That Time He Got Naked in Hair, Why Audiences Will Love Tootsie & More Takeaways from The Band's Visit Music Man David Yazbek on Show People

After penning the scores to musicals like The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and now the widely acclaimed The Band's Visit, three-time Tony nominee David Yazbek can seem like a songwriting chameleon of sorts. And yet, there is something so unmistakable about his work. According to Yazbek, The Band's Visit, currently playing at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre, marries his day job as a musical theater composer/lyricist with the sounds of his hustle as an eclectic recording artist. Here's what we learned from the music man as he looked back on his childhood in New York, stripping down on the Boston stage, what he's really looking forward to during awards season and more on this week's Show People with Paul Wontorek.

1. LIKE TAKING ICE CREAM FROM A YAZBEK
“Growing up in New York, I got mugged eight times. I was eight years old the first time I got mugged. I was by myself. This is a true story. He walked away with like, half a vanilla ice cream cone. It was like a soft, vanilla ice cream cone, and he got it. I didn't have any money. He probably just threw it away, but he had to get SOMETHING."

2. HE BARED IT ALL IN BOSTON
“I’d always loved Hair from when it first came out. When I was in college, we did a revival. Because there was nudity in it, there were literally lines around the block. I thought, ‘Why don’t we try to do this in Boston?' So we found a theater and did it in there. My first job out of college was producing and directing Hair in Boston. I played piano in the band, but I remember doing a fairly stressful two weeks when the guy playing Claude broke his arm. I had to go in for him. I was Claude. I was naked. I had a lot more hair back then.”

3. "IT'S AN HONOR JUST TO BE NOMINATED"—HE CAN'T WAIT FOR TONY SEASON SWAG
“I think I’ll go away during Tony season. You won’t see much of me the next few months. But the gift bags? I can’t wait!”

Other must-read highlights:

ON PRAISE FOR THE BAND’S VISIT
“The thing that’s really gratifying for me is that people are reacting to my work and to the work of my collaborators in a way that is genuine and that is positive. That just makes me feel really good, that we communicated something correctly.”

ON HIS EPIC FIRST BAND NAME 
“The first band I was in was called Pure Shit. It was my idea. The reason we called it that was so that just after we finished playing, the emcee could say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, that was Pure Shit.’ That name didn’t last very long.”

ON HONING THE BAND’S VISIT’S SIGNATURE SOUND
“It’s very eclectic. It’s the kind of music I’ve loved for most of my life. When I was seven years old, I went to Lebanon with my dad for the first time. We were going to visit his father. We had just landed at the airport and were in a taxi on the way up the mountain. The cab driver had this really dreamlike music on the radio that, even at age seven, was blowing my mind. These are songs that I would have been very proud to come up with, just to say what I want to say on one of my albums. It’s the day job and the real job coming together.”

ON TOOTSIE
“Robert Horn wrote a book that is so funny. I just laugh and laugh when we do readings. It’s different in every way from The Band’s Visit. It’s fun to go do a complete 180. It’s closer to a Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It’s really smart comedy. There’s some elements of conventional musical comedy, and then there’s some really interesting new stuff in it that will make it timely and different.”

ON THAT FULL MONTY REVIVAL
“I get a call once a year. Someone who really knows what they’re doing and who understands why it could be a really big hit as a revival needs to give me a call—or give someone a call! I’m pretty sure I know how to do it right. I also think a movie version of the musical is a good idea. There were some talks about doing The Full Monty, and maybe that will continue.”

ON KATRINA LENK
“I could listen to her sing ‘Omar Sharif’ and anything forever. She’s got the most gorgeous voice. Really, I’d like to make an album with her.”

ON HIS PASSION FOR MUSIC
“I think I came out of the womb with everything coming through the ears. Sound was the chosen sense. I just wanted to be playing with loud drums behind me.”

Watch the full episode of Show People with Paul Wontorek below!



Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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