Is THE BAND’S VISIT getting the Tony for Best Musical?

[GeorgeandDot]

PoisonIvy, your opinion is valid, but I think your brushing off of TBV as just a pleasant evening of theatre is, frankly, strange and pretty ridiculous.

[poisonivy2]

I went to TBV's expecting to love it. And I started out really liking it. I thought the opening scenes were very funny, very engaging. As the evening wore on (and it does seem rather long despite being extremely short) I got sort of tired of the low-level wistfulness. Maybe I'm missing something but when Dina hooked up with Haled I was like "ok, so it really wasn't important." I just didn't feel moved. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

poisonivy2 said: "Maybe I'm missing something but when Dina hooked up with Haled I was like "ok, so it really wasn't important." I just didn't feel moved."

We had a totally different experience, then. From the scene at the park onward, I felt tension rising between all the characters in their search for connection and to quench their feeling of loneliness and solitude. In the scene you're talking about, Dina is literally thirsting for Tewfiq to stay up and keep making her feel "something different." But he goes to bed, and her need is so insatiable that she latches onto the closest person she can find: Haled. I thought it was a heartbreaking moment leading into the emotional climax of "Answer Me." It's baffling to me that some people find it all boring, but to each their own.

[GeorgeandDot]

Poison, I think you misinterpreted the show. Either that or the point just didn't get to you. I had an entirely different experience from you as well. It's a show about the importance of human connections. Dina hooks up with Haled because she's just desperate for human contact. It's part of the tragedy of her part.

Also, I don't think I've ever seen a show so hopeful in my entire life. Everything seems destroyed and hopeless and depressing and then the phone rings.

[TexanAddams18]

GeorgeandDot said: "Poison, I think you misinterpreted the show. It's a show about the importance of human connections. Dina hooks up with Haled because she's just desperate for human contact. It's part of the tragedy of her part.

Ok but that is your interpretation. There is no such thing as "misinterpreting" art. 

 

[GeorgeandDot]

I meant it respectfully, I think Poison may have gotten an interpretation of the show that wasn't intended. And yes, it is possible to misinterpret art.

[TexanAddams18]

GeorgeandDot said: "I meant it respectfully, I think Poison may have gotten an interpretation of the show that wasn't intended. And yes, it is possible to misinterpret art."

And how do you know the exact, intended interpretation they were going for? Were you in the rehearsal room? I don't think we are supposed to know the artists intention. That's the point/beauty of art. Sometimes the intention does universally get across, but for the most part it doesn't. Do you think someone has ever come across a Rothko painting and know exactly what he was intending? 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Wait guys, can a fight like this maybe not start? I would love to keep discussing The Band's Visit substantively, and it's petty issues like this that ruin the boards. Please.

[Danielle49]

GeorgeandDot said: "Everything seems destroyed and hopeless and depressing and then the phone rings."

Wow. This is so beautiful and simply eloquent. 

For what it's worth, yes, The Band's Visit will win Best Musical. It's a gorgeous, nuanced look at human longing for connection. I was brought to tears multiple times during the show. It's just impossibly beautiful and intoxicating. The ensemble and band are doing lovely work. And I'm a huge fan of SpongeBob, but there's no denying that The Band's Visit is the obvious winner here. The fact that other Best Musicals from previous years are being brought up to diminish a show from this year is rather irrelevant. Dear Evan Hansen was the least affective for me of last year, but I digress.

[TexanAddams18]

BroadwayConcierge said: "Wait guys, can a fight like this maybe notstart? I would love to keep discussingThe Band's Visitsubstantively, and it's petty issues like this that ruinthe boards. Please."

I'm not trying to start a fight. And I absolutely am all for substantive discussion about this awesome piece. I'm just rubbed the wrong way when someone tells someone else they misinterpreted the show. It A) it shuts down the validity of the receivers artistic being and B) shuts down the ability to have subjective discussion. 

[Oak2]

There is indeed no such thing as misinterpreting art. Death of the Author is absolutely a thing, so even the intent behind it does not matter. Part of the whole beauty of art and entertainment is that it's not just what the creator (and in stage, also other factors such as the performers and everyone involved with the production) puts into, but also what each individual takes from it. Every audience member can react differently and the mixing of their own views, values, tastes, and the like with what is consumed from the art is what creates the absolutely unique interpretation within that viewer. It is ultimately the choice of the person viewing the art to decide what it means for themselves, and every individual interpretation is valid, regardless of the creators' original intent. To call any one interpretation and reaction more valid than another is elitist and thus evil.

[TexanAddams18]

Oak2 said: "There is indeed no such thing as misinterpreting art. Death of the Author is absolutely a thing, so even the intent behind it does not matter. Part of the whole beauty of art and entertainment is that it's not just what the creator (and in stage, also other factors such as the performers and everyone involved with the production) puts into, but also what each individual takes from it. Every audience member can react differently and the mixing of their own views, values, tastes, and the like with what is consumed from the art is what creates the absolutely unique interpretation within that viewer. It is ultimately the choice of the person viewing the art to decide what it means for themselves, and every individual interpretation is valid, regardless of the creators' original intent.To call any one interpretation and reaction more valid than another is elitist and thus evil."

What he said (Ok maybe not evil lol)

[GeorgeandDot]

Texas, this isn't high school art class. Many visual artists leave their work open to a lot of interpretation. TBV however, lays out how it should be interpreted. There is a *right* way to interpret the show. Of course there is room to make your own interpretations within that.

