‘Band’ together for Tony time
Small budget & big payoff for musical
B ROADWAY musicals are getting more expensive every season, but there’s still plenty of money to be made on a shoestring budget.
One of the biggest hits so far this season is “The Band’s Visit,” which cost about $6 million. That’s peanuts — or bananas — compared with the $35 million being spent on “King Kong,” which opens in the fall.
“The Band’s Visit” is likely to recoup by the Tony Awards in June. A charmer of a show, it seems to be settling in for a nice long run at the Ethel Barrymore. A touring production, which kicks off next year, is already booked in major cities around the country.
The show, which started off at the 199-seat Atlantic Theater Company, is turning out to be one hell of a little slot machine for its investors.
It’s also a triumph for composer David Yazbek, a talented guy who’s had some bad breaks. When Yazbek opened his terrific musical “The Full Monty” in the fall of 2000, many thought it was going to rack up all the Tonys. Then “The Producers” came along, and even though it ran for two years, “The Full Monty” went home empty-handed and closed prematurely.
“Apparently, I was not as new and fresh as 80-year-old Mel Brooks,” Yazbek tells me, laughing.
His next show, the underrated “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” was swept aside by another boisterous musical comedy, “Spamalot.”
The sense on Broadway is that Yazbek is long overdue for Tony recognition. “Mean Girls,” “Frozen” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” are contenders, certainly, but right now, “The Band’s Visit” is the one to beat. Based on the 2007 movie, “The Band’s Visit” is about an Egyptian military band of musicians that, due to a bus ticket mix-up, mistakenly arrives in a dull and dusty little Israeli town. Katrina Lenk, who plays the bored, cynical owner of a little cafe, is sensational, as is Tony Shalhoub, funny and touching as the uptight bandleader. Many of the supporting players — John Cariani, Andrew Polk, Alok Tewari and George Abud — may also be in the mix come Tony time.
“The Band’s Visit” isn’t a traditional musical. There are no big dance numbers or eye-popping special effects — just human beings, lost and lonely, looking for a bit of joy in their humdrum lives.
With advance ticket sales over $10 million, it’s also a little show that’s found a big audience.
ONE of the best shows I’ve seen all year was the tribute to Barbara Cook at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Monday night. Directed by James Lapine, it was sweet, funny, touching and just under two hours.
Cook starred on Broadway in “The Music Man” and “She Loves Me.” Her career fell apart after a long battle with depression and alcoholism, but she emerged to become the leading female interpreter of the American songbook.
Behind her Southern charm was a sassy broad, who could “cuss” like a longshoreman. Her friend Frank
Langella recalled bringing her to a dinner party at Bar
bara Walters’ apartment. The place was full of the high and mighty, including
Henry Kissinger. Cook was intimidated: “Not my crowd,” she told Langella.
Walters coaxed her to sing, which she didn’t want to do. But she performed “You’ll Never Know” and broke everyone’s heart. Then she sat next to Langella, took his hand and whispered, “I will never f - - king forgive you for this.”
She did, of course. They remained friends until the night she died, in August, at 89.