‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: Katrina Lenk & Tony Shalhoub. Photo: Matthew Murphy

THE BAND’S VISIT
Music & lyrics by David Yazbek
Book by Itamar Moses
Based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin
Directed by David Cromer
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.TheBandsVisitMusical.com

By David NouNou

Music is a constant source of inspiration that brings people together and is a true healer. If properly done, it can create magic and bring sworn biblical enemies together, if only for a night. So it is with David Yazbek’s The Band’s Visit. Middle Eastern music (Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese) is among the most uplifting and joyous music in the world, and Mr. Yazbek has implemented the use of Middle Eastern instruments to create a score that is original and mesmerizing, a sound that Broadway has seldom heard. My only regret is he didn’t infuse it with a klezmer/Israeli sound that would have blown the roof off the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Based on the 2007 Israeli indie film of the same name, it is set in 1996 when eight Egyptian musicians who comprise the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra have been booked by an Arab cultural center in Petah Tikva Israel, but through a language miscommunication end up in Bet Hatikva. It is a barren wasteland of a town in the Negev Desert. There are no hotels, restaurants or anything; the people there just survive. On this particular day and night, these two factions are brought together through their loneliness and desolation. They share their lives, love of music, food and tales.

This is basically the story of The Band’s Visit; however, it is the haunting score that adds humanity to this gentle story of misplaced people. Songs like “The Beat of Your Heart,” “Omar Sharif” both amusing and intoxicating, “Something Different” and “Answer Me” leave you wanting more, and of course “The Concert” at the end by the musicians and those wonderful sounds and instruments have you floating out of the theatre in delight.

The two people at the center of the story are Dina (Katrina Lenk), owner of a desolate restaurant and Tewfiq (Tony Shalhoub), the band’s orchestra leader. Ms. Lenk, who was in Indecent earlier this year is sensational and touching. Mr. Shalhoub, who was in Arthur Miller’s The Price also earlier this year, adds another brilliant character to his repertoire. Every time you think you have seen all the faces of Mr. Shalhoub, he manages to come up with yet another one, and this one is sheer joy. The scenes between him and Ms. Lenk discussing their lives and shortcomings are sheer perfection.  Everything and everyone in the show circles their orbit.

David Cromer keeps the proceedings moving at a beautifully nuanced pace. One thing I found interesting before the curtain went up was overhearing different people wondering if this show was going to be as uplifting as Come From Away or anything like it. Let me emphatically state they are nothing alike; they are two different shows but both touch on people’s humanity and need to connect to each other. A message that is so desperately needed in these turbulent times.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 17, 2017
Reviewed at November 16, 2017 press performance.

‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: The company. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: Tony Shalhoub & Katrina Lenk. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: The company. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: (left to right) Rachel Prather, Etai Benson & Ari’el Stachel. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE BAND’S VISIT’: (left to right) Kristen Sieh, John Cariani, Alok Tewani, Andrew Polk & George Abud. Photo: Matthew Murphy

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‘THE PRICE’: (left to right) Tony Shalhoub, Mark Ruffalo & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE PRICE
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Terry Kinney
Through May 7, 2017
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.RoundaboutTheatre.org

By David NouNou

Death Of A Salesman, The Crucible and A View From the Bridge are Arthur Miller’s most enduring plays, and every few years, a director comes along and shines a new perspective on them; lately it’s been done by European directors that push the envelope to the point that they are hardly recognized as Miller plays. Thank goodness The Price is not one of them; it is so rarely done that when a good production is mounted, you welcome it with open arms. I was too young to appreciate the original 1968 version; the 2000 version was abysmal; and now finally a version has arrived at just the right time, with its values intact.

The Price centers around two brothers that have each taken a different path growing up. Victor Franz (Mark Ruffalo) stayed to take care of his bankrupt father after the death of his mother and gave up school and science to become a policeman. Walter Franz (Tony Shalhoub) decided to leave his father and pursue his schooling and became a very wealthy doctor. They have been estranged for 28 years without even a call. Now that their father is dead and the building they lived in is being demolished, all the furniture that was stored in the attic has to be sold, and the appraiser, Gregory Solomon (Danny DeVito), has come to buy it all. This brings us to the price for the furniture, the price that each brother has paid to be who they are, and the price Solomon has paid to live as long as he has. The fourth character is Esther Franz (Jessica Hecht), wife of Victor, who has always envied people with a better life than she’s had and after nearly 30 years of marriage, still wants a better life.

What makes The Price relevant today is that it’s a seesaw play, one’s allegiance shifts from brother to brother on a moment-to-moment basis. What two brothers haven’t shared in guilt and recrimination with moving on or staying behind? In 1968, in gentler times, the arguments were clearer cut. Today, with harsher and more cynical realities, the lines are blurred and each one presents his case but ultimately there are no winners, for what is done is done and you can’t change the past. Seen by this perspective, The Price is profoundly relevant today.

Like the best of wines, Tony Shalhoub just keeps getting better with age. He is a consummate actor with a command that rivets your whole attention to his performance. When he is onstage, the play is electric; but he doesn’t come on until the end of Act I. However, in Act I you have Danny DeVito; finally coming to Broadway in a role tailor made for him. Thank God for his arrival early on to lift the tedium that is known as the exposition or set up of the play. You can say he is the wise Jewish grandfather of his previous role of Louis De Palma from TV’s “Taxi.” What a joy to have him on stage supplying the lighter moments.

In the drab and thankless roles of Victor and Esther Franz, Mark Ruffalo and Jessica Hecht make a valiant attempt to bring life to their characters. Mr. Ruffalo was a last-minute replacement for John Turturro; his real shining moment is the confrontation scene with Mr. Shalhoub. In those tense moments, you can really feel the pent-up rage between these two brothers who can never reconcile with each other.

