Susan Granger’s review of “The Band’s Visit” (Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company)
The best news out of the Middle East this year is composer David Yazbek’s fresh, funny, engaging take on cross-cultural miscommunication:
“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.”
The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra has been invited for the opening of an Arab Cultural Center in Petah Tikva in Israel. It’s an important engagement since budget cuts and internal reorganization have threatened the Egyptian musicians’ very existence.
Dressed in crisp, robin’s-egg-blue uniforms and observing full military protocol, they arrive in Tel Aviv with no one to greet them. Unable to contact their Israeli hosts or the Egyptian consulate, they board a bus that’s, ostensibly, bound for their destination but, instead, wind up in a dreary, Negev desert town called Bat Hatikva.
To his dismay, their dignified conductor, Tewfiq Zakaria (Tony Shalhoub), discovers that substituting “B” for “P” makes a major difference, since “B” denotes “basically bleak and beige and blah blah blah,” according to Dina (Katrina Lenk), the radiant owner of a local café, singing, “Welcome to Nowhere.”
Since they’re stuck overnight, Dina graciously offers to host Tewiq, an emotionally restrained widower, and Haled (Ari’el Stachel), the flirtatious trumpeter who asks everyone he meets, “Do you know Chet Baker?” before launching into his own rendition of “My Funny Valentine.”
The others – each with his own angst – stay at the café or with Itzik (John Cariani), his resentful wife Iris (Kristen Sieh) and her father, Avrum (Andrew Polk).
Inevitably, the evening leads to some curious confusion, a bit of chaos in a 1970s roller rink, and a large measure of compassion – on both sides.
Adapted by Itamar Moses from from Eran Kolirin’s ingratiating 2007 Israeli comedy and fluidly directed by David Cromer, it’s wistfully droll and charming, subtly incorporating various Middle Eastern influences. The climactic number, “Answer Me,” featuring the entire ensemble, is splendiferous.
“The Band’s Visit” should delight theater aficionados who enjoyed David Yazbek’s previous shows: “The Full Monty,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
Set designer Scott Pask inventively utilizes the rotating stage; Sarah Laux’s costumes are austere, yet exotic; and Tyler Micoleau’s intense lighting is effective, particularly evoking the desert at night.
In a limited run, “The Band’s Visit’ plays at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater – at 336 West 20th Street – until January 1, 2017.