The Band’s Visit is a timeless musical, a romantic intrigue, and a wryly funny tale based on a true story. You may have seen the movie, but the musical allows the story to be fully fleshed out bringing to life the story of a 7-piece classical Arab band known as the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra and its conductor, Colonel Tewfiq, and how they all wind up in a dusty desert town in Israel where no one is expecting them. Winner of ten Tony Awards including “Best Musical” and “Best Original Score”, the sultry number “Omar Sharif” was performed on the night of the 2018 awards. Countless other prestigious theater awards have showered down upon this tenderhearted tale with original screenplay written by Eran Kolirin, book by Itamar Moses with composer/lyricist David Yazbek, and beautifully directed by David Cromer. It stars Sasson Gabay, who played the lead in the film version, as well as Chilina Kennedy (Carole King in Beautiful on Broadway), Pomme Koch and Joe Joseph, both of whom were in the Broadway cast.
‘The Band’s Visit,’ now playing at The Kennedy Center. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Imagine Tel Aviv in 1996. Egyptian music and movies have been banned even though generations of Israelis have thrilled to the haunting voice of the internationally famous singer, Umm Kulthum, and films starring the divinely suave and handsome Egyptian box-office idol, Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia andDr. Zhivago). It is a fraught time, not so different from today, when cultures are separated by politics or war, and borders, real or imagined, are redrawn or redefined. And it is how Tewfiq and Dina find their music connection.
When the youthful Haled purchases the band’s tickets and mistakenly gives the wrong name for their destination, his miscommunication sends the men to Bet Hatikva, a tiny town where nothing ever happens and where the song “Waiting”, sung by the residents of the town, describes their ennui. At the café the musicians meet the lovely and fiery Dina, owner of the town’s sole café, who finds them homes to stay for a single night till the next day’s bus can take them to their correct destination.
Chilina Kennedy as Dina and Sasson Gabay as Tewfiq in ‘The Band’s Visit.’ Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Nine musicians – including players of the traditional Arab instruments oud, darbouka and riq – perform all the numbers onstage in a sort of musical ballet assisted by a rotating center stage. This beautifully expressed musical accompaniment weaves together the characters’ personal stories enhancing their shared communion with their temporary hosts. The story centers around the initial awkwardness of the two separate cultures attempting to understand each other’s cultural differences, ultimately discovering that they are more similar than not, and that love and family and the universality of music are at the heart of the human connection.
‘The Band’s Visit,’ now playing at The Kennedy Center. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Highly recommended. Take everyone you know!
With Chilina Kennedy (Carole King in Beautiful on Broadway) as Dina; Sasson Gabay as Tewfiq; Pomme Koch as Itzik; Joe Joseph as Haled; Mike Cefalo as Telephone Guy; Adam Gabay as Papi; Ronnie Malley as Camal; David Studwell as Avrum; Jennifer Apple as Anna; Marc Ginsburg as Sammy; Kendal Hartse as Iris; Sara Kapner as Julia; James Rana as Simon; and Or Schraiber as Zelger. The Band is conducted by Rick Bertone, Music Director – with Tony Bird, George Crotty, Evan Francis, Roger Kashou, and Ronnie Malley.
Choreography by Patrick McCollum; Scenic Design by Scott Pask; Sound Design by Kai Harada; Costume Design by Sarah Laux; Lighting Design by Tyler Micoleau.
Through August 4th at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the Eisenhower Theater – 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org
Is soul music making a comeback? With the recent success of Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations garnering 12 Tony Award nominations this season and Pride & Joy – The Marvin Gaye Musical that played the National Theatre two months ago, I’d say there’s an audience hungry to recapture those funky rhythms, groovy backbeat, slick harmonies and smooth vocals. In Soul Redeemer by composer and lyricist Neal Learner (LIFE: A Comic Opera in Three Short Acts) in collaboration with Paul Handy (a veteran of four Capital Fringe Festival productions), the early 70’s vibe is on point both musically and visually.
The new musical stars Bryce Monroe, as Buddy King, a soul singer who flamed out on drugs in the high-flying 70’s and is looking to get back onto the charts. Unfortunately, Buddy burned a lot of people, including his wife, Jeanine (Isabelle Pickering/Christina McCann), his producer, Jake (Evan Thanicatt), and his two backup singers, Quincy (Anthony Williams) and the sexy Melody (Melanie Lawrence), whom he has the hots for, much to the dismay of his pop singer wife. It’s a tragedy, a romance and a comedy set to soul music with a disco scene thrown in for good measure.
(l-r) Isabelle Pickering and Bryce Monroe.
Handy conceived the show and Learner wrote all eight of the period songs giving the cast free rein to interpret his music and context resulting in a vibrant collaboration and a convincing freshness to his material. Both Monroe and Williams have strong, soulful voices and hot chops that put this one on your must-see Fringe list.
