Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at Rochester Broadway Theatre League

The first words in "The Band's Visit" are "Once not long ago a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn't hear about it. It wasn't very important." These words don't exactly tee-up the audience for a musical full of sparkly costumes and dazzling kick lines, which is good because that's not at all what "The Band's Visit" comes to deliver. What this show offers is much simpler and more fleeting. It's a story about love, music, and connection.

"The Band's Visit", the 2017 musical with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Itamar Moses, is based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name. It is 1996, and through an error in pronunciation, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra is stranded in the isolated desert town of Bet Havitka, Israel (rather than the city Petah Tikva, their actual destination). Without knowing the language and with very little money, the band members - led by conductor Tewfiq Zakaria (Sasson Gabay) - are welcomed by the locals, including cafe owner Dina (Janet Dacal) and her two employees, Papi (Coby Getzug) and Itzik (Clay Singer). During this one night in a sleepy town where nothing much changes, the Egyptian band members and their Israeli hosts communicate in English (their only common language) and find their mutual love of music, whether traditional Middle Eastern ballads or American jazz and Chet Baker. Winner of ten Tony Awards and a score based in traditional middle eastern styles (with musicians planted all around the stage), "The Band's Visit" appeals to the universal romance and passion people find in music, no matter where they are from.

While "The Band's Visit" boasts interesting characters and expected other trappings of an entertaining stage production, music is indeed the connective tissue that holds the entire story together. Everything from traditional Middle Eastern music to jazz to soothing clarinet concertos get their due, and all the music in this production is thrilling and top-notch. The musicians that occupy various spaces on stage and add flair and color throughout the story were one of my favorite aspects of the show, particularly after the curtain call when the band takes center stage for "The Concert." The role that music plays in "A Band's Visit" is so crucial to how the characters connect and communicate with one another, particularly given the language and cultural barriers between the band members and the people of Bet Havitka.

The cast of "The Band's Visit" is stellar from top to bottom; Sasson Gabay (who originated Tewfiq in the 2007 film) is muted and a little crotchety, Getzug and Singer are the perfect sad clowns, and Dacal's Dina is charming and sincere. For me the standout was the role of "Telephone Guy" normally played by Joshua Grosso but played by Nick Sacks on the night of my attendance. His "Answer Me" has always been my favorite of the show's musical numbers, and Sacks' rendition was soaring.

The fascinating thing about "A Band's Visit" is that it's not very fascinating at all, and yet still somehow utterly mesmerizing. There are no real stakes, no driving plot, no dire conflict waiting to be resolved. To be clear, each character does have their own little storyline--be it the mourning of a lost spouse, marital tension, waiting on a phone call from a girlfriend, trying to win the attention of pretty girls---but none of these storylines feel particularly important, and when the show ends none of them have reached any kind of satisfying resolution. And yet at the conclusion of "A Band's Visit" you feel a sense of loss because, despite the deep and meaningful impact that the band has had on the townfolk of Bet Havitka on this one night, morning comes and they continue on in their journey, just as these blips in time happen in real life; they come and they go.

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