The Pianist of Willesden Lane

Mona Golabek is electrifying in The Pianist of Willesden Lane.  In the play, now finishing up a run at Chicago’s Royal George Theater, she tells the story of her mother Lisa Jura from her teenage years in Vienna at the start of World War II to her immigration to America after the war.  Mona recounts everything through monologues and piano pieces that weave an enthralling tale.

From the beginning Mona paints a picture of a young Jewish girl’s life in Austria at the start of the war describing how her everyday life is shattered by the refusal of her piano teacher to give her lessons because she is a Jew.  Although she has great promise as an artist, she cannot continue because of the political climate in 1938.

Chance has it that Lisa is forced to leave her family and take the kinder transport to London when she is chosen by her father to be the one of three sisters to leave the continent and escape.  Only a select number of children are allowed to leave and Lisa gains her ticket to freedom at the cost of being separated from her parents and siblings.  As Mona continues telling her mother’s story the piano is the center of attention while behind her are four picture frames where the audience views projected images of her family and scenes of Europe at the time. These are little windows into Lisa Jura’s world.

While articulating the story, Mona plays movements of some of the great piano masterpieces with agile ability.  Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky fill the theater moving the narrative along and Mona uses tricks from old Hollywood movies, including flashbacks and concert moments, to keep us enthralled.  The result is mesmerizing.

When Lisa arrives in London she is supposed to re-unite with distant family but is quickly informed that there is no room for her.  Finding a safe haven in a boarding house on Willesden Lane with other displaced Jewish children, it is here where, despite the war, she is able to reconnect with the piano and achieve her dreams of being a professional concert pianist.

Mona Golabek is an accomplished pianist in her own right.  She has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and the Royal Festival Hall and alongside major orchestras worldwide. A Grammy nominee, she is the recipient of numerous awards including the Avery Fisher Prize and has been the subject of several PBS television documentaries.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane is directed by Hershey Felder who has directed numerous Broadway and regional productions in the U.S. as well as shows in London’s West End.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane is playing a limited engagement in Chicago at the Royal George Theater and we recommend that you catch this tour de force before it closes.