Eight years later the actor found himself reprising that role in the David Yazbek/Itamar Moses musical version of the film that won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Gabay took over the role originated on stage by Tony Shalhoub.

Gabay, who was born in Iraq and raised in Israel, is back on stage as Tewfiq in the touring production of The Band’s Visit. This wonderful musical is concluding its run in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre this week. After the holidays the tour will resume in Portland and continue performances across the country through the end of July.

Last week I spoke by phone with Gabay about revisiting Tewfiq, his relationship with the character and what the musical is saying about international relations. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Mr.Gabay, in a 2008 interview director Eran Kolirin said that this was a very personal role for you. What made it so personal then and how personal has it been for you to revisit the character of Tewfiq on stage in this musical?

[Eran] wanted to met me and he wanted to audition me for the part. And he gave me just the short synopsis of the script and I think four or five lines about the character. And immediately, just from reading this, I felt connected to it. And I told him, “Look, I don’t want to do the audition, but I know this man. I know this character and I feel it.” After a while he called me to say, “OK, let’s let’s not waste our energy on this and continue working on the casting.”

It’s true. The minute I read a little bit about the script, about the story and the character, I knew. Sometimes you get it on the spot immediately. That’s what happened with Tewfiq. I felt connected. I think that his personality is something for me. In one way, he’s formal and he’s very strict. And inside he’s very soft and very artistic. So that kind of a paradox within his personality I felt it instantly.

In 2010 the producer of the musical Orin Wolf came to Israel and asked me about the idea of doing the musical out of it. It’s a crazy idea because this film is so delicate. And I mean, they managed to do it beautifully. He approached me again at 2018 and I did join the play on Broadway and then managed to do this very delicate musical – which is not a typical musical on Broadway. I spent one year on Broadway and then I joined the tour for the first year until the COVID crisis. And now when they resume, I joined it again. So it’s personal in many ways.

How has your relationship with the character evolved since the time you first portrayed him on stage?

You know, I matured during this year in age and then also in experience as an actor. I think I added more weight to the character, more maturity. And I allowed myself to be more and more patient with the character. I think I take my time. I think I allow ourselves to be more confident enough to take the right pauses and to breathe within the character. We are changing all the time so it’s got an effect on how you project the character. 

One of the things I love most about the musical is the amount of subtext there is. What is your role as an actor in making that subtext accessible for the audience and hopefully translate that into an emotional response?

If you’re precise and exact in the specific moment in the scene and you are transparent emotionally, the audience sees things are really revealing. I think it was quite tricky and very nice. David Yazbek and Itamar Moses adapted and David Cromer directed it. They’ve done a beautiful job – all three. It’s not all of a sudden the characters sing the song. It’s done within the situation to the moment that words aren’t enough and and the characters start to sing. And so it reveals the subtext and the inner emotions of the characters.

You expect there to be great confrontation because of what we’ve understood about the politics of each country’s relationship to one another. But it seems to me that the film and the musical basically say that the people are not necessarily the politics of their country. And I’m wondering how important you think that is as part of the story that gets told. 

First of all, I agree with you completely. It’s the exact description of the thing. I don’t know if it was intentionally intended to project this idea. But you know, politics is politics and people are people. People need each other and they are very alike wherever they are. I think you can transfer this play and this script into other places in the world where there used to be confrontation and now the people are meeting and it’s so different. It’s very different from from the headlines, from the politics, from the news on TV. So I think it emphasizes our need to open up to one another. Because of politics people tend to protect themselves, close themselves towards something that is not familiar to them. But once this has opened it becomes whole life and the relations of people. 

Getting that message out today must be deeply gratifying.

The journey is wonderful for all of us. In a way we are kind of messengers of humanity. I remember when we shot the film we had a feeling that we had something really special, but we didn’t know to what extent. I’m really grateful that after so many years this film became such a beautiful musical and so many people see this. It’s a privilege for me.

For tickets at the Dolby Theatre go here. For details of the tour schedule and tickets go here.

Photo: Janet Dacal and Sasson Gabay in The Band’s Visit (Photo by Evan Zimmerman/Courtesy Broadway in Hollywood)

The post Sasson Gabay Returns to The Band’s Visit appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

BREAKING NEWS: Disney’s musical Frozen has closed on Broadway.

