20 minute read
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 – 18, 2022
LETTER FROM THEATER J'S MANAGING DIRECTOR
Dear Friends,
I couldn’t be happier to welcome Mona Golabek back to Theater J for a return engagement of The Pianist of Willesden Lane.
No one but Mona Golabek could have created such an intimate version of her mother, Lisa Jura’s, story. Lisa was separated from her family in World War II, brought to London on the Kindertransport. As a refugee child she was taken in, and with the help of music, she survived.
Only a daughter could bring such a personal touch to the portrayal of her mother. And only Mona could perform the same concert repertoire her mother played with such mastery.
In 2018, when Mona first brought us this show, we marked the 80 th anniversary of the Kindertransport. Then, as an act of resistance and pride, it seemed historically important to remember the story of her mother. Today more than ever, we need stories like this. As refugee children are torn from their parents, we need to remember stories like Lisa Jura’s. As powerful people trumpet antisemitism to their millions of followers, we need to tell stories of hope.
Educating future generations is key to the survival of Jewish heritage and faith. The Pianist of Willesden Lane is our link from past to present to future. Theater J is pleased to be bringing students from four area schools to experience this production. A Theater J teaching artist will also visit their classroom as part of a pilot program sponsored by the Shapiro Family Foundation. If you are interested in supporting this work and educating future generations, you can contribute at theaterj.org/donate. Together we can build a better world, worthy of beautiful music and the hope of youth.
As we build a better tomorrow, I thank you for being with us tonight.
Warmly,
David Lloyd Olson, Theater J Managing Director
THANK YOU TO OUR 2022/2023 SEASON SPONSORS
LEADING PRODUCER Covenant Foundation DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities National Endowment for the Arts
SPONSORING PRODUCER The Government of the District of Columbia Norbert Hornstein and Amy Weinberg Sari R. Hornstein The Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation Revada Foundation of the Logan Family Susie and Michael Gelman, The Morningstar Foundation Nussdorf Family Foundation Kay Richman and Daniel Kaplan Share Fund The Shubert Foundation
SUPPORTING PRODUCER Bruce A. Cohen* Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch Dianne and Herb Lerner Alfred Munzer and Joel Wind Helene and Robert Schlossberg Barney Shapiro and Susan Walker
THANK YOU TO OUR PRODUCTION SPONSORStuart Eizenstat
This production is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
*of blessed memory
AARON & CECILE GOLDMAN THEATER • TRISH VRADENBURG STAGE
THEATER J David Lloyd Olson, Managing Director
Presents The Hershey Felder Production of
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 Production
Design.....................................................Hershey Felder & Trevor Hay
Lighting/Video Design.............................................Jason Bieber
Sound Design/Production Manager.....................Erik Carstensen
Costume Design.........................................................Jaclyn Maduff
Projection Design.......................................................Andrew Wilder & Greg Sowizdrzal Dramaturg...................................................................Cynthia Caywood, PhD Associate Direction...................................................Trevor Hay
Production Stage Manager.....................................Danny Debner
Assistant Stage Manager.........................................Rebecca Talisman
TIME & PLACE
World War II: Vienna, Austria 1938 - London, England 1942
The running time of The Pianist of Willesden Lane is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
The production thanks Steinway & Sons for their courtesy in providing the concert grand piano.
This production is dedicated with great fondness to the memory of Robert M. Birmingham.
Photography, video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mona Golabek (Lisa Jura)
Mona Golabek is the daughter of Lisa Jura, a child piano prodigy born in Vienna, Austria, who came to England as a refugee in 1938 as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Her father, Michel Golabek, was a French resistance fighter, who received the Croix de Guerre. Mona’s grandparents died at Auschwitz.
Mona, deeply inspired by her mother's story and the last words her mother heard at the train station – “Hold on to your music…. it will be your best friend”, became a concert pianist and has performed with major conductors and orchestras worldwide. The Grammy nominee and prolific recording artist has been the subject of several documentaries including Concerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta.
Her mother is the subject of Ms. Golabek’s acclaimed book, The Children of Willesden Lane, co-authored by Lee Cohen. The book, now in its 24 th printing, has been translated and published in French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Spanish, and Polish. The book is now in pre-production for a major feature film.
