The Band’s Visit, the anti-razzmatazz musical, was warmly welcomed at the 2018 Tony Awards, taking home 10 of the trophies, including Best Musical, and far outstripping its competition.
The tender tale of a group of Egyptian musicians who by happenstance spend a night in a small Israeli desert town, a night in which they make quiet but deep connections with the locals, opened on Broadway this past fall after a highly praised run Off-Broadway in 2016. Despite notices that glowed enough to blind you, there were skeptics who questioned as to how the relatively small-scale production with its middle-Eastern-flavored score would fare with Broadway ticket buyers. The show has certainly been selling, but not selling out, and Broadway pundits will undoubtedly be watching closely to see how the landslide of Tonys will affect the box office.
Best musical revival went to Once on This Island, a highly atmospheric remounting of the musical that premiered Off-Broadway in 1990 and moved shortly afterwards to Broadway for a run of more than a year.
The win was seen as a surprise, beating out the season’s two other revivals, elaborate and well-received productions of two revered classics, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and My Fair Lady. While Once on This Island came into the evening with four nominations, the Best Revival nod was its only victory.
On This Island won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. Picture: Joan Marcus
Carousel, which received 11 nominations, won two awards, one for featured actress Lindsay Mendez and the other for choreographer Justin Peck.
My Fair Lady, with 10 nominations, claimed only one win, for its costumes by Catherine Zuber. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical, which tied with Mean Girls for the most Tony nominations, 12 of them, also had just one victory, for scenic designer David Zinn. But that was better than Mean Girls, which was totally spurned.
Among other musicals, both Frozen, which had three nominations, and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, with two nominations, also ended the evening empty-handed.
In addition to its best musical award, The Band’s Visit was honoured for its score by David Yazbek, its book by Itamar Moses, and direction by David Cromer. Three of its performers took home Tonys: leading actor Tony Shalhoub, leading actress Katrina Lenk, and feature actor, Ari’el Stachel. The show’s other awards were for Tyler Micoleau’s lighting design, Kai Harada’s sound design, and Jamshied Sharifi’s orchestrations.
The only nomination received by The Band’s Visit that didn’t wind up a win was for scenic design. Well, as the man said, you can’t win ’em all.
The evening also saw previously announced non-competitive awards going to two musical theatre legends, Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen also got a special award, citing his bringing of new audiences to Broadway with his sold out run of solo concerts, now extended until December.
Among non-musicals, British imports made the sceptred isle proud. Harry Potter and the Curse Child: Parts One and Two claimed six victories, including best play. The National Theatre’s revival of Angels in America won three, including best play revival, and former member of Parliament Glenda Jackson won best actress in a play for her turn in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women.
Meanwhile, Escape to Margaritaville, the season’s only new musical not garnering a single Tony nomination and still running, has posted a closing date of 1 July. With its final curtain, it will count 29 previews and 124 regular performances. A North American tour is planned for next year.
Ron Cohen
www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/winners.html
Readers may also be interested in:
The Band’s Visit – Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York – Review
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