No offense to “Moulin Rouge” or “Hadestown” or any of the other shows the Broadway in Cincinnati series is bringing to town over the next few months. But the show I’ve been holding out for is “The Band’s Visit,” which opens a too-short one-week run at the Aronoff Center on July 19.
It’s not one of those big-name shows like “Hamilton” or “Anastasia.” Rather, it’s based on a 2007 Israeli film about an Egyptian police band that is headed to a celebration in Tel Aviv but ends up in a tiny town in the middle of the Israeli desert. The situation is intensely uncomfortable on so many levels. But it is also filled with humor and kindness and won awards all around the world.
Everything about it appealed to David Cromer, who said he just had to direct it. Unfortunately, Broadway legend Hal Prince had already been engaged to direct.
“Something happened and, all of a sudden, Hal wasn’t directing,” said Cromer, denying that he had any idea of what transpired. “All I know is that when I got called to direct the show, it was a truly fantastic thing,” he said, whipping up an omelet – with shrimp and Gruyere – as he recounted the enthusiasm he experienced when he got the job.
Mind you, Cromer has had many other hits over the years, including a highly praised New York production of “Our Town” and a musical adaptation of “The Adding Machine.” He also won a MacArthur Fellowship – often called a “Genius Grant” – in 2010.
“But ‘The Band’s Visit’ is so filled with kindness,” said Cromer. “That’s in such short supply these days. Here are people caught in a difficult situation, but they find a way to resolve their situation with wisdom. It just seemed to me that we all had something to learn from the show.”
Aside from the importance of the show’s thematic material, Cromer loved the opportunity to fill the stage with so many people who are rarely seen onstage.
“This show has been an opportunity for actors and musicians and artists who have not had a place at the table in the past,” said Cromer. “There was no door for these artists. Supposedly, there weren’t people out there with these sets of skills. Well, I’ll tell you – the artistry we’ve encountered in all the years of casting this show has been remarkable. There is talent everywhere. The question for us is ‘can we find them?’”
“The Band’s Visit” runs July 19-24 at the Aronoff Center. Tickets start at $34 and are available online at CincinnatiArts.org or by phone at 513-621-2787.
Attention, movie buffs
Andy Simpson and Ian Schiefer have a dream; to own a shop selling “movie memorabilia and comics and stuff like that,” said Simpson. “And we want to operate a one-screen movie house, as well. But we’re not millionaires, you know.”
But, hey – they’re Millennials with minds operating at hyper-speed and overflowing with cool ideas. Why let a little thing like money stand in the way?
They don’t have that shop yet. But last December – on Black Friday, to be precise – they launched Secret Base Cinema with a screening of “Black Christmas.” Not the 2019 version, mind you. That would have been too easy. Not the 2006 version, either, the one that established Michelle Trachtenberg as one of her generation’s great scream queens.
No, Schiefer and Simpson kicked off their new theater with the original 1974 version of “Black Christmas.” Never mind that the film was released more than a decade before either of them was born. They loved the movie and wanted a chance to see it on a big screen.
So they launched their theater.
Now, when I say “their theater,” that’s a bit of an exaggeration. They couldn’t afford a real movie theater. So they cut a deal to screen the movie at Urban Artifact, the Northside church converted to a brewery.
Only 15 people showed up. But they were jubilant. Simpson describes that first screening as “kind of a crash test.”
It was enough to prove that somebody besides them cared about all those other films bouncing around out there. So they kept going. The next month, they screened John Carpenter’s 1982 creepy classic, “The Thing.” And a few more people showed up.
“So then we did a kung fu double feature – Jackie Chan and Sonny Chiba,” said Schiefer. Then came “Demolition Man,” starring Sylvester Stallone as a cryogenically frozen 1996 cop thawed in 2032 to do battle with a drug lord from his past. Last month was their biggest hit so far – David Lynch’s 1992 “Twin Peaks / Fire Walk With Me.”
Maybe it was the movie itself. But it didn’t hurt that Secret Base has found a new home, the Cincinnati World Cinema’s Garfield Theatre. It’s a “real” theater, after all. With real theater seats. It’s a venue with a history of performances, first as the Movies Repertory Cinema then later as the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
Next up is the classic anime favorite “Ghost in the Shell” on July 21. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. For more information, go to the Secret Base Cinema Facebook page or to bit.ly/tix_GITS, where Cincinnati World Cinema hosts an information-packed page about the movie.
So where do they go from here?
Schiefer says the idea of a memorabilia-filled shop is moving forward. No idea of how soon. But these are not guys willing to wait long. Schiefer can’t say too much about specific plans. Not yet. But, he added, “we’re looking at a large action franchise. From the Australian continent.”
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