American Ballet Theatre has canceled their 2020 Season at the Metropolitan Opera. The shows included are ABT Then and Now, the New York premiere of Of Love and Rage, as well as productions of La Bayadère, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Jane Eyre and Swan Lake.

Antaeus Theatre Company has canceled all remaining performances of Measure for Measure and their Classic Sundays reading of The Roaring Girl. 

Bob Baker Marionette Theatre has announced postponement of all scheduled performances and events. No tentative re-opening date has been provided.

Boston Court Pasadena has postponed all performances through May 27th.

Their production of Assassins been rescheduled for September 10th – October 18th

The Broad Stage has announced the suspension of all remaining performances in their 2019-2020 season.

Mnozil Brass on March 26th.

Hiromi: Solo on March 28th

Red Hen Press: New Traditions on March 29th

National Geographic Live: Hidden Wild: Secrets of the Everglades on April 9th and 10th

Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap on April 11th.

Dance for All on April 13th

USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance April 17th – April 19th

Beethoven, Bagels & Banter on April 19th

Angel’s Bone (co-presented with LA Opera Off Grand) May 1st – May 3rd

Diana Damrau & Nicolas Testé on May 16th

Lynn Harrell, cellist on May 17th

*Broadway in Hollywood has announced the cancellation of SpongeBob Musical at The Dolby Theatre.

The Illusionists, scheduled to play April 14th – April 19th at the Dolby Theatre has been rescheduled for January 12th – January 17th.

The tour of Mean Girls, scheduled to play the Dolby Theatre April 28th – June 7th, 2020 will be rescheduled.

The tour of My Fair Lady, scheduled to play the Dolby Theatre June 12th – July 5th will be rescheduled.

The tour of The Band’s Visit, scheduled to play at the Dolby Theatre July 7th – July 26th, has been suspended.

*The Cher Show is postponing its tour until 2021. Not official announcement yet, but this may impact the Spring 2021 booking at the Dolby Theatre.

*All Broadway Shows in New York have been suspended through September 6th.

Hangmen, which had gone into previews, will not re-open. A revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf will not re-open.

Beetlejuice, which was set to close at the Winter Garden on June 6th, is now officially closed. Though a 2021 tour is planned, there are still discussions of moving the show to another theatre.

*Disney’s musical Frozen has officially closed. It is the first long-running show to close as a result of the pandemic. The official closing day is March 11th, the last day of performances before Broadway suspended all performances. The show had 26 previews and 825 performances.

CAP UCLA has announced the suspension of the remainder of the 2019-2020 season.

Center Theatre Group has announced that all remaining shows in the 2019-2020 season have been postponed. This includes 1776 scheduled at the Ahmanson Theatre, King James at the Mark Taper Forum and Sakina’s Restaurant at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

They join the previously announced postponements of Once on This Island, The Antipodes and the annual Block party.

As it relates to Once on This Island, CTG is working on rescheduling the show. Producers have canceled this show’s tour, but the possibility of a reduced tour post-Coronavirus is being explored.

Cirque du Soleil has announced the cancellation of all performances of Volta scheduled at the Orange County Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa.

Colburn School has canceled all performances and events through April 12.

East West Players has announced a postponement of the entire run of Assassins. They have also announced postponement of the 54th Anniversary Visionary Awards Gala.

The Echo Theater Company is canceling performances of Poor Clare, scheduled to open March 14, through the end of March. Performances resume April 3. 

*The Ford Theatres summer 2020 season has been canceled.

The Fountain Theatre has suspended the world premiere of Human Interest Story. The April 25 Los Angeles premiere of If I Forget has been postponed to later date yet to be determined. 

Geffen Playhouse has announced the following:

Bernhardt/Hamlet, scheduled to begin previews on April 7th, has been canceled.

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center has announced the cancellation of the Pina Bausch’s Palermo Palermo as Tantztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch canceled their tour.

Malpaso Dance Company has canceled its spring tour of the United States. Therefore the engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre on May 15th – May 17th has been canceled.

Goodspeed Musicals has postponed their April production of South Pacific. Their fall production of Candide has been canceled.