In 2012, Mona made her debut in The Pianist of Willesden Lane, adapted from the book. The production, directed by Hershey Felder, has been celebrated by critics and audiences across the globe, with recent sold out theatrical runs in New York and London. Ms. Golabek has received Best Actress Nominations from the New York Drama Desk and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.
Ms. Golabek formed the Hold On To Your Music Foundation. With the help of the Milken Family Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Annenberg Foundation, she created educational resources for the book that have been adopted into school curricula across America. To date, more than 500,000 students and families have experienced the WILLESDEN READ – the educational mission devoted to spreading the message of her mother’s story.
Now, in a unique and groundbreaking partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation, she will bring the educational mission and her mother’s story to students and communities across the globe.
Hershey Felder (Director/Playwright)
American Theatre Magazine has said, “Hershey Felder is in a category all his own.” Following 28 years of continuous stage work and over 6,000 live performances throughout the U.S. and abroad, Hershey Felder created Live from Florence, an arts broadcasting company, which has produced more than a dozen theatrical films to date. They include the world premiere musicals Musical Tales of the Venetian Jewish Ghetto; Before Fiddler, a musical story about writer Sholem Aleichem; The Assembly, based on the award-winning book Out on a Ledge by Eva Libitzky; and others all benefiting theatres and arts organizations across the U.S. Two seasons of programming are currently available at www.hersheyfelder.net.
Hershey has given performances of his self-created solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and has consistently broken box office records. His shows include George Gershwin Alone (Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre, West End’s Duchess Theatre); Chopin in Paris; Beethoven; Maestro (Leonard Bernstein); Franz Liszt in Musik, Lincoln: An American Story, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Our Great Tchaikovsky, and A Paris Love Story.
His 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; and An American
Story for Actor and Orchestra. Hershey is producer and designer for the musical Louis and Keely: ‘Live’ at the Sahara, directed by Taylor Hackford; and writer and director for Flying Solo, featuring opera legend Nathan Gunn. Hershey has operated a full-service production company since 2001. He has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
MS. GOLABEK WOULD LIKE TO THANK:
First and foremost, my heartfelt gratitude to the extraordinary British people who opened their hearts and souls and saved the lives of so many young refugees, including the “kinder” of 243 Willesden Lane.
To those who have given so much love and support through the years: Dr. Kiu Bakshandeh, Dr. Michael Berenbaum, Richard Burkhart, Christine Burrill, Lee Cohen, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, Nancy Fisher, Wendy Fisher, Dr. Jane Foley, Dr. Anita Friedman, Jeff Glassman, Chuck Hurewitz, Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin, Hon Dr. Waltraud Dennhardt-Herzog, Patti Kenner, Larry Kirshbaum, Dina and Fred Leeds, Susan and Moses Libitzky, Milton and Tamar Maltz, Morton Meyerson, Shana Penn, Sandy and Larry Post, Steve Robinson, Victoria Mann Simms and Ron Simms, Bruno Wang, Helen and Sam Zell.
Thank you to my beloved family for your daily strength and inspiration: Jackie Maduff (for her unparalleled dedication), Arnie Wishnick z”l, London, Jesse, Manny, Gary, and to my beloved sister’s children and grandchildren—Michele, Sarah, Jonathan, Rachel, and Ren, Emma, Lisa, and Maya—who continue the musical legacy and carry the torch passed down by Lisa Jura.
Thanks to David Lloyd Olson, Kevin Place, Johanna Gruenhut, Danny Debner, Tom Howley, Jasmine Jones, the box office and house staff, and everyone at Theater J.
I am grateful to everyone who has entered my life in connection with The Pianist of Willesden Lane: my acting coach Howard Fine, the Geffen Playhouse, Samantha Voxakis and the entire team of Hershey Felder Presents.
And finally, infinite gratitude to the incomparable Hershey Felder who believed in the story “of the little girl who was sent away and told to hold on to her music.”
THEATER J LEADERSHIP
David Lloyd Olson (Theater J Managing Director) made his stage debut at age five at the Marcus JCC of Atlanta preschool and is now proud to be one of the leaders of the nation’s largest professional Jewish theater. He most recently served as managing director of Quintessence Theatre Group in northwest Philadelphia. He has held positions at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, GALA Hispanic Theatre, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and Pointless Theatre Company. He was an Allen Lee Hughes management fellow at Arena Stage and a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Valmiera, Latvia. He proudly serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre. He is an alumnus of the University of Maryland and a member of Adas Israel Congregation.
