New York City
Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub lead the cast of the new David Yazbek and Itamar Moses musical.
The Band's Visit, a new musical by Itamar Moses and David Yazbek and directed by David Cromer, celebrates its official Broadway opening tonight at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Based on Eran Kolirin's film The Band's Visit, which won the Jury Coup de Couer prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the show tells the story of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band, which lands in Israel and is inadvertently sent in the wrong direction. Soon, the band finds itself in a small settlement in the heart of the Negev desert with no transportation going out until morning and no hotel in sight.
Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub star as Dina and Tewfiq, reprising their roles from the original Atlantic Theater Company production, alongside fellow Atlantic cast members John Cariani (Itzik), Ari'el Stachel (Haled), George Abud (Camal), Andrew Polk (Avrum), Bill Army (Zelger), Rachel Prather (Julia), Jonathan Raviv (Sammy), Sharone Sayegh (Anna), Kristen Sieh (Iris), and Alok Tewari (Simon). Joining the cast for the Broadway mounting is Etai Benson as Papi, and Adam Kantor as Telephone Guy, along with Pomme Koch and Madison Micucci, who serve as understudies.
Musicians for The Band's Visit include Andrea Grody (piano, music director), George Abud (violin, oud, darbuka), Alexandra Eckhardt (bass), Philip Mayer (drums, Arabic percussion), Sam Sadigursky (clarinet, saxophones, flute), Jeff Theiss (keyboard, associate conductor), Harvey Valdes (guitar), and David Garo Yellin (cello).