*The Hollywood Bowl 2020 season has been canceled.

The Industry’s Sweet Land has canceled all remaining performances. They will be offering a filmed version being streamed starting March 23rd.

Laguna Playhouse has made the following announcements:

Hershey Felder’s Monsieur Chopin, originally scheduled for April, has been moved to October of this year.

Rocky Mountain High, a Tribute to John Denver has been rescheduled to January 7th – January 10th of 2021.

They are trying to reschedule Ann sometime in the coming year.

The world premiere of To Sir, With Love, has been canceled.

The La Jolla Playhouse has announced that all performances by or at La Jolla Music Society, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Opera and San Diego Symphony will be canceled and/or postponed through the end of March 2020

La Mirada Theatre has announced postponement of all shows through May 10th.

The following shows have been rescheduled:

The Sound of Music will play May 15th to June 7th.

Mamma Mia will play June 12th to July 5th.

They will be rescheduling the following shows:

Bossa Nova Wave (originally scheduled for April 3)

Classic Albums Live – Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (originally scheduled for April 4)

Circus Science Spectacular (originally scheduled for April 5)

The Center of the Universe (originally scheduled for April 9)

The Brubeck Brothers (originally scheduled for May 12)

La Mirada Symphony (originally scheduled for May 17)

Dance, Dance, Dance! (originally scheduled for May 22)

Sol de Mexico (originally scheduled for June 27)

*LA Opera has canceled the final performance of Roberto Devereux scheduled for March 14th.

Angel’s Bone, scheduled to be performed May 1st – May 3rd, has been canceled as The Broad Stage canceled their remaining events for the 2019-2020 season.

Pelléas and Mélisande, scheduled for May 2nd – May 23rd, has been canceled.

Rodelinda, scheduled for May 8th, has been canceled.

*The Marriage of Figaro, scheduled for May 6th – May 28th, has been canceled.

*Saturday Mornings at the Opera, scheduled for June 6th, has been canceled.

*Great Opera Choruses, scheduled for June 7th at The Soraya, has been canceled.

Lincoln Center in New York has announced that the musical Flying Over Sunset has been moved to the fall as has the opera Intimate Apparel. Both were previously scheduled to open this spring.

Long Beach Opera has postponed until next season its production of The Lighthouse.

*Their planned productions of Billy the Kid (scheduled for May 3rd – May 10th) and Frida (scheduled for June 20th – June 28th) have been canceled.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has announced postponement of this weekend’s concert, Border Crossings, scheduled for March 12th at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica and on March 13th at The Huntington.

They have also announced cancellation of the Ravel, Strauss + Contreras concerts on March 28th and 29th.

Beethoven + Mendelssohn scheduled for April 30th and May 1st has been canceled.

Sheku plus Eroica scheduled at multiple venues for May 15th – May 18th, has been canceled.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is postponing its production of Hair that was scheduled to open on March 27th.

Los Angeles Master Chorale has announced the following cancellations:

The Fauré Requiem performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall on March 28th and 29th have been canceled.

The performance of Lagrime di San Pietro at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on March 19th has been canceled.

Come Away to the Skies: A Celebration of Alice Parker, scheduled for May 17th, has been canceled.

Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced the cancellation of all performances for the rest of the season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (All concerts through June 6th.)

Manhattan Theatre Club has postponed their planned revival of How I Learned to Drive until next season.

MCC Theatre in New York has announced the All The Natalie Portmans played its final performance yesterday. Hollywood Dreams, which was to have begun previews next week, will be rescheduled.

They also announced that their Miscast 20 gala has been rescheduled from April 6th to June 15th

The Metropolitan Opera has canceled all performances for the rest of this season. This includes all scheduled Live in HD presentations

The McKittrick Hotel in New York, home to Sleep No More, The Woman in Black and Speakeasy Magick, has suspended all performances through April 12th.

Musco Center for the Arts has canceled all performances through early May.

The Music Center has announced that all venues (The Ahmanson Theatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall) will be closed until further notice. This impacts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center.

A Noise Within has announced the following cancellations:

The remaining performances of The Winter’s Tale, Alice in Wonderland, and all other public events have been canceled through the end of April.

