THE BAND’S VISIT Is Coming to Boston in a Historic First Between 2 Theatre Companies
In a historic first, two beloved Boston theatre companies are coming together to present the city’s premiere of the Tony-winning The Band’s Visit. The Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage co-produce the musical, which is set to run at the recently renovated Huntington Theatre from November 10–December 10, as part of the companies’ respective 2023-2024 seasons.
“We at SpeakEasy are thrilled to team up with our good friends at The Huntington to bring this sublime, beautiful musical to life,” says SpeakEasy Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault, who will direct this production. “It is also an incredible honor to be the first to direct a musical on the new Huntington Theatre stage, to invite the city’s amazing talent on this artistic journey, and to share the many wonders of this surprising and joyous show.”
The Band’s Visit features music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Itamar Moses, and won 10 Tony Awards in 2018, as well as the Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2019. Based on Eran Kolirin’s 2007 film of the same name, the musical first premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway in 2016 before transferring to Broadway in 2017. The tour was scheduled to perform in Boston in 2020 but was canceled due to the pandemic. This production of The Band’s Visit is licensed by Music Theatre International.
It centers on an Egyptian band of musicians who become stranded in a small Israeli town after a transportation mix-up. With no lodgings available, the locals take them into their homes for the night—by morning, everyone’s life will have been changed.
Though marks the first time that SpeakEasy and the Huntington have jointly staged a production, the two companies have been longtime collaborators and worked together with Company One Theater to produce a festival of Annie Baker’s Shirley, VT, plays in 2010. They also work together closely on a regular basis at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, which the Huntington built and now manages. SpeakEasy is a resident theatre company there. Both will announce their full seasons in early April.