Nicely directed by Anya Randall Nebel, the talented cast of locals moves to the groove with terrific voices and fierce emotion.
Produced by Don Michael Mendoza of LA TI DO Productionswww.latidoproductions.com with Assistant Director Larry O. Grey, Jr., and LeVar Betts and Josh Cleveland Co-Directing. A five-piece kickass band backs up the singers.
Last dates July 20th , 21st , 25th and July 27th at Westminster Presbyterian Church “Pickle”, 400 I Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024.
(l-r) Doug Bowles “Warbler” and Alex Hassan “Pianoodler”
Doug Bowles and Alex Hassan are back on Maple Avenue’s Creative Cauldron with more laughter, merriment, touching songs and stories, and where they’ll perform the beloved songs you know and some you haven’t yet heard from their research into the lost and forgotten songs of the ‘Great American Song Book’. The show is part of Creative Cauldron’s ‘Cabaret Series’ which features a cabaret or concert every summer weekend.
Alex Hassan ~ Pianoodler
A few notes on the amazing Alex Hassan: As current president of the Northern Virginia Ragtime Society, Alex Hassan has been thoroughly immersed in the musical styles and arrangements of the 20’s and 30’s for over four decades. As a renowned collector of over 50,000 pieces of popular sheet music wedged between the World War I and II, Hassan recreates the spirited and glorious melodies of the Golden Age of popular music.
Amongst the highlights of his musical career, Alex counts performances at the Smithsonian, the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, MO, where he will return this year, New York’s tony Player’s Club, Toronto’s McMichael Art Gallery, Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, England’s Aldeburgh Festival, and the Husum, Germany “Piano Rarities” festival.
In the 1990’s and 2000’s, Alex recorded regularly for the UK company, Shellwood. Currently, Hassan has three solo piano CDs that are available on the Operetta Archives label, along with one recorded for the Pittsburgh-based Rivermont Records. Alex has also written program notes for CD reissues of notable 78 rpm performances by syncopating pianists of the past. Alex’s flying fingers will do their usual magic with recent arrangements of his own piano solos.
Doug Bowles
Doug Bowles is a tenor extraordinaire and much sought-after Musical Director with an extensive background in voice and theater who serves on the faculty of both Howard University and the Catholic University and who has directed nearly 200 musical productions. His collaboration with Hassan has taken the performers around the country and across the pond performing songs by 1930s composers from Harold Arlen to Fats Waller to George Gershwin. Bowles’ entertainment company SingCo Music represents Bowles’s hot jazz and swing band “Doug Bowles and his SingCo Rhythm Orchestra”, a multiple Wammy-nominated orchestra that has performed at many venues including the Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom, on The Voice of America, and at The National Archives. Bowles has also appeared with noted, Grammy Award winning band leader, Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks, (Boardwalk Empire, The Aviator, Prairie Home Companion, Bessie). www.dougbowles.com
The guys will be joined by the dulcet voiced actor/singer, Jennifer Timberlake who has performed around the DC area including at The Kennedy Center, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, The Washington Stage Guild and Adventure Theatre. Timberlake counts both Patsy in Always…Patsy Cline and Carrie in Carousel as her favorite roles.
As usual, the warblers and ‘pianoodler’ will introduce you to amazing “new” songs of the 20’s and 30’s. This performance will also be the world premiere of two new transcriptions/arrangements of songs by beloved 1920’s songstress, recording artist and famed Broadway performer, Esther Walker, as interpreted by the lovely Miss Jenn. Thrill to a rarely heard, but exquisite tune by Jerome Kern, and a fabulous selection of tunes you will no doubt want to sing along with.
You Can’t Go Wrong with Two For a Song!
Two shows only. Friday July 12th at 8pm and Saturday, July 13th at 8pm at Creative Cauldron, 410 South Maple Avenue, Retail 116, Falls Church, VA 22046. For information on this show and upcoming summer cabarets and concerts call 703 436.9948 or visit Creative Cauldron web booking,
Full disclosure: I am a descendant of Edward Teach aka Edward Thatch aka Blackbeard.
Okay, now that my admission of partiality is out of the way, I can talk about why the world premiere of Blackbeard is a rousing success. First and foremost, Lyricist John Dempsey (Brother Russia, The Witches of Eastwick, The Fix) and Composer Dana P. Rowe (Dempsey’s collaborator on the same award-winning shows) have chosen the consummate swashbuckling blackguard to lead us into a hilariously unconventional fantasyland of pirates and their amours. Directed by Signature’s Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, this turbo-charged adventure is based on the legendary exploits of the infamous 18th century privateer.