PRODUCTION, EDCJCC, & THEATER J STAFF
PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE STAFF
Head Electrician: Garth Dolan Load-in Crew: Danny Debner and Tom Howley Electricians: Alex Monsell, Rex Hsu, Logan Duvall, Michael House Light Board Programmer: Mikayla French Sound Engineer: Levi Manners
EDLAVITCH DCJCC LEADERSHIP
Edlavitch DCJCC Chief Executive Officer: Dava Schub Chief Financial Officer: Craig Mintz Chief Operating Officer: Bini W. Silver Senior Director of Institutional Advancement: Emily Jillson
THEATER J STAFF
Managing Director: David Lloyd Olson Producing Director: Kevin Place Associate Artistic Director: Johanna Gruenhut
External Affairs Development Manager: Emily Gardner Director of Patron Experience: Jasmine Jones EDCJCC Arts Marketing Coordinator: Lena Barkin EDCJCC Arts Outreach Coordinator: Jacob Ettkin Ticket Office Manager: Tabitha Littlefield EDCJCC Creative Director: Molly Winston House Managers and Ticket Office Associates: Mitchell Adams, Cristen Fletcher, Chad
Kinsman, Regev Ortal, Robert Reeg, Hadiya Rice, Sam Rollin, and Mary-Margaret Walsh
Production Resident Production Stage Manager: Anthony O. Bullock Director of Stage Operations: Danny Debner Technical Director: Tom Howley Head Electrician: Garth Dolan Resident Casting Director: Jenna Place Resident Props Designer: Pamela Weiner
Education & New Play Development Education Programs Assistant: Jen Jacobs Expanding the Canon Rosh Beit: Sabrina Sojourner Expanding the Canon Commissioned Writers: Zachariah Ezer, Harley Elias, Carolivia
Herron, Jesse Jae Hoon, MJ Kang, Thaddeus McCants, and Kendell Pinkney Yiddish Theater Lab Commissioned Writers: Lila Rose Kaplan, Caraid O’Brien, and Aaron Posner
Teaching Artists: Dr. Debra Caplan, Evan Casey, Sarah Corey, Felicia Curry, Kimberly Gilbert, Eric Hissom, Naomi Jacobson, Chad Kinsman, Kate Eastwood Norris, Cody Nickell, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Jenna Place, Aaron Posner, Howard Shalwitz, Dani Stoller, Holly Twyford, Erin Weaver, and Em Whitworth
Founding Artistic Director: Martin Blank
KINDERTRANSPORT
Timeline and Dramaturgy provided by Hartford Stage, Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director, Cynthia Rider, Managing Director. Written by Sarah Hartmann, Artistic Apprentice.
Kindertransport, or Children’s Transport, was a rescue effort to aid Jewish children refugees in escaping Nazi Germany to seek asylum in Great Britain. The British Government permitted the program to move forward following the violence of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, which took place across Greater Germany on November 9, 1938. Several aid committees, including The British Committee for the Jews of Germany and the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany (later renamed the Refugee Children’s Movement), combined their efforts to transport children out of Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. The British Government agreed to issue temporary travel visas to children under 17 with the assumption that they would eventually be able to return to their families. Organizations and private individuals assisting the refugee effort funded the travel and care of the children, including a guarantee of 50 pounds intended to later assist in their re-emigration to Germany.
The first Kindertransport left Berlin on December 1, 1938 carrying almost 200 children from an orphanage that had been destroyed during Kristallnacht. The train stopped in Holland, where the children boarded a ship to ferry them to England. They arrived in Harwich on December 2. The first transport from Vienna left on December 10. Children travelled on their own, infants often being cared for by older children. Those who had sponsors awaiting their arrival were permitted to travel straight to London. Children without sponsors stayed at a camp in Dovercourt Bay until a family or home could be found to take them in; almost half would find foster homes across Great Britain. The children who weren’t taken into foster homes were placed in hostels or group homes. Older children often found work in Britain at factories, farms, or in private homes.
Once Great Britain entered the war in September of 1939, the Kindertransport effort ended, with the last known transport leaving Berlin on September 1, shortly before Britain’s official declaration of war on Germany. Around 1,000 children were interned by the British government as enemy aliens in 1940, several being transported to Australia on the Dunera. Some of these “enemy aliens” were eventually released, and many of the young men joined the war effort to fight in Britain’s Armed Forces.
