THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE Features Post-Show Talkback, 5/19

THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE, starring internationally-acclaimed storyteller and pianist, Mona Golabek, will feature a special talkback discussion on Sunday, May 19 with Alison Pure-Slovin, Midwest Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center following the 3 p.m. performance at The Royal George Theatre, 1641 North Halsted Street. The production is adapted and directed byHershey Felder and based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Golabek and Lee Cohen. The Chicago premiere has received rave reviews and follows successful productions in Los Angeles and Boston.

After nine years of leading fundraising in the Midwest for Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a private hospital in Jerusalem, lifelong Chicagoan, Alison Pure-Slovin took on a new role as the Midwest Regional Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, whose Midwest office opened this past September. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, named for the Holocaust survivor who hunted down Nazis, is a global Jewish human rights organization that confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promotes human rights and dignity, stands with Israel, defends the safety of Jews worldwide, and teaches the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations. With a constituency of over 400,000 households in the United States, it is accredited as an NGO (non-government organization) at international organizations including the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE, Organization of American States (OAS), the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO) and the Council of Europe. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Simon Wiesenthal Center maintains offices in New York, Toronto, Miami, Chicago, Paris, Buenos Aires, and Jerusalem.

Set in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg, THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE tells the true story of Mona Golabek's mother, noted pianist and author Lisa Jura. A young Jewish pianist, Lisa dreams of a concert debut at the storied Musikverein concert hall. When Lisa is sent on the kinder transport to London to protect her from the Nazi regime, everything about her life is upended except her love of music and her pursuit of her dream. Golabek performs some of the world's most beloved piano music in this poignant true story of her mother's experience in wartime Europe. Adapted and directed by local favorite Hershey Felder, THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE is a riveting tale of hope that is a powerful testament to how music helps us survive through our darkest times.

"This beautiful tale told by Mona Golabek herself is performed in the style of musical storytelling that Chicago audiences have come to know from me," said adapter/director Hershey Felder, creator and performer of audience favorites including George Gershwin Alone and Maestro: Leonard Bernstein. "Being able to work with her to present this piece has been an incredible joy both because her skill as a musician enables the evening to showcase some of the world's most beautiful and enduring piano music ever composed, and also because no one else could tell this story the way she can."

American concert pianist Mona Golabek has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and Royal Festival Hall alongside major orchestras worldwide. A Grammy nominee, she has been the subject of several documentaries includingConcerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta. Her syndicated radio program,The Romantic Hours, combines music with poetry and can be heard on 80 stations and XM Satellite Radio. Ms. Golabek and her family are founders of the non-profit Hold On To Your Music, which spreads the message of the power of the arts, especially music, to embolden the human spirit. In addition, Golabek and Lee Cohen are award-winning authors of The Children of Willesden Lane, the book upon which THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE is based.

Hershey Felder (Adaptation/Director)

Broadway, London's West End: George Gershwin Alone (Helen Hayes Theatre, Duchess Theatre). Regional and international appearances of "Composers Sonata" (1999-2013) - George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven, As I Knew Him, and Maestro: Leonard Bernstein. Winner of 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Best Musical and Best Actor for George Gershwin Alone. Worldwide live broadcasts, George Gershwin Alone, 2005 and 2011. Current projects include An American Story for Actor & Orchestra and Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt in The Piano Show. Mr. Felder has been a Scholar in Residence at Harvard University's Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada.

The artistic team for THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE is led by Director Hershey Felder with Associate Direction by Trevor Hay. Scenic Design is by David Buess and Trevor Hay , Sound Design is by Erik Carstensen, Lighting Design is by Chris Rynne, Projection Design is by Greg Sowizdrzal and Andrew Wilder, and Scenic Construction is by Christian Thorsen and David Buess. Erik Carstensen serves as Production Manager and the Production Stage Manager is Brett Taylor.

The performance schedule for THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE is as follows: Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. Saturdays at 2 p.m & 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $44 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and $49 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are now on sale at The Royal George Theatre and may be purchased by calling 312.988.9000. Box office hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.theroyalgeorgetheatre.com.

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