Slam Frank: The Musical Satire Dividing the Internet Before It Even Opens

New Yorks theater world has its latest lightning rod: “Slam Frank,” a boundary-pushing musical satire that reimagines Anne Franks life through a hyper-modern lens of identity politics and “overzealous inclusivity.”

Published on July 31, 2025 By
Kristen Butler

Inspired by a 2022 Twitter thread that questioned whether Anne Frank ever acknowledged her “white privilege,” the new musical transforms Anne Frank into “Anita Franco,” a pansexual Latinx girlboss with a hip-hop diary flow. Peter Van Daan is recast as a non-binary dancer, while Mister Van Daan is framed as “literally worse than the Nazis.” The shows creators describe the work as a provocative commentary on art, absurdity, and identity — and they seem to welcome the fact that its dividing audiences before the first performance.