Thursday, March 17, 2022 – Come From Away

The photo is a Playbill from a touring production of this musical I recently attended. It is based on the true story of the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada extending its generosity and kindness when 38 planes landed there on 9/11. The legendary “niceness” of the Canadian people is, ultimately, on display in this time of crisis. And the passengers who were blessed by the compassion of their Canadian rescuers never forgot their extraordinary thoughtfulness. They gave $60,000 to the town and set up a scholarship fund for all the children in town.

According to Katharine Lackey’s Sept. 8, 2017 article “An oasis of kindness on 9/11: This town welcomed 6,700 strangers amid terror attacks” in USA Today, “when Garry Tuff, then acting manager of safety and security for emergency response services at Gander International Airport, saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center, he knew his town of 10,000 people would be impacted. The airport there marks the closest point between Europe and the U.S. and is a preferred emergency landing spot for medical and other emergencies.

“After figuring out how to park all the planes, some of which later started sinking into the pavement because of their weight and the warm temperatures, officials spent the next 24 hours unloading luggage and people. Many passengers left prescriptions in checked, inaccessible luggage. Pharmacists in town worked around the clock, calling dozens of countries to fill prescriptions. Then, there were the smokers on board, unable to get a fix for hours. ‘We bought every bit of nicotine gum that was in town,’ Tuff said.

“Volunteers readied makeshift shelters — every school, gym, community center, church and camp, any place that could fit a planeload of people. Gander’s 500 hotel rooms were reserved for pilots and flight crews.

“Bus drivers in the middle of a nasty strike laid down picket signs. Donations of toiletries, clothes, toys, towels, toothbrushes, pillows, blankets and bedding piled up.

Gander residents began cooking — a lot. Grocery store shelves went bare. The Walmart ran out of nearly everything — underwear was a particularly hot commodity — and the local hockey rink transformed into the world’s largest refrigerator.

“The outpouring of kindness in the town only multiplied over the next five days. Gander residents took passengers sightseeing, moose hunting, berry picking and barbecuing. They entertained with music, stopped anyone walking down the street in case they wanted a ride and brought strangers into their homes for showers or even as guests for a few nights.

“The ‘come from aways’ — as Newfoundlanders call anyone not from the island — were from all over the world, and despite the intense situation, no one in Gander batted an eye. Prejudice against anyone is an entirely foreign concept there.”

Let’s learn more about that shining beacon of humanity called Gander in the musical “Come From Away.”

According to Wikipedia, “Come from Away” is a Canadian musical with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is set in the week following the September 11 attacks and tells the true story of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport in the small town of Gander in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. The characters in the musical are based on — and in most cases share the names of — real Gander residents, as well as some of the nearly 7,000 stranded travelers they housed and fed.

The musical has been received by audiences and critics as a cathartic reminder of the capacity for human kindness in even the darkest of times and the triumph of humanity over hate.

After being workshopped in 2012 and first produced at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, in 2013, it went on to have record-breaking runs at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, and the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2015, at the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto in 2016. It opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on March 12, 2017, and became a critical and box office success, routinely playing to standing-room-only audiences even during previews. In October 2018 it became the longest-running Canadian musical in Broadway history, surpassing “The Drowsy Chaperone's” previous record of 674 performances. A live recording of the production was released on September 10, 2021, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

The musical premiered at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, in December 2018 and then transferred to the Phoenix Theatre in the West End in February 2019.

At the 71st Tony Awards in 2017, the musical was nominated for seven awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Jenn Colella, winning for Best Direction of a Musical for Christopher Ashle.

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, “Come From Away” writing team

Inception and development

The idea for the show was first conceived by Michael Rubinoff, a Toronto lawyer, theatre producer and associate dean of visual and performing arts at Sheridan College in Oakville. After approaching various writing teams about the project, Rubinoff attracted Irene Sankoff and David Hein, whose work he knew from their 2009 musical “My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding,” which was a hit at the Toronto Fringe Festival and later picked up by Mirvish Productions.

In 2011, Sankoff and Hein visited Gander on the tenth anniversary of the attacks to interview locals and returning passengers. The couple translated some stories directly to the musical while others were merged for story purposes. Rubinoff used their initial script to produce a 45-minute workshop version for the Canadian Music Theatre Project, part of the Sheridan College Music Theatre Performance Program, in 2012. The workshop was sufficiently successful that Rubinoff invited Sankoff and Hein to finish writing it for a full production at Sheridan in 2013, as part of the college's regular theatrical season. The full production, directed by Brian Hill, was an artistic success, but Rubinoff was unable to attract a Canadian producer for further development.

In the meantime, Goodspeed Musicals of East Haddam, Connecticut, included the show in its workshop program. The National Alliance for Musical Theatre in New York selected it as a showcase presentation in fall 2013, where a performance, also directed by Brian Hill, led to the show being optioned by Junkyard Dog Productions, the production company behind “Memphis” and “First Date.”

