There has been much drama around The Visitor, the new Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey, and Kwame Kwei-Armah musical. The show’s opening last year was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then when it was scheduled to return this fall, the first two preview performances of the musical were postponed to, per the Public’s statement, “accommodate for more time for the company to address questions... Read more
The Visitor, initially scheduled for the Public’s 2019-20 season, now opens the 2021-22 season. Performances are staged at the Public's Newman Theater. The Visitor tickets will be available on New York Theatre Guide soon.
The Visitor musical is based on the independent film of the same name, which was released in 2007. It is set in post-9/11 America and follows Walter, a college professor seeking renewed purpose in life. He finds it when he returns to an old apartment of his and finds a Palestinian-Syrian immigrant couple living there: the drummer Tarek and the jewelry maker Zainab. The couple has built their life in America but risks deportation, and Walter, who cannot bring himself to kick them out, soon develops a friendship with them and gets caught up in their quest to stay.
The original 2007 film The Visitor was based on writer-director Tom McCarthy's state-sponsored visit to the Middle East and the people he met there. His resulting film was met with acclaim: Richard Jenkins, who played Walter, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and The Visitor won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director.
Now, the world-premiere musical adaptation features a new creative team helmed by Daniel Sullivan as director, with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and a book by Yorkey and Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Tickets to The Visitor will be available soon.
This show has now closed. See our list of theatre tickets for shows currently on sale.
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About The Visitor:
With heart, humor, and lush new songs, Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning team Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey with Kwame Kwei-Armah bring their soul-stirring new musical based on the acclaimed independent film, The Visitor by Thomas McCarthy, to The Public for its World Premiere. Widowed and living alone, Walter is a college professor whose life has lost a sense of purpose. When he discovers two young undocumented immigrants living in his New York apartment, the drummer Tarek and jewelry maker Zainab, Walter finds himself in the middle of their battle to stay in an America that’s lost its better angels. The Visitor is an unforgettable new musical about friends and lovers caught between two worlds.
The Visitor CAST AND CREATIVE
By:
Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and a Book by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Brian Yorkey
Producer:
The Public Theater
Director:
Daniel Sullivan
Lighting:
Japhy Weideman
Sound:
Brian Ronan
Design:
David Zinn
Choreography:
Lorin Latarro
Costume:
Toni-Leslie James
Cast list:
Jacqueline Antaramian, Robert Ariza, Anthony Chan, Alysha Deslorieux, Delius Doherty, C.K. Edwards, Will Erat, Sean Ewing, Ahmad Maksoud, Dimitri Joseph Moïse, Takafumi Nikaido, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Pontrelli, Ari’el Stachel
Other info:
Video design by Tal Yarden, Orchestrations by Jamshied Sharifi, Music direction by Meg Zervoulis, Music contracting by Tomoko Akaboshi
Public Theater
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