Sasson Gabay and Janet Dacal(all photos by Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade)
The Band’s Visit, the new musical by Itamar Moses (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics) playing the Dolby Theatre this month, is based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same title by Eran Kolirin. The story is based on a true incident that showed that when given a chance, even long-time enemies can see the other side as friendly and accessible, especially when music helps set the mood. In 1996, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrives in Tel Aviv to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center. When no one from their embassy greets them, they decide to take a bus themselves to the small town in the desert where they are to perform. Their Egyptian accents cause the Israelis to send them to the small town of Bet Hatikva instead of the small town of Petah Tikva. Once they arrive and discover their mistake, they also discover there are no more buses until the next day. Dina (Janet Dacal), the owner of a small café who is tired of the blah blah blah of her town’s existence, offers the band hospitality and lodgings, forcing her co-workers to extend the same.
Joe Joseph
It’s a heart-warming story filled with quirky characters like Papi (Coby Getzug), who is shy and unsure how to approach girls because when he is near them all he hears is the sound of the ocean. He gets a courting lesson from the band’s would-be Casanova, Haled (Joe Joseph), a trumpet player whose usual come on is a few bars of “My Funny Valentine”. There is also Telephone Guy (Joshua Grosso) who spends his evenings standing outdoors in front of a pay phone hoping his crush will finally call him.
Janet Ducal and Sasson Gabay
Dina feels a strong bond with Tewfiq (Sasson Gabay who originated the role in the film), the band’s conductor. She is hopeful he might turn out to be her very own Omar Sharif, the Egyptian film star she has had a crush on since her childhood. Theirs is a tender, quiet meeting of minds and hearts. The whole 90-minute intermission-less show is fairly quiet—not much happening except cultures not really clashing as one would think at first. David Cromer’s direction is also low key. The actors display a nice chemistry.
The lost Egyptian Band
Yazbek’s songs are integral to the plot but don’t have much punch or pizazz. The two standouts are Dina’s “Omar Sharif” and “Haled’s Song About Love”. Yazbek’s music however is very lovely and perfectly sets the mood throughout. The turntable scenic design by Scott Pask is one of the show’s major strengths. The other big plus is having the band members (Yoni Avi Battat on violin, Roger Kashou on darboukar/riq, Brian Krock on clarinet/saxophone/flute, Kane Mathis on oud/guitar and Wick Simmons on cello) play their instruments on stage in the background of scenes featuring songs. They also perform a few strictly instrumental numbers during the show. And for this viewer, the best part of The Band’s Visit was the Band Concert after the curtain call.
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