The Band's Visit (musical)

The Band's Visit is a stage musical with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Itamar Moses, based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name. The musical opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in November 2017, after its off-Broadway premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company in December 2016.

The Band's Visit has received critical acclaim. Its off-Broadway production won several major awards, including the 2017 Obie Award for Musical Theatre, as well the year's New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical. At the 72nd Tony Awards, it was nominated for 11 awards and won 10, including Best Musical. The Band's Visit is one of four musicals in Broadway history to win the unofficial "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 won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Production History

Off-Broadway (2016-2017)

The original production premiered in Off-Broadway previews at the Atlantic Theater Company on November 11, 2016, had its official opening on December 8, 2016, and closed on January 8, 2017. The musical was developed and produced with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's National Fund for New Musicals. Harold Prince was slated to direct but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts. He was replaced by David Cromer, with choreography by Patrick McCollum, movement by Lee Sher, and starring Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk, and John Cariani.

Broadway (2017-2019)

The musical began previews on Broadway on October 7, 2017, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre prior to an official opening on November 9, 2017. On September 10, 2018, the producers announced that it had recouped its $8.75 million capitalization cost. The Broadway production closed on April 7, 2019 after 589 regular and 36 preview performances.

US National Tour (2019-2023)

The musical began its first national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island on June 25, 2019. The tour had 27 stops across North America. The tour concluded in June 2023.

London (2022)

The musical had its European premiere at the Donmar Warehouse in London directed by artistic director Michael Longhurst from 28 September to 3 December 2022.

Winnipeg (2025)

In 2025, *The Band’s Visit* was produced in Winnipeg by Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, marking the first Canadian production of the musical. Directed by Dan Petrenko, the artistic director of Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, the production featured the first Canadian cast of the show. Israeli actor Anat Kriger starred as Dina, with Omar Alex Khan appearing as Tewfiq.

Tel Aviv (2026)

On September 1, 2025, it was announced that the original Cromer-directed production would play a limited run in Tel Aviv, performances scheduled to begin on January 8, 2026. It was also announced that actors Sasson Gabai and Miri Mesika are scheduled to reprise their roles as Tewfiq and Dina which they've previously played on Broadway and in London (respectively). The show is set to perform at Shlomo Arena in Tel Aviv.

Synopsis

The Band’s Visit opens with a message on a projector screen that displays during the overture, reading: "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."

In 1996, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, just arrived in Israel, 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. The group's leader and conductor, the reserved and dignified Colonel Tewfiq Zakaria, gets annoyed with the behavior of Haled (the young trumpet player and ladies’ man of the band). He explains to the band that they will act with professionalism and avoid any embarrassments, lest they give their critics and sponsors ammunition against them. Tewfiq decides that the group will take the bus and instructs Haled to purchase the group's bus tickets. At the ticket office, Haled asks the clerk for a ticket to the city of Petah Tikvah, but due to his Egyptian accent, she misunderstands him and sells him tickets to the isolated desert town of "Bet Hatikvah".

The scene shifts to Bet Hatikvah, where the residents bemoan the boring and monotonous lives they lead in the desert ("Waiting"). When the band arrives in Bet Hatikvah to blank stares, they approach two café workers, Papi and Itzik, to ask for directions to the Arab Culture Center for their performance the next day. Unsure who these men are and what they're asking about, they call for the café's owner, a charismatic woman named Dina. Tewfiq again asks for directions to the Culture Center before Dina realizes that they think this is Petah Tikvah, and explains that this is the wrong place, and they must have taken the wrong bus ("Welcome to Nowhere"). Tewfiq gives Haled an earful for the humiliation he has caused them, then asks Dina if the band can dine at the café on what little Israeli money they have left. As the rest of the band eats, the band’s assistant conductor and clarinetist, Simon, plays his original concerto (which he never finished). Dina returns and tells the group that the next bus does not arrive until the following day. After Camal, the band’s violinist, suggests contacting the Egyptian embassy, Dina begins to understand how much of a tight spot the band is in. She offers to have her, Papi, and Itzik house them for the night; Tewfiq is hesitant, but seeing no other option, he agrees.

Dina brings Tewfiq and Haled back to her apartment for a place to sleep. In her kitchen, Dina inquires about Alexandria and muses that the big city must make you feel like you’re alive. Haled asks her why she stays in Bet Hatikvah if she wants more out of life, and Dina tells how she was once married and naïve, but nothing panned out the way she ideally hoped ("It Is What It Is"). She asks Tewfiq if he has a wife back in Egypt, and he responds that he did at one time but not anymore, leading Dina to believe that they are in the same boat. Dina then draws their attention to the only pay phone in town, which is guarded over every night by a man (known only as the "Telephone Guy") who obsessively waits for his girlfriend to call him, even though it has been a month. Dina convinces Tewfiq to let her show him around the town and buy him dinner, and Haled chooses to stay behind and let them enjoy each other’s company.

Meanwhile, Itzik allows Simon and Camal to stay with him and his family, consisting of his wife Iris and their baby, as well as his father-in-law, Avrum, who is visiting for the night. Itzik and Iris sit in awkward silence at the dinner table; Itzik tells the officers that it is his wife’s birthday today, while Iris silently fumes. When asked about his café job, Itzik responds that he is in between jobs, and Iris bluntly states that her job is to "care for invalids". Avrum tells his guests that he is a musician as well, and despite Iris’s protests brings up how he met her mother that way. Camal asks what happened to Avrum's wife, and Avrum replies that she died last year. Simon rebukes Camal for his prying, but Avrum insists that it is healthy for him to talk about it. He tells the story of how he met his wife many years ago at a club, and remembers how music had been the foundation for their entire relationship ("The Beat of Your Heart"). Itzik, Simon, and Camal are touched by the story, but Iris continues to eat silently, avoiding all interaction as her father reminisces.

As Dina and Tewfiq prepare to head out, Camal uses the pay phone to call the Egyptian embassy as the Telephone Guy watches him aggressively. Papi lets the rest of the band sleep in the café while he goes out; he has been invited by his friend Zelger and Zelger’s girlfriend Anna on a double date with Anna’s cousin Julia, but has anxiety about going out with her. Against Papi’s wishes, Haled tags along. Dina and Tewfiq sit down for dinner at a nearby cafeteria and quickly become the center of attention among the locals. Dina tells Tewfiq to ignore them and asks him what style of music his band plays; he claims that they are a traditional orchestra that sticks to classical Arab music. Dina recalls her childhood, and how every week she would listen to music on Egyptian radio stations from the likes of Umm Kulthum and watch Egyptian movies starring Omar Sharif. Tewfiq quotes one of the movies in question and they bond over the shared memories ("Omar Sharif"). Just then, Dina’s ex-lover Sammy enters with his family; it is implied that Dina is still having an affair with him. After an awkward greeting where Dina introduces Tewfiq, Sammy leaves with his family in a huff. Tewfiq suggests that it might be a good time for them to leave as well, but Dina decides to lighten the mood by putting on an Umm Kulthum song and having Tewfiq repeat his Omar Sharif quote.