Proof by Negation:
To prove something by determining all of the things it isn’t.

Ok.

Let’s do that.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Bad, Poorly-written, with bad actors and a controversial script.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Racist, with offensive or abrasive references as it very easily could’ve been.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Burdened by an over-complex plot whose tortuous storylines bring migraines.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
A cheese sandwich.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Political in any way, which is refreshing.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Lacking any exposure to the major differences between the cultures of Arabs and Israelis.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Divisive, it’s more of a unifier, “everyone can be friends.”

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Filled with that awfully dry, banal, music that is a whitewashed ethnic music, just a small desert-ey soundbite on a loop.
The music is actually quite alive.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Trying to be something it’s not, it doesn’t try to tell some grand, epic storyline, with a shocker finish.
It’s just one mix-up.
And one night that was
Different.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
(Ironically)
The Pand’s Visit
With a “P.”

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Filled with dancing, in truth, what it does have is amateurish, and I think that may just be the point.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
Ignorant of class struggles and social problems, and lofty themes of love, marriage, conflict, innocence, hope.

The Band’s Visit isn’t
At all what I expected.

Now we know what it wasn’t.

So what the hell was it?

The Band’s Visit was three things:

1. It was my first Broadway Musical.
2. It was about  a Band Visiting.
3. It was damn good.

(Note: the extra words are due to repetition.

Sorry about that…)