Entitled The Pianist, the production is written and directed by Thom Southerland, whose credits include Titanic the Musical. It features Szpilman’s own music with new lyrics, freshly orchestrated by Simon Lee, Andrew Lloyd-Webber's long time Musical Director.
After a four-day run in Southampton, the production will transfer to London’s Park Theatre on October 15, where a total of eight performances are planned until November 28.
Mayflower Studios writes on its website that the production “brings one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable true stories to the stage featuring Szpilman’s own music for the very first time.”
The theatre describes “The Pianist” as “a love letter to culture, to the artists and dreamers who carried it, and to the extraordinary power of creativity to outlast even the most turbulent chapters of history”, adding: “Szpilman’s music doesn’t merely accompany this story; it breathes life into it, binding past to present and reminding us that some things, once made, can never truly be silenced.”
Daniel Krikler, who appears in the title role, said in a press statement: “I couldn’t be more honoured and excited to be bringing Wladysław’s life to the stage, especially in a way that truly celebrates his own compositions through phenomenal live musicians and orchestrations. As well as being a timely reminder of what happens when we dehumanise a particular section of society, Szpilman’s story demonstrates the true universality and power of music.”
Szpilman’s son, Andrzej Szpilman, who served as an adviser for the production, is looking forward to the UK premiere of The Pianist.
He told The Times that his father’s story “is important as it shows that even in such tragic circumstances there was hope and the will to survive. My father and his artistry won the war against Hitler.”
Born in 1911, Władysław Szpilman studied piano performance and composition in Warsaw and Berlin. During WWII, he was forced to move into the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, along with his parents, two sisters and the brother, all of whom perished in the Holocaust. He miraculously survived the hostilities. In the final months of the war, he found shelter in the ruins of Warsaw and survived thanks to help from his Polish friends and German officer Wilm Hosenfeld.
After the war, he served as director of Polish Radio’s music department for almost two decades. His compositional output includes some 500 songs, many of which became hits, and several symphonic works.
Szpilman published his wartime memoirs soon after World War II ended, but the book was soon banned by Poland’s Stalinist authorities. It was republished by Szpilman’s son in 1998, in German and English, and has since been translated into more than 35 languages.
Szpilman died in 2000 at the age of 88.
(mk/jh)