Synopsis
In 1996, the
Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, just arrived in Israel, are waiting in
Tel Aviv's central bus station. The group's leader, the quiet Colonel Tewfiq
Zakaria, instructs the younger, adventurous officer, Haled, to purchase the
group's bus tickets. At the ticket office, Haled asks the clerk for a ticket to
the city of Petah Tikvah, but due to her Hebrew accent and his Egyptian accent,
he ends up with tickets to the isolated desert town of Bet Hatikva.
The scene shifts
to Bet Hatikva, where the residents bemoan the boring and monotonous lives they
lead in the desert ("Waiting"). When the band arrives in Bet Hatikva,
they approach two cafe workers - Papi and Itzik, trying to find the location of
the Arab cultural center for their performance the next day. Unsure who these
men are and what they're asking about, they get the café's owner, a charismatic
woman named Dina. Tewfiq again asks for directions to the cultural center
before Dina realizes they think this is Petah Tikvah, and explains that this is
the wrong place, and they must have taken the wrong bus ("Welcome to
Nowhere"). Dina tells the group that the next bus does not arrive until
the next day. One of the band members looks for a phone to contact the Egyptian
embassy, but Dina tells him that the only pay phone in town is guarded over,
every night, by a man who obsessively waits for his girlfriend to call him,
even though it has been months. Dina offers the band a meal and a place to stay
for the night, and Tewfiq reluctantly agrees. In her kitchen, Tewfiq asks her
about her background, and she tells how she was once married, and nothing in
real life went as she had idealistically and naively thought ("It Is What
It Is"). She asks Tewfiq the same, and he tells of a wife and son in
Egypt.
Meanwhile, Itzik
allows the band member Simon to stay with him, his wife, their baby, and his
father-in-law, Avrum. During dinner, Simon asks what happened to Avrum's wife,
and Avrum says she passed away. When Simon asks when she passed, he is
silenced; Avrum says it is healthy for him to talk about it. He tells the story
of how he met his wife many years ago at a club and remembers how music had
been the foundation for their entire relationship. Itzik and Simon are touched
by the story, but Itzik's wife continues to eat silently, avoiding all
interaction during the meal ("The Beat of Your Heart").
That night,
everyone makes plans to go out. Papi is invited on a double date with his crush
but suffers from anxiety about going out with her. Haled tags along. Dina
offers to show Tewfiq around Bet Hatikva, which he again is reluctant to
accept. At dinner, Dina asks Tewfiq about what style of music his band plays.
After he claims they stick to traditional Arab music, she mentions how as a
child she would listen to music on Egyptian radio stations, from the likes of
Umm Kulthum, and movies starring Omar Sharif. Tewfiq quotes one of the movies
in question and they bond over the shared memories ("Omar Sharif").
At the roller
skating rink, Haled watches from afar as Papi continues to ignore his crush and
clumsily skate. After Papi defuses a brief altercation between Haled and one of
the guards at the rink, Papi explains his romantic anxieties to Haled
("Papi Hears the Ocean"). After accidentally causing his crush to
slip on her skates and fall down, Papi is petrified yet again. Haled helps to
boost Papi's confidence, which leads to Papi and his crush finally embracing
each other ("Haled's Song About Love").
After their
dinner, Dina takes Tewfiq to "The Park", which is just a bench in the
middle of Bet Hatikva. She asks him what it is like to have an orchestra and
play music for people. He initially stutters, but after she asks him to sing,
he begins to show her what it's like to be a conductor by allowing her to mimic
his arm motions as he sings (“Itgara’a”). Despite not being able to understand
his Arabic lyrics, she remains mesmerized by him and wonders if his visit to
Bet Hatikva was meant for her by fate ("Something Different").
Itzik sings his
son to sleep ("Itzik's Lullaby"), but in frustration with his lack of
ambition in life, his wife leaves. Simon is initially concerned, but Itzik
tells him that this happens often and she always returns. Soon, she does, and
their son begins to cry. Simon is able to soothe the infant by playing his
original concerto on his clarinet. Itzik and his wife reconcile, and Simon says
goodbye to Avrum before going to bed.
Dina finally asks
more about Tewfiq's life. When she approaches the topic of his son, he reveals
that he and his son never quite got along, which has bothered Tewfiq to this
day and was the likely reason of his son's suicide. He also tells how his wife
ended her life, as well, due to the heartbreak. Now visibly distraught, Tewfiq
resists Dina's romantic advances as Haled arrives with news that the bus will
be there in the morning to take them to Petah Tikvah. Tewfiq starts to leave
the room, upset, while Dina solemnly recalls the meaning of their relationship
("Something Different (Reprise)"). Once Tewfiq is gone, Haled jokingly
compliments her eyes, and she kisses him forcefully.
Distraught, the “telephone
guy” questions his devotion to his loved one as he continues to wait by the pay
phone. He and the citizens of Bet Hatikva long for the presence of a meaning to
their lives as they anticipate the return to normalcy ("Answer Me").
Suddenly, just as “telephone guy” gives up hope, the phone rings and he speaks
to his girlfriend for the first time in months.
The following
morning, the band gathers by Dina's cafe before they prepare to board the next
bus. As they begin to board, Dina hands Tewfiq a piece of paper with
"Petah Tikvah" on it to ensure he doesn't forget.
Later that day,
the band makes it to the Petah Tikvah's Arab cultural center. After they are in
their places, Tewfiq begins to conduct, and the stage cuts to black.
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is the only surviving theatre of
the many theatres that Lee and JJ Shubert built for their performers. Ethel
Barrymore was part of the renowned Barrymore acting dynasty, and her tremendous
popularity in New York and London society established her as a household name
in the US and England. She achieved stardom in 1901, and in 1928, the Shuberts
offered to build her a theatre and commission a play for her to premiere in her
namesake house. The exterior of the theatre was modeled on the design of public
baths in Rome, with a two-story terra-cotta grillwork screen. The interior
decor combines Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adamesque (18th
century neoclassical) styles. The most elaborate interior element is the boxes,
which feature a sunburst pattern over a columned portico. Previously, we saw
Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie (with Jessica Lange, Christian Slater,
Sarah Paulson, and Josh Lucas) at the Barrymore back in 2005.
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