Joe Joseph News

In this joyously offbeat story, set in a town that's way off the beaten path, a band of musicians arrive lost, out of the blue. Under the spell of the desert sky, and with beautiful music perfuming the air, the band brings the town to life in unexpected and tantalizing ways. Even the briefest visit can stay with you forever. With a Tony- and Grammy-winning score that seduces your soul and sweeps you off your feet, and featuring thrillingly talented onstage musicians, THE BAND'S VISIT rejoices in the way music makes us laugh, makes us cry, and ultimately, brings us together.

The Fabulous Fox Theatre will have THE BAND'S VISIT, one of the most Tony Award®-winning musicals in history, come to St. Louis from February 25 - March 8. The tour of the critically acclaimed and 10-time Tony Award-winning production launched at the Providence Performing Arts Center on June 25, 2019 and continued on to play Washington, DC starting July 9, 2019. THE BAND'S VISIT will play over 32 cities in its first season including Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Janet Dacal - most known for her performances in The Prince of Broadway, Wonderland, In the Heights, and Good Vibrations- in the national tour of The Band's Visit. She stepped into the role of Dina -succeeding Chilina Kennedy- beginning January 3, 2020, at the Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York.

THE BAND'S VISIT is a heartfelt, critically acclaimed (one of only four musicals in Broadway history to win the unofficial a?oeBig Sixa?? Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical) of how the smallest moments can have the largest impact.  The characters have unusual names and speak differently from a?oetypical Americansa?? and those we typically see on our stages, but their story is both charming and delightful. It reminds us that as human beings we are far more alike than we are different.

The first national tour of The Band's Visit is now making its way across the country! After a mix-up at the border, an Egyptian Police Band is sent to a remote village in the middle of the Israeli 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 BAND'S VISIT celebrates the deeply human ways music, longing and laughter can connect us all.

Six questions and a plug, after the fact: Joe Joseph of THE BAND'S VISIT responded to some questions just before leaving town but it warrants sharing now to get the word out further about this quiet, unique Broadway tour.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??The Band's Visit is an unusually styled musical based on the 2007 Israeli film. Performed without an intermission, it features Arabian-flavored musical numbers and a mostly upbeat plot. It premiered on Broadway in 2017 and is one of only four musicals to win the 'Big Six' Tony Awards, which include Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical.

It's '1996, the Alexandria [Egypt] Ceremonial Police Orchestra, just arrived in Israel, and are waiting in Tel Aviv's central bus station. They expect to be welcomed by a representative from a local Arab cultural organization, but no one shows up.

Playhouse Square is proud to announce that THE BAND'S VISIT, one of the most Tony Award-winning musicals in history, is coming to Playhouse Square's Connor Palace for a three-week engagement, November 5-24, 2019, as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series. To purchase tickets, visit playhousesquare.org, call 216-241-6000 or visit the Playhouse Square Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Ave.).

The first national tour of The Band's Visit is currently on stage at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre! Check out the cast performing music from the show!

The premise is simple: it's the 90s and the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra is travelling from Egypt to Petah Tikva to perform in a concert. Due to a language barrier, they end up in the tiny desert town of Bet Hatikva with little money, no hotel to check into, and a full day's wait until the next bus out of town. The next ninety minutes follow members of the band as they explore the town with their hosts. Café owner Dina (Chilina Kennedy), her employee Papi (Adam Gabay) and patron Itzik (Pomme Koch) each take a few members of the orchestra with them, and each provide a different look into Bet Hatikva, its residents, and their struggles. In its Toronto premiere this 10-time Tony winning musical, based on the film of the same name, is directed by David Cromer and presented by Mirvish.

Johnson Financial Group Broadway at the Marcus Center and Broadway Across America-Milwaukee announces that THE BAND'S VISIT, one of the most Tony Award-winning musicals in history, will be coming to Milwaukee from November 26 to December 1. The tour of the critically acclaimed and 10-time Tony Award-winning production launched at the Providence Performing Arts Center on June 25, 2019 and continued on to play Washington, DC starting July 9, 2019. THE BAND'S VISIT will play over 32 cities in its first season including Milwaukee.

Broadway In Boston is proud to announce that tickets for THE BAND'S VISIT, one of the most Tony Award-winning musicals in history, will go on sale this Monday, September 16, 2019. With a Tony- and Grammy-winning score that seduces your soul and sweeps you off your feet, and featuring thrillingly talented onstage musicians, THE BAND'S VISIT rejoices in the way music makes us laugh, makes us cry, and ultimately, brings us together.  THE BAND'S VISIT will play the Citizens Bank Opera House March 24 a?" April 5 as part of the Lexus 2019-2020 Broadway In Boston Season.

THE BAND'S VISIT feels like an homage to the fleeting nature of live theater itself: a moment in time in which performers and audience are brought together to share a collective experience, all-encompassing yet passing swiftly and never to be created again. So too goes the narrative of the two characters at the center of this 2018 Tony Award-winning musical, Tewliq, the Egyptian conductor of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, and Dina, an Israeli woman living in the small town of Bet Hatikva. When Tewliq and his fellow band members accidentally make their way to Bet Hatikva, instead of the city Petah Tikva in which they have a concert engagement, the cast of characters come together by pure happenstance. The magnetic and mysterious connection that Tewliq and Dina share in the one night in which their lives overlap is similarly ethereal.

I really enjoyed the Eran Kolirin's 2007 Israeli-Egyptian film 'The Band's Visit' . The story involved the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra who get lost in Israel on their way to a concert performance at the Arab Cultural Center in a large city named Petal Tikvah and instead the bus they take arrives at the small town of Bet Hatikva. With the next bus not due until the next day, the musicians are invited to spend the night with the town natives (there is no hotel) and have dinner. The moving film tackles the subject of Egyptians and Israelis in 1996 who in 1967 had a hard-fought war on the Sinai Peninsula.

The national tour, now playing the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, gave me the opportunity to take another look at the show. Let's just say I'm really glad I had the opportunity.

The first national tour of The Band's Visit is now making its way across the country after launching at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island! BroadwayWorld has a first look at the show's leads Chilina Kennedy and Sasson Gabay in action! Check out the video

The North American Touring company of The Band's Visit celebrated their official opening night at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC last night. Check out photos from the evening!

The first national tour of The Band's Visit is now making its way across the country after launching at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island! BroadwayWorld has a first look at the show's leads Chilina Kennedy and Sasson Gabay in action!

The first national tour of The Band's Visit is now making its way across the country after launching at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island!