Awa Sal Secka (Shanti), Kevin McCallister (Caesar), Chris Hoch (Blackbeard), Christopher Mueller (Jake), and Lawrence Redmond (Samuel) in Blackbeard at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Punctuated with dazzling pyrotechnics, the snicker-snack of gleaming swords, and booming cannons so thunderous that the floor actually quakes beneath your feet, this lusty new musical introduces us to the life of the dastardly pirate, Blackbeard.
Maria Egler (Morgan), Lawrence Redmond (Samuel), Christopher Mueller (Jake), Ben Gunderson (Garrick), Awa Sal Secka (Shanti), and Kevin McAllister (Caesar) in Blockbeord at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
Conceiving a plan to conquer the British navy and achieve notoriety, Blackbeard seeks out his former lover, Dominique, a dazzlingly alluring temptress who rules the high seas. His aim: To gain access to her sorcery and recruit an army of the undead. Her aim: To secure her freedom from the island where he abandoned her and conscript him to bring her three precious jewels. To achieve this perilous feat, Blackbeard must travel to the kingdoms of Japan and India and confront the Norse gods of Scandinavia.
Nova Y. Payton (Dominique) in Blockbeord at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Accompanied by Roger, a clever young stowaway, his trusty African Captain Caesar, Karl, a curiously reticent sailor, and a scurrilous band of ne’er-do-wells, Blackbeard travels across stormy seas on his perilous mission.
Veteran Broadway actor Chris Hoch (War Paint, Amazing Grace, Matilda, Shrek: The Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Dracula), with his marvelously commanding voice and stage presence, gives us an imposing Blackbeard, while leading lady Nova Y. Payton blows us square out of our seats with her powerhouse singing and fierce portrayal of the payback-seeking Dominique who enchants Blackbeard in the sultry number “Spellbound’. Equally engaging is Lawrence Redmond’s finely tuned portrayal of the Old Man and Bobby Smith as Ódinn, the Viking ruler, who engages Blackbeard in an uproariously comical drinking contest in the number “Valhalla” – “Val-ha-ha-ha-la”!
As bold and colorful as these pirates is Paul Tate Depoo III’s set design. Rigged with ship’s lines for clambering and a massive ship’s prow, the two-level set is wonderfully atmospheric.
It’s all tongue-in-cheek as this band of buccaneers takes us on a wild ride to exotic ports of call.
Ben Gunderson (Lt. Maynard) and Chris Hoch (Blackbeard) in Blockbeord at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Highly recommended. A rousing adventure with a memorable score.
Ten actors play over 60 roles. With Chris Hoch as Blackbeard; Nova Y. Payton as Sally/Dominique; Rory Boyd as Roger; Lawrence Redmond as Samuel/Old Man; Kevin McAllister as Caesar; Bobby Smith as Karl/Ódinn; Maria Egler as Morgan/La Mer; Ben Gunderson as Garrick/Lt. Maynard; Christopher Mueller as Jake/Kamikase; and Awa Sal Secka as Shanti/Kali Maa.
Conducted by Jon Kalbfleisch; Choreography by Matthew Gardiner; exceptionally costumed by Erik Teague; Lighting Design by Chris Lee; Sound Design by Ryan Hickey; Orchestrations by David Holcenberg & Scott Wasserman; Fight Choreography by Casey Kaleba.
Through July 14th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Twisted Melodies, a dramatic interpretation of the last day of Donny Hathaway’s life, touches us on so many levels. As a consummate songwriter and performing artist, Hathaway was one of the most enduring talents during the height of the 1970’s R&B scene. An accomplished pianist, soul, blues and jazz singer, and collaborator with Roberta Flack (The Closer I Get To You), he borrowed from his gospel roots reinterpreting his melodic memories into one of the most recognizably appealing sounds of the decade. For area audiences it’s a special treat to experience this powerful production and revisit some of his music, as Hathaway was well known in DC circles where he attended Howard University during the Civil Rights era.
Making its DC premiere at Mosaic Theatre in association with New York’s famed The Apollo Theater, its writer, star, and musical director, Kelvin Roston, Jr., presents an indelible foray into Hathaway’s psychological turmoil. Roston’s skill at becoming Hathaway’s doppëlganger captures the artist in his most fragile period after he had been hospitalized several times with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and was living on a dangerous cocktail of medications that served only to increase his fears and insecurities.
Set in a New York hotel room where Hathaway is surrounded by his demons – a ghost named Duke, disembodied voices and fears of his room being bugged – the terrified singer fights to keep it together on the eve of his comeback. “I gotta focus! Twist it into melodies. Everybody is depending on me.” Interspersed with songs by Hathaway and other artists – Leon Russell, George Clinton, Stevie Wonder – played on an electric piano, Roston dramatizes Hathaway’s decline as both an artist and father.
