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Broadway Casting & Musician Announcement For THE BAND'S VISIT
BROADWAY CASTING & MUSICIAN ANNOUNCEMENT!
THE BROADWAY CAST OF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICAL
THE BAND’S VISIT
Will Feature
KATRINA LENK TONY SHALHOUB
JOHN CARIANI ARI'EL STACHEL
GEORGE ABUD ANDREW POLK
BILL ARMY RACHEL PRATHER JONATHAN RAVIV
SHARONE SAYEGH KRISTEN SIEH ALOK TEWARI
With The Band
ANDREA GRODY, GEORGE ABUD, ALEXANDRA ECKHARDT,
PHILIP MAYER, SAM SADIGURSKY, JEFF THEISS,
HARVEY VALDES, GARO YELLIN
Music & Lyrics by DAVID YAZBEK
Book by ITAMAR MOSES
Based on the Screenplay by ERAN KOLIRIN
Direction by DAVID CROMER
Previews begin OCTOBER 7, 2017
Official opening NOVEMBER 9, 2017
On Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
NOW ON SALE AT TELECHARGE.COM
NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS’ PICK!
“THIS IS A PLACE YOU WANT TO VISIT IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF NEW AND EXCITING LIFE IN THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN MUSICAL.”
– Ben Brantley, The New York Times
Producers announced today initial casting for the Broadway production of the critically acclaimed musical THE BAND’S VISIT, arriving on Broadway in Fall 2017 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street).
THE BAND’S VISIT will feature Katrina Lenk (Indecent) as “Dina,” Tony Shalhoub (The Price) as “Tewfiq,” John Cariani (Something Rotten!) as “Itzik,” Ari'el Stachel (We Live in Cairo) as “Haled,” George Abud (The Visit) as “Camal,” Andrew Polk (Burning) as “Avrum,” Bill Army (Act One) as “Zelger,” Rachel Prather (Once) as “Julia,” Jonathan Raviv (Martyrs Street) as “Sammy,” Sharone Sayegh (Mamma Mia!) as “Anna,” Kristen Sieh (The Fortress of Solitude) as “Iris,” Alok Tewari (Awake and Sing!) as “Simon.”
Musicians will include Andrea Grody (Music Director/Piano), George Abud (Violin, Oud, Darbuka), Alexandra Eckhardt (Bass), Philip Mayer (Drums, Arabic Percussion), Sam Sadigursky (Clarinet, Saxophones, Flute), Jeff Theiss (Associate Conductor/Keyboard), Harvey Valdes (Guitar) and Garo Yellin (Cello).
THE BAND’S VISIT will begin performances on Saturday, October 7, 2017, and officially open on Thursday, November 9, 2017. Tickets are now on sale.
Featuring music & lyrics by three-time Tony Award nominee & Drama Desk Award winner David Yazbek and a book by NY Drama Critics Circle, Lortel and Outer Critics award winner and Drama Desk nominee Itamar Moses, based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin, THE BAND’S VISIT will be directed by Drama Desk, Lortel & Obie Award winner and Outer Critic & Drama League Award nominee David Cromer.
The Band’s Visit world premiere opened to critical acclaim at the Atlantic Theater Company on December 8, 2016, where the sold-out, limited engagement extended twice, playing its final performance on Sunday, January 8, 2017.
The musical was named BEST OF THE YEAR by The New York Times, Deadline, Newsday, New York Post, The Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, The Record, The Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Time Out New York and BuzzFeed.
The Band’s Visit won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical; two Lucille Lortel Awards, for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical (Katrina Lenk); two Outer Critics Circle Awards, for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding Score (David Yazbek); two Obie Awards, for Musical Theater (David Yazbek & Itamar Moses), and Directing (David Cromer); three Drama Desk Awards, for Outstanding Director of a Musical (David Cromer), Outstanding Music (David Yazbek) and Outstanding Lyrics (David Yazbek); and Theatre World Award’s Dorothy Louden Award for Theatre Excellence (Katrina Lenk).
An Egyptian Police Band arrives in Israel to play a concert. After a mix-up at the border, they are sent to a remote village in the middle of the desert. With no bus until morning and no hotel in sight, these unlikely travelers are taken in by the locals. Under the spell of the desert sky, their lives become intertwined in the most unexpected ways. The Band’s Visit celebrates the deeply human ways music and laughter connect us all.
The creative team includes Patrick McCollum (Choreography), Scott Pask (Set Design), Sarah Laux (Costume Design), Tyler Micoleau (Lighting Design), Kai Harada (Sound Design), Maya Ciarrocchi (Projection Design), Charles LaPointe (Hair Designer), Jamshied Sharifi (Orchestrations), Andrea Grody (Co-Music Supervisor, Musical Director), Dean Sharenow (Co-Music Supervisor), casting by Tara Rubin Casting.
