Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at TheatreSquared

Intimacy and immersive are my favorite types of theatrical experiences, and TheatreSquared, 477 W. Spring St., in Fayetteville, delivers with every show. Their newest masterpiece THE BAND’S VISIT, with Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek, Book by Itamar Moses, Directed by Zi Alikhan, and based on the Screenplay by Eran Kolirin, is subtle and hopeful, which is perfect for this space. You only have until Sunday, Nov. 5, to catch this 2018 Tony Winner for Best Musical, so grab your tickets at https://www.theatre2.org, before the band marches away. 

Projected onto a torn-up billboard reads "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."  

This 90-minute musical shows the audience how a surprise visit from new people can bring about change in a town’s daily life, even if it’s just for one night. There are various scenes that are broken up by the beautiful Arab music. 

Due to a language confusion, The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, led by Tewfiq (Rom Barkhordar), is stranded in Bet Hatikva instead of their intended destination of Petah Tikvah. Tewfiq and his men arrive at a café where they meet owner Dina (Yael YaYa Reich), who invites them to stay the night. They split up the orchestra and Dina takes Tewfiq and Haled (Usman Ali Mughal) to her place. Dina then proceeds to bond with Tewfiq by asking him out on the town. 

Itzik (Dave Honigman) and his wife Iris (Dana Saleh Omar) take in Simon (Jonathan Shaboo), the assistant conductor and clarinetist who is having issues with finishing his concerto, and Camal (Adam Qutaishat), the violinist. There, Iris’ father Avrum (Mark David Kaplan) sings about how he met his wife.  

As the show progresses, different scenes play out. Outside, the Telephone Guy (Harper Caruso) waits for his girlfriend to call; Papi (Sam Linda) and Zelger (Jordan Golding) take Camel to the roller rink to meet up with their dates Julia (Becky Keeshin) and Anna (Marielle Issa). While at dinner, Dina has an encounter with Sammy (Jacob Baim), the married man with whom she is having an affair.  

Relationships are made, the night ends and the orchestra heads to Petah Tikvah in the morning.  

With an ensemble feel to this show, the connections and chemistry were amazing to watch, and the details were important in an unimportant way (you really need to see the musical to understand what I just said). The energy could be felt through the entire theatre. 

 Reich gets my starry-heart eyes for their portrayal of Dina. They were commanding and charismatic and powerful. Every movement seemed to have a purpose every time they did anything. I loved the chemistry between them and Barkhordar. They both had an air about them that made you question if the relationship was really going to work out with two Alphas.  

There were a lot of funny moments in a sweet way. I loved Linda’s Papi who heard the ocean when he talked to girls; I loved the way Kaplan’s Avrum talked about his wife; I loved Shaboo’s Simon who was able to console the baby with his clarinet; but my favorite aaaaawwwwww moment was the joy from Caruso’s Telephone Guy when he got the phone call from his girlfriend.  

This is a different kind of musical. The music itself was mesmerizing. It was great that it seemed like every cast member could play or sing something, and I loved that the other musicians came on stage periodically to play. There was so much talent on that stage....Oh my goodness! Supporting the cast was Conductor/Keyboardist Jason Burrow, Celloist Christian Serrano-Torres, Reeds Sarah Reed and Michael Hanna, Drums/Arabic Percussionist Chris Scherer, and Bass Jerry Lane.  

To sum up the experience, one of Pulaski Academy Theatre students said, “It was awesome. I walked out of that theatre a changed person.” 

For more information about this show or upcoming productions, visit https://www.theatre2.org. 

Creative Team: Zi Alikhan-Director; Andra Velis Simon-Music Supervisor; Jason Burrow-Music Director; Sebastiani Romagnolo-Choreographer; Afsoon Pajoufar-Scenic Designer; Raquel Adorno-Costume Designer; Solomon Weisbard-Lighting Designer; Willow James-Soung Designer; Smooch Medina-Projection Designer; Brodie Jasch-Props Designer; Emely Zepeda-Production Stage Manager (through 10/26); Miranda Anderson-Stage Manager (10/27-11/05) 

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