Broadway Returns to the Dolby with THE BAND’S VISIT

Broadway shows are beginning to arrive again in Los Angeles after a long COVID break and one of the first to return is THE BAND’S VISIT at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The musical is on of four in Broadway history to win the “Big Six” Tony Awards which include Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Actor, Actress and Direction for a musical.

The multi-winning musical is based on Eran Kolirin’s screenplay for the Israeli movie of the same name. The musical explores religious differences when an Egyptian band accidently arrives in a small Israeli town and must stay for the night.

The show begins with a note to the audience projected onto the stage, “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.” This sets the casual tone for the rest of the evening.

The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra band arrives mistakenly in Bet Hatikva, a fictional “boring” and “bland” Israeli town, on their way to a gig in Petah Tikva.

Dina, played by the excellent Janet Dacal, welcomes the wayward guests and is one of the reasons to make sure to get tickets before the musical’s short run ends. Her rendition of “Omar Sharif,” reminiscing about watching Egyption movies, is one of highlights of the 100-minute performance.

While Dina shares memories with Colonel Tewfiq Zakaria (Sasson Gabay), Haled (Joe Joseph) ends up at the local roller rink to help shy Papi (Coby Getzug) communicate with his date Julia (Layan Elwazani). The clarinetist Simon (James Rana) arrives at Itzik (Clay Singer) and his wife Iris’s (Kendal Hartse) house. Throughout the night the band members and the audience learn about the problems challenging residents of the town, including affairs with married men and marital discontentment.

The great music and lyrics are from David Yazbek with a book by Itamar Moses. THE BAND’S VISIT plays Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2 and 8pm and Sunday at 1 and 6:30pm through December 19. Tickets start at $30, available at www.BroadwayinHollywood.com.