if im being honest. Because, to be frank, (pun intended) who's going to see this, and who's going to see this and recommend it to people? It's hard for me to understand why people in the big ‘25 can't wrap their head around the fact that you shouldn't be punching down when it comes to comedy.
The title of this article is a really odd string of words. Continuing to read the article does not make the entire concept and the “why would anyone think to do this” any less confusing. Obviously, satire has an important place in media, and there’s a lot of really amazing satire out there that can create genuine conversations about the current state of the world. However, I think there’s a really good reason that satirical versions of the story of Anne Frank don’t really exist, and it is because the concept of that is really icky. I love satire and dark comedies and think they’re a really fantastic genre, but I figured that we as a society generally agreed that some things are just too serious or too unfortunate to be joking about, and taking the specific story of Anne Frank and turning it into satire just kind of feels somewhat gross.
I kept asking myself the same questions while reading, and repeatedly having to re-read this article: “Do we really NEED this?” and “At what point do we draw the line between empowerment and insensitivity?”. I can’t help but think that this musical is trying to emulate the effect of properties such as Hamilton, however to take Anne Frank’s story, which unlike Hamilton is already a well-renowned one which has been adapted into a very serious and impactful play, seems performative to say the very least. The fact that this idea was conceived because of an online debate Andrew Fox, composer of the play, saw regarding whether or not Anne Frank was a beneficiary of “white privilege” just goes to show the incredible lack of understanding and modern interpretation of her story to begin with. I can’t believe that this idea has made it to the headlines of The New Yorker, and I hope with all sincerity that this idea is shut down before it can hit any other kind of higher mainstream media.
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