Actor Roger Guenveur Smith, who’s known for his roles in School Daze and A Huey P. Newton Story, will perform his one-man show, Otto Frank, portraying the father of diarist Anne Frank, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 14 at the Theater at Baranco Elementary, located at 801 Mudd Ave.
The performance is part of Performing Arts Serving Acadiana’s new Pop-Up at Baranco Series that takes place in the 400-seat theater of the historic Baranco Elementary. Baranco is an accessible venue and American Sign Language will be offered. Tickets are available at pasaonline.org and at the Heymann Center box office.
In this intimate performance, set to a score by Marc Anthony Thompson, Smith’s character Otto Frank addresses his daughter beyond her time and his own, navigating his shattering loss as the only survivor of his immediate family, and negotiating his subsequent service to the living and the dead as the steward of her work.
Roger Guenveur Smith is an internationally acclaimed actor, writer, and director who has created a prolific body of work on stage and screen.
He adapted his Obie Award-winning solo performance of A Huey P. Newton Story into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm, directed by his longtime colleague Spike Lee, with whom he continues to collaborate in a relationship which is unparalleled in the American cinema.
For Lee's Oscar-nominated Do The Right Thing, Smith improvised the stuttering hero, Smiley, after his debut as fraternity pledge Yoda in Lee's first studio film, School Daze. The eclectic range of characters expanded with a Russian roulette-playing gangster in Malcolm X, a guitar-playing cop in Get On the Bus, the street philosopher Big Time Willie in He Got Game, a hardnose detective in Summer of Sam, and an opportunistic insurance salesman in Chi-Raq. Smith portrayed American black leader Booker T. Washington in the 2020 Netflix miniseries Self Made, based on the life of Madame C. J. Walker.
Before entering the Yale School of Drama (into a class which included Angela Bassett, Charles S. Dutton, and John Turturro) Smith studied history, earning an undergraduate degree in American Studies at Occidental College.
This show fits perfectly in the intimate Theater at Baranco that draws the audience in. PASA Operations Director Maleah Bocage and board member Daniel Wiltz saw Otto Frank in New York City and attest that Smith’s performance is a passionate portrayal that draws on the emotions of theater goers and drama lovers.
The performance of Otto Frank is approximately one-hour long, with no intermission. Parking is plentiful on the Baranco Elementary Campus.
In addition to the performance, a panel discussion that focuses on the impact of the Jewish community on the development of Acadiana will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Temple Shalom, located on 603 Lee Ave. in downtown Lafayette. The event is free and open to the public. The panel includes Corey Saft, Adele Wormser, Jenee Naquin, Zack Stein and Sam Masur.
In addition to the performance, a panel discussion that focuses on the impact of the Jewish community on the development of Acadiana will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Temple Shalom, located on 603 Lee Ave. in downtown Lafayette. The panel includes Zack Stein, Audrey Wormser, Jenee Naquin, Sam Masur and Corey Saft.
PASA’s Pop-Ups at Baranco, including Otto Frank, are generously sponsored by the law firm of Oats & Marino and a partnership with 100 Black Men of Lafayette. Additional support has been provided by Holly and Sam Masur, and grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.
PASA is supported an operational grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Ofice of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and an External Agencies Funding Program grant, sponsored by Lafayette Consolidated Government and administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
For more information, contact PASA at 337-769-3231 or email jackie@pasaonline.org.
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About PASA: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana offers performing arts entertainment, focusing on dance, theater, and classical music, with occasional forays into other genres. PASA also delivers performing arts activities—master classes, workshops, lecture demonstrations and other offerings—in a variety of locations in the Acadiana area.
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