Over the course of the nine-months that Kindertransport had been in operation, almost 10,000 children had found refuge in Britain. Few of them were ever reunited with their parents, many of whom perished in the atrocities their children had escaped.
Jewish Kindertransport children arriving in London in February 1939.
Photograph: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
AUTHOR’S NOTE
My mother, Lisa Jura, was my best friend. She taught my sister, Renee, and me to play the piano. We loved our piano lessons with her. They were more than piano lessons—they were lessons in life. They were filled with stories of a hostel in London and the people she knew there. Her stories were our folklore, bursting with bits and pieces of wonderful characters who bonded over her music. Sitting at the piano as a child, I would close my eyes and listen to her lilting voice and imagine her world. She always believed “each piece of music tells a story.” Her legacy has inspired my music and my life. I pass along her story in the hope that it may enrich the passion and music that lie in each of us. —Mona Golabek
WWII: A Timeline
Timeline and Dramaturgy provided by Hartford Stage, Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director, Cynthia Rider, Managing Director. Written by Sarah Hartmann, Artistic Apprentice.
1933
JANUARY 30: Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
APRIL 1: A nationwide campaign against Jews is begun by the Nazi Party, starting with a call to boycott Jewish owned businesses. A number of laws follow, including removing Jewish children from public schools.
1934
AUGUST 19: Following the death of German President Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler unites the roles of Chancellor and President to name himself the Führer, or Leader, of Germany.
1935
SEPTEMBER 15: The Reichstag, or German Parliament, passes the Nuremberg Race Laws, which ban Jews from holding citizenship, marrying or having sexual relationships with German persons, and strip them of most political rights, including the right to vote.
1938
MARCH: Germany annexes Austria in what it announces as the Anschluss, or union, in which Austria is unified with the German Reich.
OCTOBER 5: All German Jews’ passports are declared invalid. They are reissued identity cards marked with a red ‘J’ to indicate their heritage.
NOVEMBER 9-10: Violent anti Jewish pogroms are carried out across Greater Germany. Nazi rioters break into homes and Jewish owned shops, and destroy more than 250 synagogues. Over 30,000 Jews are sent into concentration camps. This night was known as Kristallnacht, meaning Night of Broken Glass.
DECEMBER 2: the first Kindertransport from Berlin arrives in Britain, transporting almost 200 Jewish children to safety.
1939
MARCH 15-16: Nazi Germany invades Czechoslovakia.
SEPTEMBER 1: Using a method of attack that became known as a blitzkrieg, or ‘lighting war,’ Nazi Germany invades Poland.
SEPTEMBER 2-3: Britain and France declare war on Germany.
SEPTEMBER 5: The United States declares its neutrality.
1940
JANUARY 8: Rationing begins in Great Britain in an effort to waylay food shortage.
APRIL-MAY: Over the course of the spring Nazi Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France.
MAY 10: Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.
MAY 20: Auschwitz, one of the most notorious concentration camps, is established outside of Krakow, Poland.
JUNE 14: Paris is invaded by the Nazis.
JULY 10: The Battle of Britain begins. The German Luftwaffe would continue an air-strike campaign in British skies over the course of almost 4 months. This would eventually lead to the London Blitz, in which London would experience 57 consecutive days of aerial attack.
SEPTEMBER 27: Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact, becoming the Axis Powers.
1941
OCTOBER: Jews from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia begin to be transported to extermination camps located in Poland and other Baltic States. The Nazis referred to this systematic mass murder as “The Final Solution.”
DECEMBER 7: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war.
1942
JANUARY 26: The First US troops arrive in Great Britain.
1943
FEBRUARY 2: In the first major defeat of Hitler’s forces, Germany surrenders at Stalingrad.
JUNE: British and American air forces begin a bombing offensive on Germany.
SEPTEMBER 8: Italy surrenders to the Allies.
1944
JUNE 6: D-Day landings take place on the beaches of Normandy. British, US, and Canadian troops land on the coast, and though they suffer tremendous losses, by the end of the month they are able to spread into Northern France.
AUGUST 25: Paris is liberated by French and American troops.
1945
JANUARY 26: Auschwitz is liberated.
APRIL 30: Adolph Hitler commits suicide.