Synopsis

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the townsfolk of Gander — including Claude the mayor, Oz the police constable, Beulah the teacher, Bonnie the SPCA worker and others — describe life in Newfoundland and how they learn of the terrorist attacks taking place in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania in "Welcome to the Rock."

The attacks result in U.S. airspace being closed, forcing 38 international aircraft to be diverted and land unexpectedly at the Gander airport, almost doubling the population of the small Newfoundland town, which is unequipped for the influx of stranded travelers in "38 Planes." The Gander townspeople spring to action and prepare to house, feed, clothe and comfort the nearly 7,000 passengers, along with 19 animals in cargo in "Blankets and Bedding." Meanwhile, the pilots, flight attendants and passengers are initially not permitted to leave the planes, forcing them to deal with confusing and conflicting information about what has happened and why they were suddenly grounded in "28 Hours / Wherever We Are."

Once allowed off the planes and transferred to various emergency shelters in and around Gander in "Darkness and Trees," the passengers and crew watch replays of the attacks on the news and learn the true reason why they were grounded in "Lead Us Out of the Night." The frightened and lonely passengers desperately try to contact their families and pray for their loved ones, while the townsfolk work through the night to help them in any and every way they can in "Phoning Home/Costume Party." The travelers are initially taken aback by their hosts' uncommon hospitality, but they slowly let their guards down and begin to bond with the quirky townsfolk and each other. The "islanders" in Gander and the surrounding towns open up their homes to the "plane people," regardless of their guests' race, nationality or sexual orientation. Two women — Beulah from Gander and Hannah from New York — bond over the fact that both of their sons are firefighters, but Hannah's son is missing in "I Am Here." Hannah asks Beulah to take her to a Catholic church, and a number of characters make their way to other houses of worship around town in "Prayer."

To alleviate rising fear and mounting tensions in "On The Edge," the passengers are invited to be initiated as honorary Newfoundlanders at the local bar in "Heave Away/Screech In." The gravity of the attacks nevertheless continues to set in as U.S. airspace is eventually reopened. One trailblazing pilot, Beverley Bass, comments on how her once optimistic view of the world has suddenly changed in "Me and the Sky." While one pair of passengers starts to develop a romance despite the terrible thing that brought them together in "Stop the World." another pair sees their long-term relationship fall apart under the stress of the event.

As the passengers and crew fly away to their homes, they joyously exchange stories of the immense kindness and generosity that was shown to them by the Newfoundland strangers in their time of need in "Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere," but not before a Muslim traveler — faced with increasing prejudice from his fellow passengers — undergoes a humiliating strip search prior to boarding. The townsfolk in Gander return to normal life, but comment on how empty their town now seems and how different the world now feels. The passengers and airline staff who return to the United States are faced with the horror of the attacks' aftermath — including Hannah, who learns that her firefighter son lost his life during the rescue efforts in "Something's Missing."

Ten years later, the crew and passengers of the once stranded planes reunite in Gander, this time by choice, to celebrate the lifelong friendships and strong connections they formed in spite of the terrorist attacks in "Finale." As Claude the mayor professes, "Tonight we honor what was lost, but we also commemorate what we found."

Filmed stage production

On February 2, 2021, it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the film industry and the performing arts, the film adaptation was cancelled in favor of producing a live recording of the stage production with the members of the Broadway cast reprising their roles, to be released in September 2021 on the 20th anniversary of the attacks. Produced and financed by Entertainment One and RadicalMedia, a May 2021 staging at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater with Ashley directing and Gordon as producer was used. Joining the producing team are Jennifer Todd, Bill Condon and one of the stage production's producers, Junkyard Dog Productions. Sankoff, Hein, Jon Kamen, Dave Sirulnick and Meredith Bennett executive produced. The film employed 222 people, including the members of the New York cast, crew, staff, and creative and film teams. On April 30, 2021, Apple TV+ acquired the film's distribution rights. It was released on September 10, 2021.

Documentary

“You Are Here - A Come From Away Story” is an intimate feature documentary that goes deep into the community of Gander, Newfoundland where 38 airliners carrying over 6,500 passengers were forced to land after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The film pulls back the emotional layers surrounding the five days during which the community housed, fed and cared for the dislocated passengers or the "come from aways" in Newfoundland parlance. While their stories were the inspiration for the extraordinary Broadway hit musical, “Come From Away,” the documentary, “You Are Here,” reveals firsthand accounts of the great kindnesses and energetic resourcefulness the community showed their unexpected guests. Their emotional and sometimes humorous story of compassion and generosity, born of a long history of rescuing and welcoming shipwrecked sailors, resonates with a legacy of healing and reconciliation for the world — especially for the survivors of those murdered on 9/11, and for the first responders who lost their own lives saving others on that fateful day.