Based on the satirical play by Friedrich Durrenmatt as adapted by Maurice Valency, The Visit is about greed, love, and one woman's carefully plotted revenge. The oft-widowed Claire Zachanassian (Chita Rivera), richest woman in the world, returns to the hardship-stricken town of her birth. The locals pray that her wealth will bring them a new lease on life, but her arrival carries a dreadful price. Tony Award winner Roger Rees co-stars as Anton Schell, the man who scorned Claire years ago. Sardonic and morally complex, The Visit asks "What can your heart afford?"
'The Visit' is a cynical tragicomedy whose score is as gorgeous as its heart is hard...Kander's soaring, waltz-scented love songs are harmonized in an off-center manner subtly suggestive of dirty work at the crossroads...As for Ms. Rivera, who sounds like a cross between Hermione Gingold and Rex Harrison and is made up to resemble a walking mummy, she's all too terrifyingly believable as Claire...Mr. Rees, by contrast, is rather too ingratiating, and Mr. McNally's jokey book softens the impact of the play...But 'The Visit' is horrifically potent in every other way...'The Visit' isn't for everyone. But Mr. Kander and his late, lamented partner never wrote a finer score, and...you'll thrill to their cruel tale of what men who dare to call themselves decent will do to one another if the price is right.
...the version that has now arrived at the Lyceum represents not only a triumph of persistence but a distillation of many years' worth of theatrical savvy. It is as lean and as sere as a skeleton...Doyle is expert at stripping away the surface decoration and audience sops that can detract from the seriousness of the form...With The Visit, this creates a certain tension, though. You have, on one hand, the unimpeachably cold -- almost terrifying -- production design...On the other hand, you have Rivera, whom everyone adores and hopes to see succeed in a challenging role at age 82. This a tension that's useful, at least insofar as it puts the audience in sympathy with the devil...The songs, too, pull in two directions...The better the songs are, the weirder the show gets...Alienation and gregariousness make strange co-stars, but then so did Kander and Ebb. What a joy to have them back on Broadway and to think that, even half-dead, they're unkillable.
1999 | New York |
Reading New York |
2001 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production [Cancelled] Broadway |
2001 | Chicago (Regional) |
World Premiere Chicago (Regional) |
2004 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production [Cancelled] Off-Broadway |
2007 | Arlington, VA (Regional) |
Signature Theatre Production Arlington, VA (Regional) |
2008 | Arlington, VA (Regional) |
Kander & Ebb Celebration Production Arlington, VA (Regional) |
2014 | Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
Williamstown Theatre Festival Production Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Chita Rivera |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Terence McNally |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | John Doyle |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Fred Ebb |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | John Kander |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | The Visit |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design | Scott Pask |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Chita Rivera |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Roger Rees |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | The Visit |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Chita Rivera |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | The Visit |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Japhy Weideman |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | The Visit |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Terrence McNally |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Japhy Weideman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Carlos Arana |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Bruno Wang Productions |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Taylor Cleghorn |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Sandi Moran |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Mark Lee |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ed Filipowski |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Blodgett Calvin Family |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Gabrielle Palitz |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Weatherby & Fishman LLC |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Marguerite Hoffman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeremy Youett |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Terry Loftis |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Veenerick & Katherine Vos Van Liempt |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | 42nd club |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Silva Theatrical |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | The Shubert Organization |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Kate Cannova |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Peter Stern |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | The Visit |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Tom Kirdahy |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Edgar Bronfman, Jr. |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Tom Smedes |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Hugh Hayes |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ted Snowdon |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Judith Ann Abrams |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Rich Affannato |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Hunter Arnold |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Carl Daikeler |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ken Davenport |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Bharat Mitra |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Bhavani Lev |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Peter May |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Fred Ebb |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | John Kander |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Chita Rivera |
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