Final casting will be announced shortly.
THE BAND’S VISIT is produced by Orin Wolf, John Styles and John N. Hart Jr.
Ticket Information
Tickets ($67 – $157, including the $2 facility fee) are on sale now at telecharge.com, 212.239.6200, or at the Barrymore Theatre box office (243 West 47th Street). For groups of 10 or more, please contact Broadway Inbound at broadwayinbound.com or 866.302.0995.
Performance Schedule
The preview performance schedule for THE BAND’S VISIT is: Monday – Saturday at 8pm; with matinees at 2pm on Wednesday (except October 11) & Saturday. The regular performance schedule is: Tuesday – Thursday at 7pm; Friday & Saturday at 8pm; with matinees at 2pm on Wednesday & Saturday; Sunday at 3pm.
@TheBandsVisit
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ABOUT THE COMPANY
KATRINA LENK (Dina) originated the role of “Dina” in Atlantic Theater Company's Off-Broadway production of The Band's Visit (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actress in a Musical, Dorothy Loudon and Clarence Derwent Awards). Broadway: Indecent, Once, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, The Miracle Worker. Off-Broadway/Regional includes: Indecent (Vineyard Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Rep), Touch (59E59), iWitness (Mark Taper Forum), Lost Land (Steppenwolf Theatre), Elemeno Pea, The Caucasian Chalk Circle (South Coast Rep), Camille (Bard SummerScape), and Lovelace: A Rock Opera (LA Weekly, LADCC and Garland Awards). TV/Film: “The Good Fight,” “The Get Down,” “Elementary,” “The Blacklist,” Look Away, Evol, FracKtured, Crime Fiction, among others. She is co-creator of the comedy web series “Miss Teri” and a member of several bands including her own, moxy phinx. katrinalenk.com
TONY SHALHOUB (Tewfiq) is a Golden Globe Award-winning actor with a diverse resumé of engaging roles. Mr. Shalhoub recently starred in The Price on Broadway with Mark Ruffalo, Jessica Hecht and Danny DeVito, following the world premeire of The Band’s Visit Off-Broadway. He is perhaps best known for his starring role as the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk in the popular television series “Monk,” for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Additional television credits include “Nurse Jackie,” “Too Big to Fail” and “Wings.” Shalhoub's feature film credits include Big Night, The Siege, Galaxy Quest, Men in Black, Men in Black II and Pain & Gain. Shalhoub voiced the character of Luigi in the popular animated movies Cars, Cars II and Cars III. Also, he voiced the role of Splinter in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie franchise. Recently, he completed filming an untitled feature, starring Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver, and Final Portrait, directed by Stanley Tucci. Shalhoub appeared in the theatrical productions of Act One and Golden Boy on Broadway, receiving Tony Award nominations for both. In late 2015, he appeared Off-Broadway in The Mystery of Love & Sex with Diane Lane. Shalhoub currently lives in New York City.
JOHN CARIANI (Itzik). Broadway: Something Rotten! (OCC nomination); Fiddler on the Roof (Tony nomination; OCC Award). Recent Off-Broadway: Picnic, Come Back Little Sheba, and Almost, Maine (Transport Group). Television: “Blacklist,” “The Good Wife,” and “Homeland.” Recurring roles on “Law & Order” (CSU Tech Beck), “Numb3rs,” and “The Onion News Network.” Several films. Playwright: Almost, Maine; Last Gas; LOVE/SICK, all available through Dramatists Play Service.
ARI'EL STACHEL (Haled) is making his Broadway debut after originating the role of Haled at the Atlantic Theatre Company (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominations). Regional: The Golem of Havana (Barrington Stage Company). Workshops: We Live in Cairo (NYTW), The Visitor (Public Theatre). TV: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Jessica Jones” (Netflix). New Studio graduate at NYU. Follow him @arielstachel
GEORGE ABUD (Camal). Proud Lebanese-American actor. Broadway: The Visit starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees (OBC Recording). International: The New Prince with Barbara Walsh, Paulo Szot and Marc Kudisch (Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam). Off-Broadway: The Band's Visit starring Tony Shalhoub and Katrina Lenk (World Premiere, Atlantic Theater Company); Peer Gynt opposite Gabriel Ebert, Nathan The Wise opposite F. Murray Abraham, and Allegro directed by John Doyle (Classic Stage Company). Regional: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck, Geva Theatre Center); Fiddler on the Roof (Human Race Theatre); Man of La Mancha and Oliver Twist (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ). This is dedicated to Andy Baroud, a man from Machghara, whom I loved very much.
