The Pianist of Willesden Lane
based on the book "The Children of Willesden Lane" by Mona Golabek & Lee Cohen
adapted and directed by Hershey Felder
February 27 through March 22
Run time: 90 minutes; no intermission
Advisory: Recommended for ages ages 10 and up. Play contains content and themes on war and the Holocaust.
At age 14, pianist Lisa Jura was separated from everything and everyone she knew and loved. In The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Jura’s daughter, renowned pianist Mona Golabek, brings her mother’s true tale of survival and triumph to the stage. Featuring live performances of classics by Chopin, Beethoven, and Debussy, Pianist is a deeply moving story infused with hope and the life-affirming power of music.
Mona Golabek is an American concert pianist and has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and Royal Festival Hall. She is a Grammy nominee who has been the sub-ject of several documentaries, including Concerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta. Her recordings include Carnival of the Animals and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite featur-ing Meryl Streep, both recorded with Mona’s sister, Renee Golabek-Kaye. Both daughters were taught by their mother, Lisa Jura, who is the subject of Mona’s acclaimed book, The Children of Willesden Lane. Mona founded Hold On To Your Music, a foundation devoted to spreading the message of the power of music. With the help of the Milken Family Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves and the Annenberg Foundation, she created edu-cational resources which, with her book, have been adopted into school curricula across America.