Back by popular demand!
Hershey Felder Presents
Mona Golabek in
The Pianist of Willesden Lane
based on the book
"The Children of Willesden Lane"
by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
adapted and directed by Hershey Felder
December 6 – 22
Ticket prices range from $40-$70 for remaining performances.
"Run, don't walk to see The Pianist of Willesden Lane."
WILTON MAGAZINE
"Whether or not you are holiday shopping, there's a treat for you at the Westport Country Playhouse. It's Mona Golabek and her show, The Pianist of Willesden Lane."
BROADWAYWORLD.COM
An exquisite musical memoir
Grammy-nominated pianist and storyteller Mona Golabek shares the gripping, biographical tale of her mother’s escape from Vienna in 1938. When the young Jewish piano prodigy finds her dreams threatened by the looming war, she escapes to England on the Kindertransport. Ms. Golabek tells an incomparable true story while interweaving the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and even a little Gershwin in this elegant and beautiful production.
Mona Golabek
American concert pianist Mona Golabek has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center and Royal Festival Hall. She is a Grammy nominee who has been the subject of several documentaries, including Concerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta. Her recordings include Carnival of the Animals and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite featuring 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’s father, Michele Golabek, received the Croix de Guerre for his role in the French Resistance.
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 educational resources which, with her book, have been adopted into school curricula across America. Additional educational partnerships have been formed with the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Mashplant and the USC Shoah Foundation — all helping to bring forth the story of Lisa Jura.
Adaptor/Director Hershey Felder
Felder created and performed George Gershwin Alone, which played on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, in the West End at the Duchess Theatre, and in theaters around the country. His Composers Sonata — George Gershwin Alone; Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven, As I Knew Him; Maestro Bernstein; Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt in Musik; and Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin — has been presented at dozens of theaters across the U.S. and around the world.
Compositions and recordings include Aliyah, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Fairytale, a musical; Les Anges de Paris, Suite for Violin and Piano; Song Settings; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; Love Songs of the Yiddish Theatre; Back from Broadway; and An American Story for Actor and Orchestra. He created Eighty-Eight Entertainment in 2001; its newest division, Hershey Felder Presents, continues in the creation of new works of musical theater.
EDUCATION PARTNERS
Judy and Scott Phares