The Band's Visit

Trailer on Playbill

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I think they may have been filming this when I saw it a couple weeks ago.  There were several cameras set up in the orchestra.  (Behind me, fortunately.)

It's a charming show, albeit a bit short & slight.  There's not much to the story, but the music is wonderful -- could have actually used more of it -- and the performances were excellent.  Can guarantee that Katrina Lenk will be a major contender for Best Actress at the Tonys next year.

Been listening to the OBCR for this one a lot recently, and I'm definitely fascinated...  There's quite a bit of material on Youtube in the form of interviews and talks, and a beautiful 360-degree video of 'Answer me' - I may be falling a bit in love with this piece of music, so I thought I'd share it here. 

I was disappointed not to love this in the way so many people do. It was just a little *too* quiet and slow for me. The long silences (whilst obviously intentional) were a little too much and perhaps didn't have their desired effect because of my lack of investment in the characters and their stories. I've heard comparisons to Once in terms of being a slower, more intimate kind of musical but I was very moved by Once and didn't find it to drag despite it being a full length show whereas The Band's Visit is only 95 minutes or so. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood or needed to be closer to the stage but I was sad not to fully grasp what they were going for. Having said that, Katrina Lenk is excellent (although I'm rooting for Lauren Ambrose due to her having so much more to do and pulling it all off beautifully) and the above song Answer Me as well as Omar Sharif are both outstanding pieces of music, along with being very effective moments in the show itself. I haven't seen and wont see any of the other likely Best Musical nominees (unless they come to the UK I guess) but I'm sure this is the deserving and obvious choice.

I'd have been interested to have seen what the Tonys would have looked like if the Great Comet had opened this year instead of last year. Both shows when I attended were the rare Broadway show to not get full standing ovations despite both being heavily acclaimed and both seem to have a whiff of divisiveness around them. Unlike The Great Comet though, The Band's Visit has basically no competition in the main three categories.

Is Tony Shalhoub back in it?

That's cool. I've seen him during the Atlantic Theatre Company run, so I don't mind seeing someone else.

My friend who saw it with me did not care for it either.

It's getting such acclaim because it's not SpongeBob and is not a carnival, it's beautifully written and told, the characters are well drawn out and to quote Dina, it's "something different." I think it's a very good piece that elevates the genre.

It did - but I have a feeling the committee will rather grant a Tony to an "art show" like Band's Visit over the Nickelodeon-backed SpongeBob. If this was a more competitive season like last years with a Dear Evan Hansen or a Comet, I doubt SpongeBob would have been nominated as much despite deserving some of its accolades. I thought it was entertaining and quite inventive for the most part, but I'm more inclined to enjoy serious shows.It's a matter of preference I guess.

I agree that Band's Visit is highly unlikely to transfer to London. I don't see an audience for it in the UK, though it's touring in the US next year, although it could get a "Fun Home" treatment and open at one of the fringe venues like Young Vic where it could be embraced by a non-mainstream crowd. Overall, David Yazbek's shows don't have much internationalization potential.

So torn over whether to book for this when I'm in NYC. I'm going with family so think Pretty Woman, King Kong or Anastasia may have greater appeal to them but I think this is probably a better show. Argh!

These are all wildly different. The Band's Visit might be the anti-thesis to all of the shows you listed.
There are contradicting reports that the show is going to close sooner than later because of its 70% capacity, but I've also heard rumors that Carmen Cusak might be replacing Katrina Lenk. So it might be your last chance to see Lenk's Tony-winning performance.

I've seen both The Band's Visit and Pretty Woman and would pick the former anytime. It actually has some depth and is something different, rather than the generic fluff of Pretty Woman (which is to be fair harmless fun, just nothing special).