ANDREW POLK (Avrum). New York: The Band's Visit (Atlantic Theatre Company); Burning, Mouth To Mouth and The Accomplices (Drama Desk nomination, The New Group); Diner The Musical (workshop); Walmartopia (Minetta Lane); The Green Zone (Lincoln Center); Flight (Lortel); Vick’s Boy (Rattlestick); among others. Regional: The Homecoming, Speed-The-Plow (A.C.T.); At Home At The Zoo (Philadelphia Theatre Co.); A New War (Long Wharf); Dinner with Friends (Alley Theatre); Angels in America (Alliance); Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, among many others. Film: Three Generations, Norman, The Humbling, Rebel In The Rye, Jamie Marks Is Dead, Love Is Strange, Shelter among others. TV: “House of Cards” (Harry Marshall – Season 4&5), “Instinct” (new on CBS), “The Punisher” (new on Netflix), “Madame Secretary,” “Hell On Wheels,” “The Good Wife,” “Blue Bloods,” “Person of Interest,” “The Blacklist,” “The Closer,” “30 Rock,” all “Law & Order” shows, among others. Training: London’s Webber-Douglas Academy (Fulbright Scholar). Associate Artist at American Conservatory Theater. Founder of The Cape Cod Theatre Project.
BILL ARMY (Zelger) appeared in the world premiere of The Band’s Visit at the Atlantic Theatre Company. Broadway: Act One (Lincoln Center Theater, directed by James Lapine); Relatively Speaking, an evening of three one-act plays by Ethan Coen, Elaine May, and Woody Allen, directed by John Turturro. Off-Broadway: The Changeling (Red Bull Theater); Old Jews Telling Jokes; All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure (The Public Theater). Company Member of the Potomac Theater Project since 2007: Scenes from an Execution (opposite Jan Maxwell), Vinegar Tom, Gertrude – The Cry, The Europeans, and No End of Blame. TV: “Deadbeat” (Hulu), “Cohab” (Webseries). MFA: NYU.
RACHEL PRATHER (Julia). Off-Broadway: The Band's Visit (Julia/Ticket Girl). National tours: Once (Girl standby); Peter and the Starcatcher (u/s Molly/Ted/Prentiss/Bumbrake). Regional: Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeitel); Nine. Graduate of the Boston Conservatory.
JONATHAN RAVIV (Sammy). New York work includes: The Boy Who Danced On Air at Abingdon Theatre Company (New York Premiere), The Lightning Thief - The Percy Jackson Musical at The Lucille Lortel (Drama Desk nomination for Best Musical), The Band's Visit at the Atlantic Theater Company (World Premiere), Martyrs Street at Theater for the New City, The Ragged Claws at Cherry Lane, Lies My Father Told Me with the National Yiddish Theatre and My Name Is Asher Lev at the Westside Theatre (Outer Critics Circle award for Best Play). Other regional credits include: The Boy Who Danced On Air at Diversionary Theatre (World Premiere), Love’s Labour’s Lost at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Fiddler on the Roof with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Oklahoma! at Portland Center Stage, Homebody/Kabul with Curious Theatre Company, Arabian Nights at Berkeley Rep., The Chosen at Chicago’s Writers’ Theatre, Lady Madeline at Steppenwolf Theatre and The Light In The Piazza at both Arena Stage & Goodman Theatre. Television credits include: “The Blacklist,” “Zero Hour,” and “Pan Am.” @jonathanraviv
SHARONE SAYEGH (Anna) is honored to be bringing The Band’s Visit to Broadway. As an actor of Israeli/Iraqi descent, it’s incredibly exciting to bring this new Middle Eastern musical to life. Broadway: Mamma Mia! Off-Broadway: Anna in The Band's Visit (Atlantic Theater Co, World Premiere), title role in Scheherazade (Prospect Theater Co) and the world premiere of The Wildness (Ars Nova). Regional: Maria Elena in Buddy (The Muny), Aouda in 80 Days (Florida Rep), Vidya in Disconnect (San Jose Rep, BACC Nom.). Workshops: Margaritaville (Dir. Christopher Ashley), Hazel (Dir. Lucie Arnaz), Sheila Levine (Dir. Susan Stroman), Hooray For Iceboy (Dir. John Rando), War is F*cking Awesome (Dir. Leisl Tommy), Bengal Tiger… (Lark). BFA: Syracuse University. This one’s for Eema, Abba, ha mishpacha, and her Yossi. sharonesayegh.com @sharonesayegh
KRISTEN SIEH (Iris) is a founding member of The TEAM, with whom she has written and performed numerous new works, including RoosevElvis (The Royal Court, Walker Arts Center, The A.R.T., The Vineyard, etc.). Other credits include: The Public Theater (Fortress of Solitude, February House), Classic Stage Company (Iphigenia in Anne Washburn’s Iphigenia in Aulis), The Foundry (O, Earth), Half Straddle (Ghost Rings), Pig Iron (Viola in Twelfth Night), Ripe Time (The World is Round at BAM), Elevator Repair Service (Gatz, The Sound and the Fury, etc.), Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb (Men onBoats), Banana, Bag & Bodice (Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage), The Builders Association, The New Group, The O’Neill Center, The 52nd St. Project, and others. Regional credits include Syracuse Stage, Denver Center Theater, Long Wharf, and Baltimore CenterStage. Television: “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black,” “The Blacklist,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Law & Order.”