Roston’s tour de force portrayal of a tormented soul in full-blown crisis mode is skillful beyond imagining. Not only is his beautifully written script filled with passion and raw emotion, but more incredibly, he takes on Hathaway’s entire persona in what would be a physically and emotionally draining role for any actor. Along the way, he reaches out to the audience, as though we are a part of his rehabilitation. As his “angels” and “muses”, he calls out to us for support, acknowledging our presence as he strives to transform his anger and weakness into beauty.
Highly recommended.
Directed by the award-winning Derrick Sanders, Set Design by Courtney O’Neill, Costumes by Dede Ayite, Lights by Alan C. Edwards, Sound by Christopher M. LaPorte, and Projections by Mike Tutaj. Presented in co-production with Baltimore Center Stage and The Apollo Theater.
Through July 21st at the Atlas Center for the Performing Arts in the Theresa and Jane Lang Theatre – 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. For tickets and info on post show discussions, special rates and discounts visit www.MosaicTheater.org or call the box office at 202.399.7993 ext. 2. Valet parking at 1360 H Street, NE.
Studio Theater’s new Milton Theatre is looking to attract a summer crowd and last night it did. Called SHOWROOM it is a casual space offering specialty cocktails and snacks at the bar. Olney Theatre Center’s production of Every Brilliant Thing, by playwrights Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahoe, is a one-man, one-act play about suicide and was the first of the off-beat performances of the season. Pleasantly ensconced at café tables lit with candles, the youngish crowd had bought their drinks and looked ready for a Friday date night that promised audience participation. Touted as a comedy, it seemed as though fun was just around the corner.
Alexander Strain and an audience member in Every Brilliant Thing. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
So, maybe I should have had what they were drinking, or snagged one of the cards that was handed out in advance to a smattering of guests so they could call out some of the “brilliant things” Alexander was grateful for while his mother lay in hospital after another suicide attempt. But for me, no amount of jokes or self-deprecating comedic schtick could subtract from the fact that a family was being torn asunder by a mother’s crushing depression and nothing could stop that fateful train from jumping the tracks.
Alexander Strain and an audience member in Every Brilliant Thing. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
Thinking about my feelings for the play, I drifted off to sleep that night and had a dream about it – a dream as quirky as the play itself. I dreamed that Amy Schumer was in a play she had written and was eager to get a group of us into the theater to see it. She described it as a story about her mother’s suicide. We didn’t want to see her act out her personal tragedy, but she begged us to participate. We entered the theater (in Greece, no less) and the more we listened, the more we wanted her to stop. Because though it seemed to be alleviating her sorrow, we couldn’t bear to hear the whole dismal story.
The audience and Alexander Strain in Every Brilliant Thing. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
That’s what this play is about more or less, except that the audience is conscripted to shout out these brilliant things like “ice cream”, “staying up past bedtime”, “things with stripes”, etc. Much of the time these non-actors couldn’t be heard across the room. My seatmate turned to me on several occasions with a quizzical look, as if hoping I would tell him. That left us wondering what the brilliant thing was that Alexander as the child, who later presents as a teenager, and ultimately a college student with his own crushing depression, might have said.
I’ll grant you it might seem like a healthy psychological exercise to look for the sunny side of life while everything around you is crumbling, but nonetheless, it doesn’t work out in the end for Alexander, even though a woman from the audience has been asked to play his dying dog’s vet, another has been asked to play his guidance counselor, and a man is challenged to play Alexander’s father, a man so removed from his child’s life, he closets himself away when the going gets tough.
Audience members and Alexander Strain in Every Brilliant Thing. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
Once in college Alexander learns of Goethe’s notions about suicide and subs an audience member to play the part of his college professor. He references ‘social contagions’ and agrees with the notion that we are unconsciously affected by the behavior of our peers – as in copycat suicides. It’s called the ‘Werther Effect’ after Goethe’s notable character. As Alexander tells us, “Children of depressed mothers have a heightened sense of stress.” It would be good to keep this warning in mind when writing a play about suicide.
The evening’s oddest moment came when a pretty girl who was asked to pretend she was Alexander’s girlfriend didn’t understand how the game was played. Everyone else in the audience had understood they were to parrot the words he voiced aloud to them but even after he repeatedly fed her the lines, she opted to concoct her own responses until she finally had that aha moment and played along. LOL… or not.
Alexander Strain and an audience member in Every Brilliant Thing. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
So, see it if you’ve never known anyone who has committed suicide. That’s my warning. Just be sure to order a cocktail first. Who knows? You might find it amusing.
Directed by Jason Loewith and starring Alexander Strain.
Through July 7th at Studio Theatre – 1501 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005. For tickets and information about the remaining shows in the run, visit www.StudioTheatre.org or call 202 232.7267
