Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"..."The Band's Visit," the lovely little musical by David Yazbek and Itamar Moses about a traveling Egyptian police band lost in a boring Israeli town in the middle of the desert, actually has both of those themes in play at the same time. That's why it works so beautifully. The show is based on an obscure 2007 Israeli movie and premiered on Broadway in 2017, and comes with uncommon warmth, as currently intensified by an intimate Writers Theatre production from director Zi Alikhan that interprets Yazbek's superb score in surround sound."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Quirky, character-driven, self-declared at the start as being not "very important," the 2018 Tony-winning best musical "The Band's Visit" has always been a modest, heartwarming show, a pixelated slice-of-life about the ways humans feel connected with each other. It's mostly about love, but also about how music and movies help bring people together."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Composer/lyricist David Yazbek and playwright Itamar Moses’ gently humorous, quietly compassionate tuner centers on a brief, relatively insignificant encounter between ordinary folks. It’s a beautiful show in a warm, engaging revival from director Zi Alikhan, whose cast of actor/musicians is superb."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...With most of the cast playing instruments (including violin, oud, and percussion) to bring Yazbek's spritely score to soulful life (Andra Velis Simon is music supervisor), the theme of music and culture as connective spiritual forces comes through clearly (particularly in Dina's standout number, "Omar Sharif"). Madorsky and Barkhordar shine as the sadder and wiser duo (though on opening night, their chemistry didn't feel fully developed, I suspect greater richness will emerge over the run). I saw The Band's Visit on Broadway and in its brief 2019 touring stop here. Writers' take on this sweet, aching show may make you long for a world where people just accept and listen to each other-even in a fictional town."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...The Band’s Visit is a perfect production for the design of the Nichols Theatre. The show’s quiet intimacy, showcasing human connection or lack thereof, is intensified with the half-moon seating. If you dare to sit in the front row, like I did, the experience is even more immersive."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Writers Theatre production of The Band's Visit is an alluring, funny, and exhilarating play that will capture the hearts of those who genuinely understand that our inward nature defines us rather than our outward appearance."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Currently, they are doing "The Band's Visit" with a book by Itamar Moses and music and lyrics by David Yazbek. This play is based on the film by Eran Kolirin. I remember when this production toured and while I enjoyed it, I do not think that it was as strong as this particular production is. For those who are unfamiliar with the film, or the previous production or for that matter, the story, it is a story about a group of Egyptian Police musicians who have been asked to perform a concert in Israel. They find themselves in the wrong town, in fact, a small desert town that has very little ,if any, excitement. There is no hotel, no busses overnight, so they must remain in town and what takes place over this 24 hour experience is what "The Band's Visit" is all about."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...With this exquisite, gently-paced musical play, there are no big production numbers, no glitzy costumes and quite likely you’ll leave the theatre without humming any of the tunes. But the infectious rhythms that welcome us to nowhere will linger. The powerful message carried away from this touching tale is that, despite differences in race, religion, sexual orientation and political affiliation, we’re all human beings. We share the same basic needs, wants, feelings and the longing for each other. In a way, we’re all members of The Band."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Under the direction of Zi Alikhan in a co-production between Writers Theatre and TheatreSquared, this exciting new revival feels like exactly what the world needs right now. Too often the Middle East is portrayed as a war torn, chaotic region of the world and what this musical shows is that the human spirit is far more complex than ephemeral political moments."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Fabulous performances and a heartfelt story alone make The Band's Visit worth the glowing recommendation. The score is catchy, but more than that, the songs hit on an emotional and human level that you might find creates an access point for anyone experiencing the show."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended
"...When an Egyptian Police Unit’s professional band ends up in the desert Israeli town of Bet Hatikva overnight instead of at the cultural center in a large Israeli community due to the similarity in town names, both sides, the musicians and town residents, take away a better understanding of their own lives by dawn. That is the basic plot of “The Band’s Visit.”"
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...With Itamar Moses’ witty book and Yazbek’s music and lyrics, The Band’s Visit is a treat. It is a small, charming slice of life, a quiet and realistic musical clearly aimed at an adult audience, the kind you rarely see on Broadway these days because it defies commercial expectations. There is nothing loud or garish here and very little in the way of spectacle to distract from what is at heart a very human story. No helicopters, no chandeliers, no dancing cats, not even much color to diminish the effect of the tiny “beige” town."
Evanston Roundtable - Highly Recommended
"...Oh My Gosh! The Band’s Visit is such a warm and heartfelt musical. And the Writers Theatre production is wonderful. Even for people who have seen this play before, the current performance at Writers Theatre makes it worth seeing again."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...About halfway through the 2017 musical THE BAND'S VISIT, an Israeli cafe owner named Dina listens to the singing of an Egyptian policeman as the two sit in the ruins of a park in the middle of the desert. Dina, who does not speak Arabic, cannot understand the literal meaning of the man's song but feels as though she comprehends it emotionally, asking herself, "What's he saying? Is he praying? And why does it get to me?" In other words, how is it that a life so different from hers can have the power to touch her in such a profound way? Thankfully, this question receives its enthusiastic answer in a gorgeously lyrical and profoundly moving new production at Writers Theatre in Glencoe"
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...If we can have intentionally small-scale straight theater, so, too, should we have intentionally small-scale musicals. Some shows are best done in intimate spaces. Seeing “The Band’s Visit” in a massive theater with hundreds if not thousands of other people, even at a distance, was a moving experience. Yet that doesn’t hold a candle to seeing it at Writers Theatre. Shows like “Band’s Visit” and “Once” are just too fragile to be tossed onto any old stage."