Opening last Friday at Town Theatre, Come From Away takes the audience into a swirling storm of emotion, moments of heartbreak and triumph as we are transported back to the events of September 11th, 2001, and invited into the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, where, for a short period of time the world is turned upside down.
A period piece, Come From Away is a musical set during the week of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. This true story follows Operation Yellow Ribbon, a Coordinated effort by Transport Canada to divert all international flights into various Canadian airports after the US closed its airspace. The little slice of this story that we are privy to takes place in Gander, an island in the Newfoundland Province whose population of 9,000 quickly doubled when 38 aircraft landed in their airport.
The audience sees the stories of the townsfolk who are working as hard as they can to accommodate 7,000 people from around the world as they learn to communicate with each other and make space for people with very different diets and religious beliefs.
The other side is the story of the people on the planes. The audience sees little snippets of people's lives who were drastically changed in the wake of 9/11. There is love, loss, and almost everything in between. For approximately 5 days Gander became one of the most multicultural places in the world.
The Cast of Town Theatre’s Come From Away does an amazing job of telling this story, and their success starts with the foundation of any good theatrical show, the ensemble which, in this case, has admirable structure and chemistry. This musical goes at a lightning-fast pace, punctuated by the actors putting on and removing their jackets to swap characters in record speed. The actors are always supporting the scene, allowing each moment to have weight and depth. There are many different dialects and accents in this musical and although there were a few questionably delivered lines, the cast does a fine job with their accent work.
As I sat down in my seat in the theatre I was handed a CAE Passport Booklet with some interesting items inside: A leaflet about Columbia Metropolitan Airport, a coupon for parking at the airport, and a little blank notebook. Town Theatre’s performance of Come From Away was sponsored by CAE and this was their novel idea of creating an immersive element for the production. It was nice to have something physical to hold onto. At first, I just felt like I had a ticket to board this journey to Gander with everyone else in the audience. However, upon reflection, I feel like this was a missed opportunity to personalize the passports with the names of the passengers on the aircrafts or something more specific to the show itself. As it is right now the packet feels a more like the free stress ball you often receive at the start of a business seminar.
Come From Away features some outstanding performances from Megan Anderson (Diane) and Jeremy Hansard (Nick) whose characters find love in an unexpected place; Raymond Elling (Claude), who plays a convincing mayor whose presence commands the space; Emily Banks (Bonnie) who tells the story of taking care of all the animals on the planes, finding beautiful highs and lows within her character; and Rebecca Seezen (Beverley), who tells the true story of the first female pilot for American Airlines, Beverley Bass. I was impressed by Michael Seezen(Oz), whose characterizations and specificity found the audiences drawn in every time he was out on stage.
Every actor in this show has moments where they shine, including Brianna Grant, Inaara Jadavji, Jennifer Kraus, Paul Lindley, Jacob Kirby, and Jerimy Woodall.
The Cast is supported by an excellent live band consisting of Gage Banks, James Ibson, Linnea Hahn, Mary Lee Taylor, Kinosian, Bert Ligon, Kris Phelps, and Gloria Wright. In a musical where the pace never slows, the band never missed a beat.
The set design by Jeremy Hansard and Shannon Scruggs was purposefully very bare and used rolling chairs and tables to create different settings and set pieces. At the back of the stage were piles of luggage which, thanks to Gina Jarvin, cleverly conceals props which could be accessed at a moment's notice.
Dell Goodrich served as costume designer. It feels odd to call a musical set in 2001 a period piece but the clothing was carefully considered and crafted to bring the audience back 25 years to the start of the 21st century.
No production could work without the crew and this musical runs smoothly thanks to the efforts of the stage manager Chelsey Art, Assistant Stage Manager Reid Moser, and crew members Mat Eberhardt, Nae Houghton, and Troy King.
The Music Director Lou Boeschen also did a fine job making sure the music had its breakout moments but also underscoring the scenes when it needed to. A lot of the dialogue is spoken over the ensemble singing and it is done in a way that is audible to the audience and accentuates the tone and feeling of the piece.
Shannon Willis Scruggs directed this production of Come From Away. Through her vision, the cast and crew of this show told a story of selflessness, unity, and the resilience of the human spirit.
I strongly recommend seeing Come From Away! In a world constantly being divided by foreign policy and big political forces bashing heads against heads, this story shows us that when an emergency knocks us off course, we find that human connection is stronger than any tragedy.
Come From Away is running from Aug 28th to Sept 13th. Ticketing Information can be found on https://towntheatre.com/.
Come from Away is a 2013 musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein..
