Slam Frank is a 2025 off-Broadwaysatirical hip-hop musical based on the story of Anne Frank. It was created by Andrew Fox and Joel Sinensky after a Twitter thread about Anne Frank's "white privilege" went viral in 2022. The show is a show within a show of an ultra-progressive theatre troupe that reimagines Frank as a pansexual Latina named Anita Franco, along with Peter van Daan as a non-binary dancer. While the show itself is purportedly satirical, its viral social media promotion, with snippets of the show and tongue-in-cheek commentary, never acknowledges the satire.[1][2][3][4]
Some editorials or op-eds from Jewish newspapers, written before the show's debut, criticized the show's "disrespectful" treatment of Anne Frank,[5] and the show provoked a petition to stop its opening entirely.[1]
History
The show is based on a Twitter debate from 2022 regarding whether or not diarist and Holocaust victim Anne Frank had white privilege.[6][7] The initial tweets were widely condemned by Jewish organizations.[8] The show had a concert presentation on June 16, 2025 at Asylum NYC and began a fully-staged developmental run on September 17, 2025.[4]
Reception
New York Times chief theater critic, Ben Brantley said, "the already notorious little musical "Slam Frank" may be the most important new show around", in a post on X.[9] Zachary Stewart writing for Theatermania called it, "A blistering satire of progressive, terminally online sensibilities" and "the edgiest musical playing in New York."[10] Writing for The Times, Ben Kawaller described it as "skewer[ing] the absurdity of tribalism while championing our common humanity."[11]
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