The Band's Visit is a stage musical written by David Yazbek, based on a book by Itamar Moses. The book was itself based on the Israeli film The Band's Visit. The musical first opened off Broadway before opening at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in November 2017.
The musical tells the story of an Egyptian band who accidentally board the wrong bus, finding themselves in a remote village where nothing ever happens, because there is nothing at all to do. The band members' encounter with the town's residents changes both their lives, and the lives of the townspeople, in ways they neve could have foreseen.
Between it's first opening off Broadway, and its incarnation on Broadway, the musical underwent several major tweaks and changes. For example, "Itzak's Lullaby" was changed from a solo song to a duet, as well as being changed to a the Arabic language.
The original cast included Tony Shalhoub, the popular star of the television series Monk, as well as a number of renowned Israeli musical theater stars.
The show achieved widespread critical acclaim, and it was just as popular with the public too. Audiences were enthusiastic and the theater was sold out for the first nine performances, leading Forbes Magazine to correctly predict that it would be financially successful, as well as artistically so.
Among the awards the musical received was the Tony Award for Best Musical of 2018, as well as Tonys for Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Tony Shalhoub also received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In all, the musical received eleven Tony Awards, and followed this haul up with two Drama League Awards, and a Drama Desk Award for Kai Harada's Outstanding Sound Design.
