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| Band's Visit - What am I missing? | |
| Posted by: MetaTheatrical 07:50 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| Attended the matinee last Saturday. The NY Times review had me at ravishing, remarkable, smart, Sondheim-esque, adult... I know my way around the theatre, Broadway and beyond, highbrow and low, subtle as Sondheim and garish as...Spongebob?, commercial and not. I was in town to see the eve Boys in the Band and excited to attend something on a whim that I didn't know walking in...the source movie, the music, the story. Initially the set, the shifting cloud projections, the Middle Eastern flavors drew me into a world we don't often experience on the Broadway stage. As I sank into the performance though, I just couldn't get a grip on the point-of-view, the reason why this story needed to be told, the why now? Where is the passion the characters claim to want...or have yet to experience? As a musical, the songs are un-memorable...if not just dreadful and sophomoric (full disclosure: I am not a fan of Yazbek). I get the reaching through different languages but the dialogue becomes so stilted through the halted accents. The characters are kept at arms length and I couldn't care less about any of them or what they want. Especially the extended family with the baby. Actor Katrina Lenk is fascinating, sensual, mysterious, but it never seems the material lets her transcend (what exactly makes her without-a-doubt the Tony winner other than this less-than-memorable season?). What makes this piece the without-a-doubt Tony Winner for Best Musical? The plot seems to miss so many rich opportunities for cultures colliding and finding new understandings. What has truly changed at the end? I couldn't tell. I'm thankful this was a one-act. I was over it by minute 30 of 90. What am I missing? I went to YouTube for clips, interviews and reviews to find out. Enlighten me. But be kind. |
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| I'll make a stab at it... | |
| Posted by: fm_15 12:56 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
| In reply to: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - MetaTheatrical 07:50 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| I can only speak for myself but I responded most to the cross-cultural tension that is maintained throughout the entire show. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. (I myself am not Jewish but my partner is half) Right next to us was a fairly large Pakistani neighborhood. I grew up with a front row seat of the tension between the 2 groups. I remember 9/11 vividly and all the aftermath when I was living in yet another part of Brooklyn that had Jewish/Arab crossroads. My current job in Jersey serves a large Egyptian/Arab population. A few years ago I visited Israel and the Palestinian territories and the settlements. "Unnerving" is the first word that comes to mind but it is such an understatement because how is one to describe a situation where a building is split in half-- one half serves as a mosque and the other half as a synagogue -- and the street it is on is literally divided between the two groups with soldiers carrying automatic rifles lined up along the sidewalk? So taking all these experiences together, you can imagine what I felt walking into this show last year. That moment the Egyptian band first walks into the cafe for me was not just *tense*...it was downright heart stopping. I think I held my breath for as long as the actors paused staring at each other. Of course I can't claim that you need this background appreciation of the conflict to like this show...but I do wonder if the lack of appreciation causes some audience members to expect "more". I think the predictable course of the narrative would have been to have a lot of loud yelling/crying histrionic drama. I felt it was like a breath of clean air that this show didn't have that. Instead, the story that unfolded was unpredictably gentle. The key for me is the show's tag line --SPOILER ... the fact that "nothing happened". There is no cathartic cross cultural mind-meld. The Arab-Israeli conflict is not magically solved. You're right: nothing earth shattering has happened. It is just a story about humans being very human in the simplest of ways -- two lonely souls share their love of romantic cinema, a suave man gives pointers to a shy one on how to woo a girl, a group shares their family troubles... Yeah, maybe nothing has truly changed at the end as you say, but for one brief night, in one village in the desert, two groups with contentious backgrounds are gentle to each other. For me, that was gratifying and incredibly uplifting. I left that theatre on cloud nine and surprisingly optimistic. |
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| re: I'll make a stab at it... | |
| Posted by: Backontheice 01:41 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
| In reply to: I'll make a stab at it... - fm_15 12:56 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
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| Your reply is one of the best things that I have ever read on this site. And true to the norm here it has gone unnoticed. Thank you for sharing your insights. | |
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| re: I'll make a stab at it... | |
| Posted by: garyd 01:53 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I'll make a stab at it... - Backontheice 01:41 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
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| It has not gone unnoticed. | |
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| i recommend listening to the score | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:06 am EDT 06/06/18 | |
| In reply to: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - MetaTheatrical 07:50 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| I saw the show last November and liked it but didn’t love it. I did look like lenk more than you. Then I listened to the cd on Spotify. I ended up buying the cd. The score really is subtlety fantastic. | |
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| re: Band's Visit - What am I missing? | |
| Posted by: Randolph 08:17 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
| In reply to: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - MetaTheatrical 07:50 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| I more or less agree with you -- and I'm a Yazbek fan. I'm also a fan of the movie and found it much more rewarding than the musical. Where the movie was subtle, wry and warm, the stage version is broad, unfocused and rather dull. The accolades likely have to do with it being a rare musical for adults. And it's a weak season for new musicals, so it's easy to stand out. (Yes, I realize the rave reviews came early in the season, and even earlier if you consider the off-Broadway run.) A disappointment for me, and I really wanted to love it. I did love the song "Answer Me" and agree that Katrina Lenk is fascinating. Wish there were more to love. |
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| This is being set up as one of those quintessential “Me Too” threads. N/M | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 08:59 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - Randolph 08:17 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| re: Band's Visit - What am I missing? | |
| Posted by: Ann 08:00 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
| In reply to: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - MetaTheatrical 07:50 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| It's been asked a couple times before - I'll link one long thread below. No one needs to enlighten you. You didn't like it. Everyone has shows like that. It usually cannot be explained. And if you don't like Yazbek's music, you must have been going crazy. |
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| Link | "I don't get THE BAND'S VISIT" previous thread |
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| re: Band's Visit - What am I missing? | |
| Posted by: PurpleMoney 08:15 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Band's Visit - What am I missing? - Ann 08:00 pm EDT 06/05/18 | |
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| I was not satisfied either. Love David and he may win as a sympathy vote for being suck a "loser". All of his prior nominations were WINNERS that lost. I think the simple sponge is the best of the season. I would not go back to Band's Visit but have made multiple visits to Bikini Bottom. I'm not in the Mean Girls demo so don't slam me on that one. | |
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