Hanover Theatre wraps up Broadway season with joyous, moving 'Band's Visit'

"Nothing is as beautiful as something that you don't expect." - David Yazbek

WORCESTER - "The Band’s Visit" is the final offering of The Hanover Theatre's Broadway Series 2021-2022 season and certainly ends the season on a high note.

The show is described by the 2021 tour as a "joyously offbeat story, set in a town that’s way off the beaten path, a band of musicians arrive lost, out of the blue. Under the spell of the desert sky, and with beautiful music perfuming the air, the band brings the town to life in unexpected and tantalizing ways. Even the briefest visit can stay with you forever."

Somewhere between the borders of Egypt and Israel, a band en route to an important gig find themselves stuck in a small locale with a very similar sounding name to their actual ultimate destination. The tour is momentarily ceased.

As the first person they meet, Dina (portrayed by the fabulous Janet Dacal) points out in her witty number, "Welcome to Nowhere":

"Where you are, this is not Petah Tikva, with a 'P' — This is Bet Hatikvah, with a 'B' " 

Similarly, somewhere between Pittsburgh and Baltimore tour dates in March 2020, the "Band's Visit" tour ceased due to the pandemic. The show remained "lost" on hiatus for the balance of 2020 and throughout most of 2021.

Now back on tour in 2022, the touring production is a welcome return, and the entire musical flows with an unceasing, impressive attention to detail.

The cast is sublime and all the performances solid, including several last-moment "swings" who hit the stage and performed flawlessly. Swings at the June 16 performance included Dana Saleh Omar as Julia, Hannah Shankman as Iris and Nick Sacks as Itzik.

Unlike earlier Hanover shows of this past season, "Band's Visit" is not a high-octane musical like "The Prom" that hits on multiple levels, both musical and satirical. Nor is it a dance spectacular like "CATS" nor a jukebox musical a la "Margaritaville."

Like the movie it was based on, "The Band’s Visit" has its own unique charm. It is a thoughtful, plodding, far more somber story that unfolds slowly, gradually yet pulls you in. You simply cannot leave until learning what ultimately will happen to these characters you come to care about.

From the show's opening number "Waiting" to the closer "Answer Me," the music happens in an enervated fashion, infused with a Middle Eastern influence that is both haunting and mesmerizing.

The slower pacing may not work for those expecting high-stepping musical comedy and/or others who may not be willing to sit still for a solid one hour, 45 minutes without an intermission.

Pure joy to behold

For those that came into the theater knowing what to expect, however, it was pure joy to behold.

"The Band's Visit" tour director is Tony Award-winner David Cromer and the musical actually has two music supervisors in Andrea Grody and Dean Sharenow.

The creative team has designed a magnificently functional turntable set for which Cromer has staged almost every single movement by every person on stage.

Each scene unfolds fluidly and locks you into the moment. You cannot look away, almost like reading each and every pivotal chapter of that mystery book you simply cannot put down.

Tony Award-winning David Yazbek scored "Band's Visit" (with Tony Award-winning orchestration by Jamshied Sharifi) but, as mentioned, the music is quite removed from the scores the composer has done over the years.

When compared to “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Full Monty” or even “Tootsie,” (which starts The Hanover's upcoming 2022-2023 season) while his music always flows beautifully, those scores tend to have a lighthearted feel, whereas “Band’s Visit” is more intricate, eloquent, occasionally melancholy or even, as the lyrics below convey, more subdued.

In this complex world, there seems to be a fervent need for "basic" by many people these days.

The people we meet in “Band’s Visit” are from two very fervent, very complex worlds with equally complex histories.

Thrown together for a single evening, each person we see finds their own unexpected "need" for some basic human companionship that they either did not seek or perhaps they did not want — but this meeting ultimately changes them all, fervently, forever.

Just as sure as the seasons change in New England, “The Band’s Visit” is a musical that is a fabulous way to end this latest season for The Hanover Theatre as we anticipate their return in the fall.

Approximately one hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA).

'The Band's Visit'

Four stars

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Hanover Theatre wraps up Broadway season with joyous 'Band's Visit'