The Band's Visit (musical)
| The Band’s Visit | |
|---|---|
Playbill for the Broadway production
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| Music | David Yazbek |
| Lyrics | David Yazbek |
| Book | Itamar Moses |
| Setting | Negev |
| Basis | 2007 Film The Band's Visit |
| Premiere | December 8, 2016: Linda Gross Theater |
| Productions | 2016 Off-Broadway 2017 Broadway |
| Awards | 2017 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music 2017 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics |
The Band’s Visit is a musical composed by David Yazbek with book by Itamar Moses. The musical is based on the 2007 film The Band's Visit. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in December 2016 and won the 2017 Obie Award for Musical Theatre as well as other awards such as the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for Best Musical.
The original production premiered Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater on November 11, 2016 (previews) officially on December 8, 2016, and closed on January 8, 2017. The musical was developed and produced with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s National Fund for New Musicals. The musical was directed by David Cromer with choreography by Patrick McCollum and movement by Lee Sher and starred Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk, John Cariani and George Abud.
The musical began previews on Broadway on October 7, 2017 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre prior to an official opening on November 9, 2017.
In 1996, an Egyptian Police Band arrives in Israel to play a concert at the Arab Culture Center in Petah Tikvah. However, they inadvertently buy bus tickets to Bet Hatikvah, an isolated village in the desert rather than their concert venue. The band is welcomed by the Israeli villagers, since they have no transportation until the next day. The band members are given rooms to stay in by the villagers. The local cafe owner, Dina, and the band leader, Colonel Zakaria Tewfiq, dine together.
In addition to numerous script tweaks, the musical arrangements for several songs were updated for the Broadway production. "Izik's Lullaby", for example, was changed from a solo piece to a song with backing vocals.
Note: Based on Off-Broadway production and Broadway production at Internet Broadway Database
In the review of the Off-Broadway production, the Huffington Post called the musical "exquisite", noting that Itamar Moses and David Yazbek have "created a small, touching show... [with] character depth and strong sense of place."
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