I agree that I don't want to get caught up in this conversation. It doesn't belong here.

Anyways, yeah, "nothing" happens in The Band's Visit to a typical outside viewer, but the show shows us that, that night was probably one of the most important nights in these people's lives. Nothing happens and yet everyone's lives are changed. The show also has this wonderful circular energy. The show doesn't really seem to begin or end. We're dropped in and then dropped out. We get a beautiful slice of a human, emotional journey and there's something just so beautiful about that. All we're left with is the hope that, that isn't the end of these people's journeys and the show suggests to us that maybe it isn't.

[dmwnc1959]

GeorgeandDot said: "Everything seems destroyed and hopeless and depressing and then the phone rings."

Danielle49 said: “Wow. This is so beautiful and simply eloquent.”

 

Looking forward to seeing the show at the end of the month. “Answer Me” is probably my favorite song on the entire album. My favorite line: “In my dreams my beloved lies beside me. When the sun lights the room, I find its only me”. Can’t wait to see this is person from the front row. 

 

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

All I can say is...

 

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...if you're not in a puddle of tears when the band is leaving Bet Hatikvah and Dina and Tewfiq part ways and the turntable literally pulls Tewfiq away from Dina, against either's will... the show just probably wasn't for you. I've seen the show now six times and that moment gets me each and every time.

But then, like GeorgeandDot says, it ends on an uplifting note with the band right before their concert. The moral there is that you have to learn to live and let live, and move on from the experiences which you can no longer have, even those which changed your life. To quote another great show this season, the world only spins forward.

GOD I LOVE THIS SHOW.

[TexanAddams18]

GeorgeandDot said: "There is a *right* way to interpret the show.

Wrong.

Anyway in my opinion "Answer Me" is the single best song/moment/scene of any musical of this season. To me, it is the perfect emotional climax and it was written beautifully with the crescendo leading up to "Only You", which in my opinion basically encapsulates the entire message of the show in 2 words. I don't think I'll ever forget the amount of chills I got in that moment. This should absolutely win best score. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Ok hun, I guess that's just how I "interpret" art. So happy I have you here to educate me. Don't know where I'd be without you.

[Liza's Headband]

GeorgeandDot said: "Texas, this isn't high school art class. Many visual artists leave their work open to a lot of interpretation. TBV however, lays out how it should be interpreted. There is a *right* way to interpret the show. Of course there is room to make your own interpretations within that.

I agree that I don't want to get caught up in this conversation. It doesn't belong here.

Anyways, yeah, "nothing" happens in The Band's Visit to a typical outside viewer, but the show shows us that, that night was probably one of the most important nights in these people's lives. Nothing happens and yet everyone's lives are changed. The show also has this wonderful circular energy. The show doesn't really seem to begin or end. We're dropped in and then dropped out. We get a beautiful slice of a human, emotional journey and there's something just so beautiful about that. All we're left with is the hope that, that isn't the end of these people's journeys and the show suggests to us that maybe it isn't."

 

"Anyways" is not a word, FYI. And you are, as usual, off-base. There is no 'right' or correct way to interpret art. An author might hope and intend you have a particular experience but he/she cannot dictate an individual's interpretation. It's not conceptually possible. 

[dmwnc1959]

TexanAddams18 said: "Anyway in my opinion "Answer Me" is the single best song/moment/scene of any musical of this season. To me, it is the perfect emotional climax and it was written beautifully with the crescendo leading up to "Only You", which in my opinionbasically encapsulates the entire message of the show in 2 words. I don't think I'll ever forget the amount of chills I got in that moment. This should absolutely win best score."

 

This. 

 

[BroadwayRox3588]

BroadwayConcierge said: "Wait guys, can a fight like this maybe notstart? I would love to keep discussingThe Band's Visitsubstantively, and it's petty issues like this that ruinthe boards. Please."

I sincerely apologize if my intent was taken the wrong way, as I was not trying to start a fight.

[BroadwayConcierge]

BroadwayRox3588 said: "I sincerely apologize if my intent was taken the wrong way, as I was not trying to start a fight."

Oh, totally wasn't referring to you BroadwayRox! I was talking to two other users who were getting agitated about something else and didn't want things to go astray. I totally understand and respect your opinion about SpongeBob and appreciate your responding to what I wrote

[GeorgeandDot]

How come I can never express a simple opinion on this board without someone jumping up my a** over one word choice? Yes, you are free to interpret a show however you want, but it is also possible to completely miss what the author is trying to get to you. Literally all I was saying and now I'm getting attacked over this by the resident troll under the bridge, Liza. Nice to see you again. God, what is up with the board today?

[CedricOates]

In my little opinion, which doesn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of things, art is open to interpretation. But, also, there is a point an artist makes with their work. At the end of the day, the way I interpret things can likely be different from what the artist intended. Art is what I need it to me. That is what is beautiful about all of this.

[Dancingthrulife2]

I feel The Band's Visit has a tad too much comedy in the beginning. I loved it the second time after knowing what to expect, but the comedy part threw me off when I first saw it and didn't warm me up for the emotions that I was so taken by revisiting the show.

[Big Apple2]

While I wasn’t exactly blown away by TBV, I do expect it to win Best Musical and that is just fine compared to the rest of the nominees. I wish I would have liked this one a lot more. But the long pauses are just that - long. Someone said that “it felt like a play with music, as opposed to a “musical””. To me, that just sounds about right.