By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
Danielle Wirsansky was born in Israel, but moved to Jacksonville as a young child. She became a Mandarin resident in 1998 and, although she has moved on to new places, her family still lives in the same Mandarin home and she considers herself a product of Mandarin. She attended Pine Forest Elementary and La Villa Middle School, both Duval County magnet schools of the arts and graduated from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Her major at Douglas Anderson was a dual one: theater and creative writing. While in high school, she penned a monthly arts column for The CreekLine’s sister publication, Mandarin NewsLine. She began writing and producing plays while in high school and developed an interest in World War II and the Holocaust. After graduating, she attended Florida State University and earned two bachelor’s degrees — one in theater and one in English creative writing — and continued to explore her passion for writing about the Holocaust. Deciding that she needed to be an expert on what she was writing about, she earned a Master’s degree in history at FSU and is currently a PhD candidate, all but dissertation. Danielle founded her own theater company, White Mouse Productions, and her latest musical, “The Secrets We Keep,” recently had performances in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Off Broadway in New York City.
Q: How did you start writing about World War II and the Holocaust?
A: I made a documentary about Jewish World War II veterans while I was in high school. I was able to get testimony that led to my production of “Son of a Gun,” which won the Critics Choice for a World War II verbatim piece of theater. Then in college, my undergrad thesis was a musical geared towards Holocaust education called “City of Light.” I won several research grants to write and produce this. I also produced a number of my own plays and musicals during this time at college.
Q: When did you found White Mouse Productions?
A: This was in 2016. I named the company after the code name of a woman World War II spy named Nancy Wake. At first, this theater company was to teach about World War II history, but by 2017 our mission statement had evolved and became broader: “Creating theater for social change.” I served as White Mouse Productions’ artistic director from 2016 until 2018, when I graduated with my Master’s degree. Over the years, I have held pretty much every position with the company and am currently the finance director.
Q: What can you tell us about “The Secrets We Keep?”
A: This is my fifth musical; I served as book writer and lyricist. It’s my third musical geared toward Holocaust education and it was developed through a grant from the Elie Wiesel Foundation. Our initial goal was just to produce it in New York, but then decided to raise a bit more money and stage it in an Off Broadway theater (the number of seats in the theater determines if a show is Off Off Broadway, Off Broadway, or Broadway). The show closed at the end of May, but we are still looking for more opportunities for this musical.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: I will have graduated with my PhD and hopefully be working at a research unit. I enjoy teaching (and have done so at Jacksonville University and FSU), but my passion is still research and writing. I know I’ll still be writing plays and musicals.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I spend a lot of time on research because I really enjoy it. I also like photography. I enjoy knitting, even though I can only knit squares. And one of the rare times I’m not moving is because I have a bunny on my lap. I have two rabbits, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern … they make me stop working.
Photo courtesy Danielle Wirsansky
Danielle Wirsansky
