‘The Band’s Visit’ Sweeps Up Tonys

Image by Courtesy The Band’s Visit Musical

By Forward Staff June 11, 2018

UPDATED: Based on one of Israel’s most celebrated movies — the multiple Ophir-winning “Bikur HaTizmoret” (“The Band’s Visit,” 2007) by Eran Kolirin — “The Band’s Visit” is this year’s surprise Broadway hit.

The musical debuted with Tony Shalhoub (“Monk” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) playing — and singing! — alongside Katrina Lenk (who recently starred in “Indecent”).

Nominated for 11 Tony awards, “The Band’s Visit” swept up ten, winning for best musical, best book, best score, best direction of a musical and more. (Full list here.)

That Itamar Moses, who wrote the book for the musical, is one of America’s brightest young writers was confirmed by his winning his first Tony. Read the Forward interviews with him from 2011 and from March, 2018, just before the Tony nominations.

Here he is backstage after winning the Tony.

Here is a complete list of the Tony awards won by “The Band’s Visit.”

Best New Musical
The Band’s Visit

Best Original Score
David Yazkbek

Best Direction of a Musical
David Cromer

Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony Shalhoub

Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Musical Katrina Lenk

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ari’el Stachel

Best Book of a Musical
Itamar Moses

Best Orchestrations
Jamshied Sharifi

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Tyler Micoleau

For more Tony award information and gossip, check out The Schmooze on Monday.

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO