This week the national tour of the Tony-award winning musical “Come From Away” lit up the IU Auditorium stage with a heartwarming performance.
Based on the true story of the week following 9/11, “Come From Away” tells the tale of the passengers that were diverted to an alternate landing at the Gander International Airport in Newfoundland. The 7,000 passengers that landed nearly doubled the town’s population. The town provided hospitality to the passengers and brought a lot of light to the dark week.
These passengers are known as “come from aways,” a term that refers to visitors that are from far places. You would never think that this is a musical that should’ve been made based on the content.
With a book, music and lyrics by husband-and-wife duo Irene Sankoff and David Hein, “Come From Away” takes one of America’s darkest moments and provides the audience with eternal optimism. It pays tribute to the victims of the tragedy in a perfect way, with boundless energy and show-stopping musical numbers.
Sankoff and Hein said their goal was to tell 16,000 stories with just 12 actors in a 100-minute musical. Every character in the show was inspired by a real interview that Sankoff and Hein did when researching in Newfoundland.
The town of Gander, as depicted in the show, is filled with people that exude kindness even when faced with the unfamiliar. They never lock their doors and they welcome newcomers with tradition. It is probably the best place to be stuck after great loss.
Starting a show with a number as powerful as “Welcome to Rock” sets the audience up for an energetic journey. It almost felt as if these were the real people talking about their typical day-to-day lives and not just performers on the stage. We see the people of Gander learn about the terrorist attacks and recount to the audience where they were and what they were doing (an all too familiar tale to those who remember the events that day).
Everyone in town wants to help the situation, saying that “they can’t watch the news anymore” in the number “Blankets and Bedding.” They work to gather everything from deodorant to baby formula for those stranded as the town was not initially equipped for the sheer number of passengers that landed.
Amongst the passengers is Hannah, a woman from New York whose son is a firefighter, but remains missing following the attacks. She finds Beulah, a woman from Gander whose son is also a firefighter. The two bond over prayer, a beautiful showcase of unlikely friendship in trying times.
My favorite number from the show was the anthem “Me and the Sky” sung by Beverley played by Kaitlyn Jackson. We learn about her life as she became the first female captain of a commercial plane and then the first female captain of a flight with an all-female crew. The song is a tale of triumph and despair. She heartbreakingly sings about the one thing that she loved, airplanes, being used as a bomb.
IU freshman Ben Boyce attended the show with his parents and absolutely loved it.
“It was just fantastic,” he said. “The actors were top notch. The music was awesome. It really just leapt off of the stage.”
Although it was not his first experience with “Come From Away,” Boyce said this production was his favorite.
“I watched it on Apple TV when they recorded the live action version, and this production just exceeded it,” he said.
This production truly did just that. It brought the incredible story of resilience to life in a way that stuck with me after the show ended. Kindness is something that in this show was contagious and you could tell that the audience felt connected.
Although the story of Gander is over 20 years old, it still captivates audiences, and Bloomington was no exception.