Come From Away: Trailer for musical based on a true story
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Come From Away celebrated its third birthday in London’s West End last night. In a deeply moving curtain call, cast member James Doherty told the cheering audience, “The message of this show is about community, love, and the generosity of the human spirit. It’s about kindness. And that message resonates more now than it ever has before.” The musical takes one of the darkest moments in our recent history and fashions the true-life story of ordinary people coming together to achieve something utterly extraordinary.
Come From Away is set in the 72 hours after 9/11 when all air travel was grounded. 38 civilian and four military planes were forced to land at the small remote town of Gander, Newfoundland, which used to be a major refueling airport from transatlantic flights. 7,000 passengers and crew (along with assorted cats, dogs and bonobo monkeys) were temporarily cared for and housed by the small town. Many lifelong friendships (and at least one marriage) were forged.
All the people portrayed on stage are real and the immediacy of their very real, very relatable feelings (both wonderful and devastating) make being in the audience a truly communal, exhilarating experience.
With book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the local characters and irresistible musical styles play on the Celtic roots of the region and the homespun generosity and humanity which still exists out there. It is too easy to be cynical, yet wonderful to be reminded (and reassured) it still exists. There is also plenty of dry humour throughout and the show deftly avoids mawkishness at all times.
The stranded passengers, meanwhile, are a broad cross-section of classes, races and sexualities, including someone who “looks like a terrorist”. It would be very simple to slip into predictable pontificating that we are all the same under the skin but the show does not shy away from the uglier sides of human nature, either. And so, for example, the beautiful multi-faith number Prayer is followed by the anger and attacks of On The Edge.
In the darkest of times, Come From Away finds beauty everywhere, within and without. The characters include pilot Beverley (the history-making first US airlines female pilot) and Hannah, a mother desperately waiting for news of her missing firefighter son in New York.
There is a tentative and touching middle-aged romance between a Texan divorcee and a stuffy British oil executive who both thought love had passed them by, while a glamorous gay couple discover love cannot overcome all differences. One young black New York passenger struggles to accept the open trust he receives, but an Egyptian Muslim meets prejudice and inhuman official profiling.
The small cast all portray multiple characters, both locals and the ‘come from aways’, with lightning-quick changes of accents and costume. The lighting and staging are simple but effective with few flourishes. This is a show rooted in the strength of its story and the talent on stage. No tricks are required.
This is a show about everything and everyone. The cast are an incredibly refreshing mix of ages, races and body types and remind you how rare it is to see a West End musical where most people on stage are not predominantly young, buff and beautiful. What they are is talented and, made clear by the curtain call, as emotionally moved by their show as the audience are.
Coem From Away deftly subverts conventions in dramatic and musical structuring. The songs flow into each other and it runs at 101 minutes with no interval. It constantly builds emotion, but cleverly does not use many of the usual theatrical and musical conventions. There are no big ballads or key changes, just a seamless succession of toe-tapping to tender tunes, backed by the excellent live band.
What a wonderful show this is. Happy third birthday, may there be 30 more.
COME FROM AWAY IS PLAYING AT THE PHOENIX THEATRE, LONDON
Source: Read Full Article