By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO — The musical Witnesses was conceived by Jordan Beck a decade ago, after his reading of Jacob Boas’ book, We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died In the Holocaust. Of the five diarists quoted in the book, Beck was familiar with only one, Anne Frank. He found the other four — Eva Heyman of Hungary, Moshe Zeev Flinker of Belgium, David Rubinowicz of Poland, and Yitskhok Rudashevski of Lithuania — just as powerful, and was inspired to create a musical based on their words.
But first, he was determined to obtain the full diaries, and all were out of print. In his pursuit, he discovered an additional diary, not in Boas’ book, Renia Spiegel’s of Poland.
Beck — lyricist, and the current managing producer of CCAE Theatricals at the California Center of the Arts in Escondido — decided each voice required a different lyricist and composer, so, in addition to his lyrics, he invited Mindi Dickstein, Matt Gould, Adam Gwon, and Anna K. Jacobs to join him in this ambitious project. With Gould, Gwon, and Jacobs writing their own music, Beck required only two more composers and enlisted Carmel Dean and Gerald Sternbach. Robert L. Freedman wrote the book.
The engaging show runs an hour and 40 minutes without intermission. The five leading actors and five supporting actors are endowed with beautiful singing voices and outstanding acting talent: Camille Umoff (Renia Spiegel) received her BA degree from Yale University and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles; Afra Sophia Tully (Eva Heyman) has appeared in Off-Broadway shows, on TV and in film; Austyn Myers (Yitskhok Rudashevski), a native San Diegan and a graduate of UCSD, is known locally for performances at the Old Globe, the La Jolla Playhouse and Lambs Players; Giovanny Diaz de Leon (David Rubinowicz) is a recent graduate of the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and has participated in productions at the San Diego Repertory Theatre; Kai Justice Rosales (Moshe Zeev Flinker) is a recent graduate of California State University, Fullerton. Other actors/singers in the ensemble are Ian Dembek, Hannah Frederick, David Landis, Katherine Paladichuk, and Priya Richard. J. Scott Lapp, Artistic Director at The California Center for the Arts, Escondido, is the innovative director of this fast-moving show. A seven-piece orchestra, under the direction of Conductor/Piano Lisa LeMay, did an excellent job supporting the singers. Memorable was cellist Jennifer Epler’s rendition of Chana Szenes’ “Eli, Eli” and clarinetist Greg Armstrong’s playing of “Shalom Aleichem.”
“We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died In the Holocaust”
Of the 20 songs in the musical, the first are lighthearted and illustrate typical teenage concerns: Eva Heyman writing in her diary about her best friend, Agi; “The Typing Song,” as the cast becomes a class of typing students; Renia, 17 and in love, pondering whether to share her diary with her beloved. Later, the songs become more bleak: “Trip to the Butcher,” standing in food lines; “Bundles,” packing to leave for the train. “Like in a Film” is a happy vignette when a father is released home and they are able to celebrate Shabbat. “Even in the Darkest Moments” is a song of undying hope.
Although these teens were from different areas, in Witnesses, they interact. Perhaps many of their thoughts were similar, like when they wonder, “How could God allow this to happen?”
Through the course of the musical, the five diarists endear themselves to us. For some of us, it is particularly poignant. They were my contemporaries. We are grateful to Jordan Beck for bringing their voices back to life.