Pianist to tell her mother’s story in Suncoast show

Step into the world of Lisa Jura and be transported back to a different time. Jura, a child prodigy, was hurried out of Nazi- occupied Vienna when she was 14 and sent to London. She went on to become an internationally renowned concert pianist.

Now, Mona Golabek, Jura's daughter and a Grammy-nominated concert pianist in her own right, is slated to perform in "The Pianist of Willesden Lane," the story of her mother, at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Suncoast, 9090 Alta Drive.

The show is being presented by the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada.

"When you see her sit down at the piano as her mother, she transforms her body," said Norma Morrow, co-founder, who saw the show in Southern California. "It's magical to watch."

Morrow said it was a very powerful story wrapped in music and one that "really tugs at the heart. The music is mesmerizing."

Golabek recalled practicing at the piano as a youngster and having four other students in the house, all playing at five different pianos in five different rooms. Her mother would go from one to the next like a whirlwind of energy.

"It was like she would race from one room to the other. My sister would jokingly say, 'Mom, put on your roller skates,' '' she said. "She was incredible because she made the piano lessons (into) stories of life. She always said that each piece tells a story, but you have to discover what that story is. Of course, you had to learn the technical side and the interpretation and all that stuff, but you had to know what was the heart and soul behind the music. Who did the composer write it for? Was it dedicated for someone? Was he in love with someone?"

As she practiced, Golabek got more than an education in music.

"Sprinkled in between ... sonatas would be the story of her life," Golabek said. "I would hear mysterious bits and pieces about a young boy named Johnny King Kong, who read poetry to her at nighttime while the bombs rained down. Or a boy named Aaron, who was so handsome that she had a crush on him at the Jewish hostel there, who would whistle the Greig piano concerto to her. Or Hans the blind boy, who would sit by her side when she practiced the piano. So I'd hear all these things ... these were all kids who grew up at a Jewish hostel on a street called Willesden Lane, and that's where the title of the play comes from."

Golabek first captured the stories in a book of the same name. She founded Hold On To Your Music, a foundation devoted to spreading the message that there's power in music. She partnered with the Milken Family Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation to create educational resources, which, along with her book, have been adopted into school curriculum across America. About five years after the book was written, it was adapted into a play.

Golabek, who trained at The Juilliard School, said living out her late mother's experiences on stage only increased her awe for how exceptional a person she'd been.

"I walk out there every night, and I'm really raw, with an open heart," she said. "I just try to honestly tell her story. I become her. I try the best that I can to relive that story, through the excitement of growing up in Vienna in the city of Mozart ... to when the professor said she can never study with him again, boarding that train."

Is it difficult to get into the head of your own mother?

"I don't think I'm getting into her head so much as I'm getting into her heart," Golabek said. "What was she feeling? What did she struggle with, all alone in the world in a foreign country? I think about that."

The show was supposed to close in Los Angeles, but it kept being extended. It is coming to Las Vegas before going to Boston for a three-month run. Then it will begin touring nationally.

The director is Hershey Felder, known for starring in his own shows depicting Leonard Bernstein, Frédéric Chopin, George Gershwin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Morrow said it was a different type of show for the theater to present but helped cement its status.

"We're growing, but we're able to bring in artists of a quality like this," Morrow said. "Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to have a month (long) run in Las Vegas."

Tickets are $28, $38 and $48 and can be purchased at the Suncoast box office by calling 636-7075 or visiting suncoastcasino.com. For more information, call 243-6950.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.