Palm Desert, CA – The McCallum Theatre proudly presents two captivating performances available to the general public for just $15 per ticket. These unique offerings promise to leave a lasting impression on audiences, enriching McCallum’s 2024-2025 season line-up with artistry and creativity at the highest level.
THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE is a moving storytelling performance featuring internationally renowned concert pianist and GRAMMY nominee Mona Golabek who plays some of the world’s most revered piano compositions as she shares her mother’s riveting story of survival during World War II. Filled with hope and the life-affirming power of music, this performance is 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. Coming to the McCallum Theatre on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 7:00pm. Suitable for both adults and children ages 9 and up (75 minutes, no intermission).
“A stirring case of art preserving life…Golabek sitting down at the Steinway piano is enough to make your mouth fall open with a certain wonder at the way of the world.” – Chicago Tribune
US Premiere THE PROBLEM WITH PINK, Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke and La [parenthèse] / Christophe Garcia. Four brilliant performers blend dance, theater, and striking visuals to explore friendship, identity, and belonging in this exhilarating dance drama, that invite audiences to reflect on stereotypes and imagine the future with boldness, brightness and freedom. Recipient of the Louise-Lahaye Prize 2020 / Érika Tremblay-Roy – Playwright. Coming to the McCallum Theatre on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 7:00pm. Suitable for both adults and children 6 and up (55 minutes, no intermission).
“One of this year’s Imaginate Festival’s more crucial and well-executed performances (…) Erika Tremblay-Roy’s writing is remarkably tight, as the production communicates in multiple genres, particularly dance, to evoke the pleasures and despairs of discovering oneself.”
― Dominic Corr, corrblimey.uk
Tickets go on sale Friday, November 1 at 12:00pm (Noon).
Tickets for The Children of Willesden Lane and The Problem with Pink are $15 per ticket and are available at https://www.mccallumtheatre.org/ or by calling the McCallum Theatre Box Office at (760) 340-2787. The McCallum Theatre, located at 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert CA 92260, accepts payment by cash, personal check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.
The McCallum Box Office is currently open Monday-Friday from 12:00pm (Noon) – 5:00pm. The Box Office is closed on all major holidays, and hours vary on show days.
PLEASE NOTE:
The McCallum Theatre Box Office, phone center, and website, are the
only</> authorized outlets for tickets to performances presented at the theatre.
Tickets purchased from any other sources, such as brokers or secondary market websites, are purchased at consumer’s own risk and cannot be guaranteed as valid.
About Mona Golabek
Author, recording artist, and internationally renowned concert pianist Mona Golabek learned to play the piano from her mother, Holocaust survivor Lisa Jura. Her father, Michel Golabek, fought valiantly in the French resistance and received the Croix de Guerre. Mona’s grandparents died at Auschwitz. Her mother is the subject of Mona’s acclaimed book, The Children of Willesden Lane, co-authored by Lee Cohen. The book has been translated in a dozen languages, including the recent Arabic and Ukrainian publications. The book will be published in Mandarin in 2025.
In 2012, Mona made her stage debut in The Pianist of Willesden Lane, adapted from the book. The production, directed by Hershey Felder, has been celebrated by critics and audiences with sold out theatrical runs in New York, London, and many other cities. Mona has received Best Actress nominations from the New York Drama Desk and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.
A GRAMMY nominee, Mona is a prolific recording artist and has been the subject of several documentaries including Concerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta. Her discography includes the best-selling Carnival of the Animals and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, both recorded with her sister Renee. They feature the voices of Meryl Streep, Audrey Hepburn, Ted Danson, and Lily Tomlin.
In 2002, Mona formed the Hold On To Your Music Foundation with the help of the Milken Family Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Annenberg Foundation. Its mission is to foster hope through the power of storytelling and music and embolden the human spirit in the face of adversity. Now, her foundation is partnered with the USC Shoah Foundation, creating a groundbreaking educational initiative, The Willesden Project, that brings her mother’s story to students and communities across the globe. More than ten million students, readers, and audience goers have experienced the inspirational message of “Willesden Lane.”
To learn more about the Hold On To Your Music Foundation, visit https://holdontoyourmusic.org/.
About Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke and La [Christophe Garcia].
Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke.
The mission of Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke is to develop the practice and attendance of theatre in children and youth by placing words and dramatic art at the heart of research and by offering multidisciplinary teams the creative environment that allows them to experiment with the musical, visual and physical languages.
A theatre that defies convention, always looking for new ways to tell a story and make it blossom and to grab young audiences attention by playing with the codes of performance, inviting them to visit a universe that ignites imagination. A theatre that allows for greater freedom of interpretation, giving young audiences’ sensibilities and intelligence a different perspective and trusting their ability to discover new versions of a story. A theatre that cares about showcasing the talent of local artists while establishing new collaborations with companies from abroad, thus multiplying exchange opportunities between creators from different artistic scopes and disciplines.
In 50 years of artistic activity, Le Petit Théâtre has created more than 90 plays presented in Québec, Canada, United States, France, South Korea, Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland and South America.
La [parenthèse] / Christophe Garcia
The dance company La [parenthèse] / Christophe Garcia was founded in 2000 with the desire to tell stories about the human experience through dance, music and text. From the very beginning, its founder was driven by the desire to build bridges between the arts, generations and continents. Each show offers a unique universe: small intimate shapes alongside ambitious shows. The poetry and dynamism of the artists impart a common tone to all productions.
Since its inception, La [parenthèse] has presented more than 25 creations in France, Canada, United States, Germany, Scotland, Croatia, Italy, South America, Switzerland and Netherland. The company continues to project itself in creations on different scales, which always remain unifying, joyful and human.
