‘The Band’s Visit’ Gets 11 Tony Nominations

May 1, 2018 JTA

Ari’el Stachel, right, plays matchmaker to two shy Israelis, played by Rachel Prather and Etai Benson, in “The Band’s Visit.” (Matt Murphy)

(JTA) — “The Band’s Visit” garnered 11 Tony nominations, including for best musical.

The musical, based on a popular 2007 film of the same name directed by Israel’s Eran Kolirin, also scooped up nominations for best original score, best book of a musical, best performance by a lead actor (Tony Shalhoub) and lead actress (Katrina Lenk) in a musical, best performance by an actor in a featured role (Ari’el Stachel) and several other technical categories when the full slate was announced May 1.

The show has received glowing reviews since its Broadway debut last fall. The story follows a small Egyptian police brass band and orchestra as it travels to play in the Israeli city Petach Tikvah. The band gets lost, stays overnight in a small fictional town and bonds with the local Jewish characters there.

A revival of Tony Kushner’s seminal play “Angels in America” also received 11 nominations for categories such as best direction, best revival of a play and best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play (both Susan Brown and Denise Gough). Jewish actor Andrew Garfield is nominated for best actor in a leading role in a play for his performance.