ALOK TEWARI (Simon). Theatre credits include Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Repertory); The Strangest (Semitic Root); The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company); Awake and Sing! (The Public Theater/NAATCO); The Queen, Martyrs Street, and Blind Angels (Theater for the New City); A Fable, Through the Yellow Hour, and War (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); Bunty Berman Presents, Rafta, Rafta…, and Marie and Bruce (The New Group); Night Over Erzinga and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Lark); Masked (Buenos Aires); Inana (Denver Center Theatre Company); Betrothed (Ripe Time); and Marco Polo (The Group, Argentina). Television credits include “Iron Fist,” “House of Cards,” “Royal Pains,” “The Blacklist,” “Madam Secretary,” “Deadbeat,” “Blue Bloods,” “30 Rock,” “Homeland,” “Fringe,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and “Guiding Light.” Films include Shelter and Brooklyn’s Finest.
DAVID YAZBEK (Music & Lyrics). A varied career as a recording artist, Emmy Award-winning TV and screenwriter, music producer, and pianist has somehow led Yazbek to become one of Broadway’s preeminent composer/lyricists. His three shows, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown have received a combined 24 Tony Award nominations, including three for Best Score. His newest musical, The Band’s Visit, earned him an Obie, New York Drama Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and two Drama Desk awards for the Off-Broadway engagement at Atlantic Theatre Company. As a recording artist, Yazbek is responsible for five albums: The Laughing Man, Tock, Damascus, Tape Recorder and Evil Monkey Man. He has written and/or produced for such acts as XTC, Ruben Blades, The Persuasions, Joe Jackson, Tito Puente and many others. He also produced the original cast albums of his Broadway shows. He has three Grammy Award® nominations. In the past couple of years, he has scored the final season of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” composed music for Larry David’s Fish in the Dark and written songs and music for Much Ado About Nothing at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, all while opening productions of Scoundrels and Women on the Verge in London’s West End. In past lives, he has written dozens of scripts and many songs for television and film, won an Emmy Award® for his stint on “Late Night with David Letterman” and wrote the unrelenting theme song for “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” David is seven.
ITAMAR MOSES (Book). Itamar Moses is the author of the full-length plays Outrage, Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back, Completeness and The Whistleblower; the musicals Nobody Loves You (with Gaby Alter), Fortress of Solitude (with Michael Friedman) and The Band’s Visit (with David Yazbek); and the evening of short plays Love/Stories (Or But You Will Get Used To It). His work has appeared Off-Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theaters across the country and in Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Venezuela, Turkey and Chile, and is published by Faber & Faber and Samuel French. Awards for his work include Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Obie awards in New York, as well as awards from the Portland, San Diego, Dallas, and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circles. He’s received new play commissions from The McCarter, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Rep, The Wilma Theater, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and Goodman Theatre. On television, Itamar has written for TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age,” HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” and WGN’S “Outsiders.” He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Born in Berkeley, CA, he now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
DAVID CROMER (Director). Recent credits include: Man from Nebraska (Second Stage); the Off-Broadway premiere of The Band's Visit (Atlantic Theatre Company); The Effect (Barrow Street Theatre); Come Back, Little Sheba (Huntington Theatre); Angels in America (Kansas City Rep); and Our Town at the Almeida Theatre in London, which he also directed in Chicago, New York (Barrow Street Theatre), Los Angeles, Boston and Kansas City. Additional New York Credits include: Women or Nothing at Atlantic, Really Really at MCC, The House of Blue Leaves and Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway, When the Rain Stops Falling and Nikolai and the Others at Lincoln Center Theater as well as Tribes, Orson’s Shadow (Barrow Street) plus Adding Machine, which was a BST production at the Minetta Lane. Originally from Chicago, his credits there include Sweet Bird of Youth (The Goodman), A Streetcar Named Desire, Picnic and The Price (Writers Theatre), Cherrywood, Mojo, and The Hot l Baltimore (Mary-Arrchie), The Cider House Rules (co-directed with Marc Grapey at Famous Door), and Angels in America (The Journeymen), among others. For his work he has received a Drama Desk, three Obies, three Lortels, four Jeff Awards and in 2010 was made a McArthur Foundation Fellow.
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