Alice in Wonderland will now open their 2020-2021 season August 22nd – September 13th.

Sweeney Todd, has been rescheduled for September 27th – November 15th.

The Odyssey Theatre is canceling performances of The Serpent through March 29 with performances resuming April 3.

The Old Globe has announced that their productions of Little Women and Faceless will be postponed.

The Open Fist, currently in residence at the Atwater Village Theatre, has suspended all performances of Rorschach Fest.

The Outer Critics Circle Awards, scheduled for May 21st, have been postponed.

The Pacific Symphony has announced the following in relation to their schedule:

Pink Martini on March 13th and 14th has been postponed. They have been rescheduled for June 17th and 18th.

Nowruz on March 28th has been postponed.

The Texas Tenors on April 3rd and 4th has been cancelled.

Verdi’s Otello on April 23rd, 25th and 28th has been cancelled.

Windborne’s the Music of the Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards 1969, originally scheduled for May 1sts and 2nd, has been rescheduled to June 19th and 20th.

Yang Plays Rachmaninoff, scheduled for May 7th – May 9th has been canceled.

Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartet, scheduled for May 10th has been canceled.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame with live accompaniment by organist Dennis James, scheduled for May 10th, has been canceled.

Pacific Symphony Youth Ensemble concerts scheduled for May 9th, 11th and 12th has all been canceled.

*The Pantages Theatre has announced suspension of performances of Hamilton through September 6th.

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced that all performances through May 31st.

Ann, scheduled for May 27th – July 28th has been postponed.

Their production of Annie Get Your Gun, scheduled for July 28th – August 23rd has been canceled.

*The Pasadena Pops has canceled their 2020 summer season and will reschedule the following concerts for their 2021 summer season:

Sway with Me: Latin Rhythm and Swing scheduled for June 19
Road to Motown scheduled for July 10
Fleetwood Mac: A Tribute scheduled for July 24
Michael Feinstein Sings Sinatra’s Songbook scheduled for August 14
100 Years of Broadway scheduled for August 28 

The Pasadena Symphony has rescheduled their March 21st Mozart & McGegan concert to May 23rd.

The Public Theatre in New York (and the adjoining Joe’s Pub) has canceled all performances through April 12th.

*Chicago’s Ravinia Festival has canceled their 2020 season.

Roundabout Theatre in New York announced that their productions of Birthday Candles with Debra Messing and Caroline, Or Change will open in the fall. Both shows were on the cusp of starting previews when Broadway theatres shut down.

San Francisco Opera has canceled their summer season scheduled to run June 7th to July 3rd.

*The Segerstrom Center has announced the following postponements, rescheduling and cancellations:

Orange County Millennial Choirs and Orchestras on April 1st has been rescheduled to June 2nd

Shen Yun from April 3rd – April 12th has been postponed

Ailey II on April 11th has been postponed

Chicago from April 14th – April 19th has been canceled

Sibelius Piano Trio on April 17th has been canceled

Clayton Brothers Quintet on April 18th has been canceled

Earth Day Celebration on April 18th has been canceled

Distinguished Speakers Series: President George W. Bush on April 20th has been postponed

Tuesday Night Dance Lessons on April 21st and 28th has been canceled

Laura Benanti from April 23rd – April 25th has been postponed

Best of Dance on April 25th has been canceled

Beckman Arts and Science Family Festival on May 2nd has been postponed.

Paper Planet on May 2nd and 3rd has been canceled.

Celtic Woman on May 2nd has been canceled.

*Les Misérables, scheduled for May 5th – May 17th and rescheduled for October 6th – October 18th has been canceled.

Emerson String Quartet on May 7th has been postponed.

Silent Disco on May 8th has been postponed.

Rock, Paper, Scissors: CUMBIA! on May 15th has been postponed.

Swing Under the Stars on May 29th has been canceled.

*Mean Girls, scheduled for June 16th – June 28th, has been postponed. The venue is hoping to reschedule.

*The Band’s Visit, originally scheduled for August 12th – August 23rd has been rescheduled for April 13th – April 25th, 2021.

*The Lion King, originally scheduled for September 2nd – September 27th, has been canceled.

*Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – The Life and Times of The Temptations, scheduled for November 17th – 29th has been rescheduled for September 14th – 26th, 2021.

*The Donna Summer Musical, originally scheduled for January 12th – 17th, has been cancelled due to a rescheduling of the show’s tour.

*The Cher Show, originally scheduled for April 13th – April 25th has been canceled due to a rescheduling of the show’s tour.

Shakespeare in the Park in New York has canceled this summer’s season.

Soka Performing Arts Center has announced the postponement of the remainder of its 2019-2020 season.

The Soraya has announced the following cancellations and postponements:

The Jerusalem Quartet on April 5th has been canceled.

The Count Basie Orchestra on April 9th has been postponed.

Amir El Saffar on April 16th has been canceled.

Bollywood Boulevard on April 19th has been canceled.

Randy Newman’s Faust on May 9th has been canceled.

Violins of Hope, which was postponed, will have an opening night concert by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony on January 14th.

South Coast Rep has announced the cancellation of all performances of Outside Mullingar beginning March 13th. (They are “working to make the performance available online. More details will be announced in the coming days.”)

*San Francisco’s Stern Grove Festival has canceled their 2020 season.

Tonality has postponed their A Call to Restore concert that was set to take place on March 15th. Another date will be announced shortly.

The Tony Awards, scheduled for June 7th, have been postponed.

The Verdi Chorus has canceled their Opera Gets Real performances scheduled for April 18th and 19th.

*The Wallis has announced the cancellation of all performances through June 30th.

If you have an event that has been postponed or canceled and would like it included in this list, please send the details to contact@Culturalattache.co

Photo “Comedy/Tragedy on Keys” by Craig L. Byrd

The post Coronavirus Cancellations & Postponements – Updated 5/14/20 appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Another jukebox musical, this one uses the party-friendly music of Buffett as a reason to put on the island t-shirts, the flip flops and dance to steel drum beats.

A love story is the center of the musical. An island hotel’s main entertainer, Tully (Chris Clark) is quite the ladies man. He’s not the settling down type. Not until a tourist named Rachel (Sarah Hinrichsen) enters the pictures and seems to disappear. It seems perhaps he might just have a soft spot in his heart after all.

Escape to Margaritaville began its life in 2017 at the La Jolla Playhouse directed by its Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. The show went to Broadway in 2018 where it ran for 124 performances.

The book was written by Mike O’Malley (Shameless) and Greg Garcia (Raising Hope.) Kelly Devine, who choreographed Come From Away, created the choreography for this show. Amy Anders Corcoran, who was associate and resident director of Escape to Margaritaville for Ashley, assumes the directing responsibilities for the tour.

For tickets at the Dolby Theatre go here.

Photo: The touring company of Escape to Margaritaville (Photo by Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts)

The post Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Los Angeles Ballet will be performing at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Royce Hall at UCLA, the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood (with the Los Angeles Ballet Orchestra) and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

This production of the holiday classic was choreographed by Thordal Christensen & Colleen Neary and is set in Los Angeles in 1912. The music is, of course, the Tchaikovsky music we’ve known and loved for years.

Christensen and Neary are the artistic directors of the Los Angeles Ballet. The company was founded in 2004 and gave its first performances in 2006 with this production of The Nutcracker.

LAB will be performing works by Ballanchine in February at The Broad Stage. This summer they will do a local tour with The Sleeping Beauty.

We’ve just survived Black Friday and are in the midst of Cyber Monday as I write this. But much like those popular shopping opportunities, it’s always best to shop locally. That’s why I’ve selected Los Angeles Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker.

Alex Theatre performances are on December 7th and 8th. For tickets on the 7th go here. For tickets on the 8th go here.

Royce Hall performances run from December 13th through December 15th. For tickets go here.

Dolby Theatre performances run from December 20th  through December 24th. For tickets go here.

Redondo Performing Arts Center performances run December 28th and 29th. For tickets for the matinee on the 28th go here. For tickets for the evening performance on the 28th go here. For tickets on the 29th go here.

Photo of the Los Angeles Ballet ensemble performing The Nutcracker by Reed Hutchinson/Courtesy of Los Angeles Ballet

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