MAY 7: Nazi Germany unconditionally surrenders its armed forces to the Allied Powers.
MAY 8: Victory Day is celebrated throughout Europe.
AUGUST 6: The United States drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
AUGUST 14: Japan agrees to an unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers.
NOVEMBER 20: The Nuremberg War Trials begin, marking the first time an international tribunal would be used in this manner to bring leaders to justice for atrocities committed throughout the war.
THE WORLD OF THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE
SPOTLIGHT ON MUSIC: edvard grieg's piano concerto in a minor
By Ellen Morgan Peltz, Former Literary Director at Theater J
While The Pianist of Willesden Lane is brimming with well-recognized and beloved pieces of classical music, one piece in particular takes center stage: Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor. This is the piece with which Lisa Jura—portrayed by her daughter, Mona Golabek—planned to make her debut at Vienna’s Musikverein concert hall. The three movements of the Grieg concerto are featured prominently, opening and closing the play as well as accompanying Jura’s description of the London Blitz and of her professional debut.
Near the beginning of the play, Jura says that she has studied the concerto’s “every secret again and again.” Jura’s inspirational story, told against the backdrop of the Grieg concerto, illuminates many of these secrets for us. Still, some remain unspoken and merit a closer look.
Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian pianist and composer whose music exemplified the trend of nationalism that was popular within the 19th century romantic style. Not surprisingly, this trend was particularly prevalent in countries with a history of forced subservience to a foreign power. Grieg’s music features a distinctively Norwegian style of composition, derived in large part from his integration of native folk tunes into his work. (The third movement of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, for example, incorporates nods to a Norwegian folk dance and imitations of a Norwegian folk fiddle.) The fact that Jura’s attraction to Grieg’s concerto coincides with Germany’s invasion of Austria and her own loss of nation and family adds a layer of somber significance to the pairing.
Despite being widely considered one of the leading composers of the Romantic era, Grieg was not a very prolific composer. His Piano Concerto in A minor is Grieg’s only completed concerto and easily his most significant work. Though he was only 25 when he wrote it, the piece possesses the confidence and polish of a much more mature and experienced musician.
It is particularly fitting that the Grieg concerto holds a significant place in the careers of both Jura and, in her portrayal of her mother, Golabek. Grieg’s obsession with perfecting the piece spanned his entire career; the final version of the concerto was completed only weeks before his death. When Golabek plays the final movement of the Concerto as a postlude to her mother’s story, the magnitude of the music—connecting her mother’s lifetime to her own, her mother’s story to hers, and her story to ours—is undeniable. The concerto’s ability to span lifetimes and unite generations is one of its secrets that Jura would not likely have been able to grasp at age 14. We have her daughter to thank for revealing that secret to us today.
COMING NEXT: TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR...
Co-Starring Bobby Smith
Omnipresent DC talent Bobby Smith returns to Theater J’s stage in Two Jews Walk Into a War… by Seth Rozin this January
Smith joined Theater J Producing Director Kevin Place for an interview about his career and the upcoming production.
Place: It’s been over a decade since you’ve been in a show at Theater J—what makes you excited to come back?
Smith: The last project I was in here was a musical and it was just a massively big project—none of us had any time to relax into the amazing environment here at the EDCJCC. It’s great to come back and be in a smaller play, get deep into this script, and get to enjoy this community and the artists who work here.
Place: Between one-man shows, big-budget musicals, and more you are one of the busiest actors in town. How do you do it?
Smith: Listen, I’m very lucky to do what I do—and also it is a business and my source of income. Sometimes it feels like I’m running for my life! But when I focus on the part of me that just wants to do the work right, to make the audience in the room and my collaborators happy, I’m reminded of what an honor it is. I learn so much from everybody. I’ve never really stopped learning, and that gets me ready every time.
Place: What draws you to Two Jews Walk Into a War…?
Smith: I’m so intrigued by these two men, Zeblyan and Ishaq, and the unique situation they are in as Jewish people in Afghanistan at this time. But even more than that, I’m intrigued by the personas they inhabit and the style of this piece— like a vaudeville, but without Groucho Marx. I’ve also wanted to work with director Adam Immerwahr for a long time. To share this with him and Sasha Olinick and create and learn and play together is going to be such a treat.
Two Jews Walk Into a War… runs from January 11 to February 5, 2023. For tickets visit theaterj.org.
