The Band’s Visit
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Through April 3
Broadway fans may be excited to learn that a band has come to visit California—a touring production of the award-winning musical The Band’s Visit, that is. The first stop on the show’s four-month trek across North America is none other than the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. Based on a 2007 Israeli film of the same name, the show centers on an Egyptian orchestra visiting Israel for a performance in Petah Tikvah. Through a miscommunication they end up instead in the fictional desert town of Bet Hatikva, self-proclaimed by its residents as boring, bleak, and barren. Because the right bus does not arrive until the next day, the band members must spend the night in town split up between the homes of various citizens. Audiences are then introduced to several pocket stories within the different groups of citizens in this so-called “Nowhere” town, and left with a message about the lasting impact of this accidental visit along the lines of, “Nothing really happened but that doesn’t mean it didn’t matter.”
The original Broadway production of The Band’s Visit won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations, and those who have listened to the Broadway cast album will come to this showing with high expectations for the songs. Unfortunately, the tour’s problems begin here; the vocalists are largely lacking in energy and rely too heavily on the theater’s microphones, which were also mixed so poorly that it is frequently difficult to follow the lyrics and dialogue. Iconic numbers like “Omar Sharif” are lacking in gentleness and elegance, and the strongest vocalist of the cast (Joshua Grosso as “Telephone Guy,” whose ability to stay in character silently and motionlessly for long stretches of time exhibited impressive stamina as an actor) does not emerge until the final song of the show in “Answer Me.” This same number is the first moment that the ensemble vocals truly seem to click; group moments that normally carry some of the early numbers are underwhelming. It’s a shame that this side of the music is so lacking because the orchestrations and instrumental performances are enchanting—it almost feels like the music would have been better served as an instrumental concert than a theatrical piece.
The touring production also fails to live up to the Broadway run’s Tony wins for acting; the first half of the show has copious amounts of dead air, the actors’ blocking and gestures are extremely underdeveloped, and the musicians in the audience will note that the band leader’s conducting gestures are awkward imitations of the real thing. Though the choice to mix some of the show’s supporting instrumentalists in with the singing members of the band is theoretically a clever one, the plot itself does not support it and one has to wonder if the emphasis on instrumental skill rather than acting experience in that portion of the ensemble contributes to the show’s heavy dragging. The show is heavily masculine-dominated and the identical uniforms of the band also lack any distinguishing features, so any audience member more than a few rows back will likely be unable to tell these characters apart.
Though the use of set design and versatile structures onstage are a highlight, and some of the more stunning moments like the roller rink scene and the final concert are served well by the stage’s capabilities, Segerstrom doesn’t feel like the right venue for this show; the theater is physically too big for a story that demands intimacy. The opening night audience experience was also unpleasant—in addition to an exceptional amount of coughing (an excruciatingly uncomfortable situation for those who are still attuned to the ongoing COVID-19 statistics), there is a sense that the “foreign” nature of an Israeli story in an area such as Orange County makes for a festishization of the culture and trauma that informs it.
Though it is always possible this show will gain its footing as its tour continues, the technical failings and consistent lack of energy leave this theatergoer frustrated. Stay home, socially distance, and enjoy an evening with the Broadway cast album instead.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; Tues.-Fri., 7:30 pm, Sat., 2 & 7:30 pm, Sun., 1 & 6:30 pm; through April 3. https://www.scfta.org/events/2022/the-bands-visit Running time: 1 hr 43 minutes with no intermission.