For theatergoers who enjoy depth and content in their shows, I suggest you rush to the American Airlines Theatre because this production is only around until May 7, 2017.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 22, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on March 21, 2017

‘THE PRICE’: Mark Ruffalo & Tony Shalhoub. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE PRICE’: Mark Ruffalo & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE PRICE’: Mark Ruffalo & Danny DeVito. Photo: Joan Marcus

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ACT ONE
Written and directed by James Lapine
From the Autobiography of Moss Hart
Through June 15, 2014
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
150 West 65th Street
(212-239-6200), www.ltc.org

By David NouNou

Adapting a legendary autobiography about the theatre is a risky and tricky matter, especially when the legend being discussed died in 1961, and writing about his early struggles of getting his foot in the theatrical door occurred in 1930. What makes it tricky is Act One came out in 1959, and it became a theatrical bible. People read books and didn’t go on Wikipedia to get instant summarization of a book or a man’s life. The man here is Moss Hart and he is legendary when you read his accomplishments as director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was a giant of his day. After all, he had just directed My Fair Lady, Broadway’s mega hit of 1956 and Camelot was to follow in 1960 just before his death. As a playwright, he co-wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning You Can’t Take It With You and The Man Who Came To Dinner, both with George S. Kaufman. His screenplays consist of 1947’s Oscar-winning best picture Gentlemen’s Agreement and 1954’s A Star is Born, among others. The man was a prolific genius in every sense of the word.

But Act One isn’t about any of those historic events; it’s about his early childhood growing in the Bronx and Brooklyn in total poverty. His parents were Jewish immigrants from England, leading a dreary life, and the theatre was his only outlet. His Aunt Kate took him to a play and the bug bit. His life and passion became the theatre. He worked as a theatrical office boy, actor in the Catskills, wrote horrible plays that flopped and then wrote Once In A Lifetime and started collaboration with the celebrated master of the day, George S. Kaufman. The second act is all about the trials and tribulations of getting this play on its feet and to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway.

As I said earlier, writing about the theatre is a tricky matter, so the biggest challenge here is: Do modern audiences remember Moss Hart? They barely remember Rex Harrison and he was the actor who starred in My Fair Lady on Broadway and the movies. James Lapine has adapted the book into the play and pays reverential homage to the source by not omitting nary a single semicolon, which can be a good thing. Unfortunately, James Lapine the director didn’t take notes from his subject matter George S. Kaufman and delete a lot of his own written pages. For what actor, playwright, director didn’t grow up having a dreary life, being poor and had to work hard to get in the business? Ultimately, if they pay their dues, maybe, just maybe some do end up having the rags-to-riches story. Mr. Lapine had an interesting subject matter to deal with (Moss Hart) but unfortunately the book doesn’t deal with the interesting and later timeframe of his life to which modern audiences could relate. Mr. Lapine needed a Mr. Kaufman to edit a lot of the early unnecessary scenes and repetitious dialogue from Act II.

Having said all that and getting the storyline out of the way, there are a couple of hosannas on their way. Not since 1966 when the Beaumont opened and as a school project we had to go and discover the wonders of Lincoln Center, and the shows they were presenting, Danton’s Death and The Condemned of Altona (yes, I was a drama major) both dreary and bleak, but what struck me the most was the vastness of its stage. The revival of South Pacific tried to fill some of the vastness, but nothing compares to the set designed by Beowulf Boritt. The set is a revolving masterpiece that fills the entire stage and is very reminiscent of Oliver Smith’s sets. Mr. Smith, the premier set designer of his day, did the sets for My Fair Lady, Camelot, Hello Dolly, among many others. To see a show with awe-inspiring sets that is absolutely breathtaking; consisting of tenements, theatres, hotel rooms, offices and posh suites all on a revolving turntable are a vision to behold. Students studying theatrical design should see this show if for no other reason but the sheer magnificence of what Mr. Boritt has designed.

My other kudo goes to Tony Shalhoub, giving what might be his best stage performance to date. He plays three different roles succinctly: the older Moss Hart (who oversees the proceedings and how it all started); Moss’ father; as well as George S. Kaufman. His largest part is that of George S. Kaufman and he plays him to the hilt. Santino Fontana as the struggling young Moss Hart does an admirable  and energetic job as the passionate and charming playwright. Then there is Andrea Martin, also playing three parts: Moss’ Aunt Kate with a cloying English accent; Frieda Fishbein, the agent, the name says it all; and finally Beatrice Kaufman, George’s socialite wife; that’s her best part, she plays her demurely and gives her a quiet touch of class.

The rest of the cast supported unevenly, the worst being Mimi Lieber as Moss’ mother, Lillie. At any given line, she had four accents going on in the same sentence: they consisted of an abominable English accent, Jewish, Bronx and Brooklynese. You never knew with which accent she would start, continue and then end the sentence. Where were Mr. Lapine, the director and the dialogue coach? Was the fake English accent really necessary? I don’t think the audience would have minded if Moss’ mother, father, and aunt, had spoken with a Jewish New York accent because at least that would have been relatable. There is a lot of good in Act One and Moss Hart was a provocative person to write about, but unfortunately it wasn’t the right time of his life that modern audiences could identify with and be riveted by in a long biographical stage drama. I still recommend seeing Act One for Beowulf Boritt’s astounding set and Tony Shalhoub’s remarkable performance.

THE THESPIAN LIFE: Santino Fontana & Andrea Martin. Photo: Joan Marcus

Five Tony Nominations, including: Best Play, Best Actor – Tony Shalhoub, Costumes, Sound

WINNER: Beowulf Boritt, Best Set Designer

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 23, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on April 22, 2014

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