David Cromer to Take Over Direction of The Band's Visit From Harold Prince

Atlantic Theater Company's upcoming production of David Yazbek and Itamar Moses' new musical The Band's Visit has found a new director.

Twenty-one-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince, who had signed on to direct the production, has bowed out due to scheduling conflicts. Lortel Award winner David Cromer (Our Town, The Effect) will take over the show, which is now scheduled to begin performances in the fall of 2016 (as opposed to the originally announced spring 2016).

Based on Eran Kolirin's film The Band's Visit, which won the Jury Coup de Couer prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the work tells the story of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band. When they arrive in Israel to play at the opening of a cultural center, their hosts don't show, and an error in communication sends them in the wrong direction. Soon, the band finds themselves in a small settlement in the heart of the Negev desert with no transportation out until morning and no hotel in sight.

Yazbek is the Tony-nominated songwriter behind the musicals The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Moses' plays include Bach at Leipzig, The Four of Us, and Completeness.

Dates, casting, and other information about the production will be announced.