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The Bands Visit to Visit Broadway
The Bands Visit to Visit Broadway

The Band’s Visit to Visit Broadway

The award-winning musical is set to open on Broadway this Fall.

After an Off-Broadway reception that saw it crowned as “Best New Musical” at the Obie Awards, The Lucille Lortel Awards, The Outer Critics Circle Awards, and The New York Drama Critic’s Circle Awards, The Band’s Visit will make its way to Broadway this Fall. Set to play at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, with previews beginning on October 7, The Band’s Visit is aiming for a November 9th opening.

The Band’s Visit features a score by David Yazbek (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and a book by Itamar Moses, adapting the screenplay by Eran Kolirin. David Cromer, who has helmed an eclectic mix of plays and musicals including The Adding Machine, Our Town, and Brighton Beach Memoirs, will direct The Band’s Visit for Broadway.

The creative team includes Patrick McCollum (Choreography), Scott Pask (Set Design), Sarah Laux (Costume Design), Tyler Micoleau (Lighting Design), Kai Harada (Sound Design), Maya Ciarrocchi (Projections Content Design), Jamshied Sharifi (Orchestrations), casting by Tara Rubin Casting. Casting for the Broadway production will be announced in the near-future. The Band’s Visit is produced by Orin Wolf, John Styles and John N. Hart Jr.

The Band’s Visit saw its world premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Company, playing a sold-out, limited engagement. The production starred Tony Shalhoub (Lend Me a Tenor, Act One) and featured Katrina Lenk, Ari’el Stachel, Alok Tewari, George Abud, John Cariani, Kristen Sieh, Andrew Polk, Daniel David Stewart, and Erik Liberman.

Based on a 2007 Israeli film of the same name written and directed by Eran Kolirin, The Band’s Visit is described as follows:

“An Egyptian Police Band arrives in Israel to play a concert. After a mix-up at the border, they are sent to a remote village in the middle of the desert. With no bus until morning and no hotel in sight, these unlikely travelers are taken in by the locals. Under the spell of the desert sky, their lives become intertwined in the most unexpected ways.” The piece was written and directed by Eran Kolirin. It was Israel’s submission for the Best Foreign Film category of the 80th Academy Awards.

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

Photo:  Atlantic Theater Company Production, photograph by Ahron R. Foster

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