Music
The main theme of the musical is music - which sounds obvious, because it's a musical. But this is a musical about music, and the many ways in which it has affected people countries apart, who have a love for music and its power to change lives in common.
The most obvious suggestion of this theme is the fact that all of the characters are in a band. Their arrival in a tiny town where everyone is bored revitalizes the lives of the people they meet, even for just one night. This is because their music has the power to move. Simon is able to calm an argument between a man and his wife, and to soothe a screaming baby, just by playing his clarinet. Tewfiq cannot express himself to a woman he has just met, but when he sings she is drawn to him anyway. This shows that the arrival of music in the town has the power to change a great deal and enhance the life of the people in the town.
Music also connects people with some of the landmark events of their lives in this musical. Avrum met his wife of fifty years at a concert hall. Every time he hears music he thinks of her. Dina listened to Egyptian music on the radio when she was growing up and hearing Tewfiq sing connects her both with the happy memories of her youth and also makes her feel connected to the outside world even though she is isolated in her small town.
Music is also seen as something that brings people together even when they are strangers or have nothing in common. It is the central theme of the musical.
Loss
Many of the characters in the musical are dealing with loss in varying degrees. Itzik is the prime example of this and it's incredible that one man could live through such a barrage of loss. His son committed suicide, and then his wife killed herself because she could not live with her grief. Itzik seems resigned to his loss and the emptiness that he feels when he is not playing music or singing.
Dina has also experienced loss, having divorced her first husband. This was very unexpected and she seems to feel a sense of personal failure, because her marriage, and therefore her life, didn't turn out as planned.
Avrum faces his loss every day. Married to his wife for over fifty years, he wants to talk about her more than his daughter is comfortable with. He associates music with the happy memories they shared. His loss is palpable every day and he is not ashamed of feeling it.
Love
As Shakespeare wrote in his play Twelfth Night, "if music be the food of love, play on." The band in this musical seem to do as the Bard instructed, because their music, and love, seem intertwined.
Dina begins to feel romantic because of Tewfiq's singing. It is so beautiful that it awakens something in her soul that she did not believe was there anymore. She begins to feel so romantic that she kisses Haled just for paying her a compliment, even though she is actually attracted strongly to Tewfiq.
Love is also evident in Avrum, who still loves his wife as much in her absence as he did when she was alive. Itzik also seems devoted to his wife, accepting her mood swings because they are a part of her, and he loves her.
Papi is experiencing a sort of puppy love. He is too scared to talk to the girl he has fallen madly in love with. He is a classic example of the principal of the more that someone likes you the more they ignore you. He is given the confidence to act on his feelings and love results.
Friendship of Strangers
There are two types of friendship in the musical; friendship that comes between people who know and like each other, such as the band members, and the friendship of stranger, the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" kind of friendship that prompts strangers to offer hospitality out of a greater sense of kindness and humanity. This is the most interesting kind of friendship in the musical and it is reallhy one of its most endearing and meaningful themes.
The residents of the small town have never met the band before and at first are wary of them because they are asking directions to places that don't exist. When they realize it is a travel error rather than a sign of danger or insanity, they reach out to include them in their families and their lives for the evening. To the townsfolk, a stranger is a friend they just don't know yet. Itzik invites Simon, a stranger, into his home, making him part of the family for the evening and opening not only his home, but his heart to him.
Dina reaches out to Tewfiq, intrigued by his quiet dignity, opening herself up to him in an effort to bring him out of himself. The musical's theme of friendship demonstrates what can happen when people do not create barriers or cut themselves off from others.
