Humanities Homework Help

Click above for a YouTube link to a NPR Tiny Desk Concert by the cast of the play The Band’s Visit; watch the first seven minutes, which covers two songs and some commentary. The Band’s Visit debuted in 2017 and won multiple Tony Awards in 2018. (It closed on Broadway in 2019 and was touring the US before the Covid-19 shutdown). Set in a single evening in small Israeli desert town in the 1970s, the musical is remarkable because of its inclusion of Arab music. The first performance here is Arab music performed by the touring Egyptian band that gives the musical its name. After remarks by the show’s creator, the second performance is the song “Omar Sharif” that features Katrina Lenk as an Israeli shopkeeper who reminisces about listening to Arab music and film when she was a child, tapping into the importance and ubiquity of Arab media mentioned in our Umm Kulthum documentary. While this song mentions Umm Kulthum and actor Omar Sharif (who narrated her documentary), its musical language is not Arab. Rather, it tries to evoke the sense of exotic pleasure of Arab culture by an Israeli through Western melody and harmony.

For this discussion assignment, watch at least the first two performances, then comment on any facet of the performances. Possible topics: how seeing these performances reminded you of elements of the module or documentary, or how your reception of these performances has been changed after viewing the module materials; how successful or unsuccessful the “Omar Sharif” song is at evoke Arabness without Arab music (and why); you may listen further to hear actor Tony Shalhoub sing an Arab poem and comment upon that.

Will provide the video once a tutor is selected.