Stebner stars as Anne Frank

By GRACE WYLER gwyler@vindy.com

In the early years of Li Stebner’s life, it was not immediately apparent that she was made for the stage.

The young actress, who is now starring in “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the Ashtabula Arts Center, was born with apraxia, a speech disorder that makes it difficult for the speaker to say what he or she wants clearly.

Stebner, a Canfield native, began taking singing and acting workshops as part of her speech therapy, and soon fell in love with the theater. She got her first role playing Sleepy, one of the seven dwarves, in a stage adaptation of Snow White when she was 8 years old, and has since performed in over 25 productions in Northeast Ohio.

Stebner, now 13 and a seventh-grade student at Willow Creek Learning Center in Boardman, is now starring as Anne Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play based on the true story of a Jewish girl’s life in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

The play is based on “The Diary of a Young Girl,” the real-life diary of Anne Frank, which has sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into 65 languages.

“Anne Frank has been a role she has wanted to do for a long time,” Cherie Stebner, Li’s mother, said. “It has prompted a whole interest in another world that she has not previously been exposed to.”

The experience of portraying Anne Frank has been eye-opening and educational, Li said.

“I got to learn more about the Holocaust and about what the Jews had to do to escape from it,” Li said. “[Playing Anne Frank has] taught me not only about the horrors of what was happening in the concentration camps and the ghettos but also what the people had to do to survive.”

Li’s performance as Anne Frank has been well-received, Cherie said.

“I thanked the director for giving her the role, and he told me ‘She earned this role,’” Cherie said.

Anne Frank is the third lead role of Li’s career. Li has also taken the stage as Mary Lennox in the Youngstown Playhouse’s performance of “A Secret Garden” and as Helen Keller in the Victorian Players’ production of “The Miracle Worker.” Li has earned four YACTA awards for juvenile performance.

Li hopes to continue to act and study theater. She would like attend a performing arts high school and then pursue musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University or New York University.

“I would like to study theater and acting,” Li said. “My goal is to become a professional actor or actress on Broadway or any place where I can do what I love.”

“The Diary of Anne Frank,” adapted by Wendy Kesselman and directed by Stephen Rhodes, is playing at the G.B. Community Center in the Ashtabula Arts Center on Feb. 20, 21, 26 and 27. Doors open on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $11 for students and seniors.