The Band’s Visit at Keller Auditorium

The Band’s Visit was the winner of 10 Tony Awards in 2018, including the Tony Award Winner for Best Musical, making it one of the most award-winning musicals in history, it was also the 2019 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theater Album. With a score that seduces your soul and sweeps you off your feet, The Band’s Visit rejoices in the way music makes us laugh, makes us cry, and ultimately, brings us together.

“THE BEST MUSICAL ON BROADWAY! Beautiful music, beautiful story, beautiful acting.” – Peter Marks, The Washington Post.

“The uncanny virtuosity of Mr. Yazbek’s score feels as essential as oxygen!” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times.

In this delightfully 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. The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, led by Tewfiq, were supposed to be going to Petah Tikvah to play in the cultural concert. But instead, they are in the nowhere town of Bet Hatikva. Described by Dina, the town’s only café owner, as simply pouring “cement on a spot in the desert.” With no bus arriving till the following day The Band have no choice but to stay the night in nowhere, and so they stay. Playing and dancing with the townspeople who come out for the night, the lovers coming out on dates, the family sitting with their children and the lonely guy waiting at the pay phone for his girlfriend to call. They all have a story to share and The Band touches all their lives in different ways and, in the end, both the band and the town, are left better for their misadventure in nowhere.

The Band’s Visit 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. The Broadway production was the winner of 10 Tony Awards, making it one of the most Tony-winning musicals in history, and 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 was the 2019 Grammy Awards winner for Best Musical Theater Album.

The Band’s Visit has music and lyrics written by David Yazbek, a book penned by Itamar Moses, and directed by David Cromer, it is closely based on Eran Kolirin’s relatively obscure Israeli film from 2007.

“Breaking news for Broadway: IT IS TIME TO FALL IN LOVE AGAIN! One of the most ravishing musicals you will ever be seduced by. It is called ‘THE BAND’S VISIT’.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times.

“This show gave me more hope for what Broadway might welcome, might foster, might become, than any musical in a long time.” – Sara Holdren, New York Magazine

“While there is little plot or character development, one by one the players open up in song and dialogue, revealing that they are suffering from emotional paralysis and the monotony of everyday life. The integration of David Cromer’s intimate and sensitive direction; David Yazbek’s Middle Eastern flavored score, much of which is performed onstage by cast members; and Itamar Moses’ book, which hews closely to the original screenplay, is so seamless that it is virtually impossible to pick apart. They have turned a slight, short, quiet tale into an urgent, realistic and relatable portrait of vulnerable individuals from different cultures who are able to make an unexpected human connection, often just through a shared appreciation for music.” – Matt Windham for am NY.