The Moving ‘Willesden Lane’

Ensemble Theatre Company’s latest New Vic production The Pianist of Willesden Lane, a true story about a young Jewish musician navigating the Nazi regime in Vienna and London during the Blitzkrieg, is a truly thought-provoking show.

Told by Mona Golabek, a world-renowned Grammy nominated pianist and the daughter of Lisa Jura – a pianist who, at age 14, was separated from everything and everyone she knew and loved – is a riveting story of World War II survival, based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane – Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love and Survival by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. The stage production is directed by Hershey Felder, a former scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music now working in Florence, Italy.

Golabek brings her mother’s extraordinary tale of survival and triumph admirably to the stage, featuring live performances of classics by Chopin, Debussy, Bach, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven.

It is a deeply moving story infused with hope and the life-affirming power of music. A truly affecting tour de force.

It runs through Feb. 18.