After the Tony awards, one might be fooled into thinking that there is only one new, innovative musical on Broadway right now: Dear Evan Hansen. And while Dear Evan Hansen is a brilliant show (from what I’ve seen and heard anyway… argh why is New York so far away), there’s another original show which was also nominated for best musical which, although having received much less media coverage, is also completely brilliant: Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s Come From Away.
The show tells the story of 9/11 from a perspective relatively few people know about. When the American airspace was closed as a result of the terrorist attacks, 38 planes containing over 6000 people had to unexpectedly land in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, almost doubling its population for a week while the passengers and crew remained stranded there. Telling this story on stage sounds like something of a challenge, and when one takes into account that the production only requires 12 cast members, all of whom multi role, acting as both citizens of Gander and as the ‘plane people’, the level of respect for all those involved in the show can only grow.
The show’s events take place during just one week (barring the epilogue which occurs on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks), and this is reflected in the fact that the music almost never stops. Even where there is dialogue there is often underscore beneath it, giving the production a sense of fluidity which very much reflects the lives of everyone in Gander during this particularly notable week. The ways in which the company switch between characters is extremely clever, especially as they sometimes even have to switch accents – for example, Lee MacDougall plays two characters: one from Gander and one from London! Come From Away is a relatively short Broadway musical, running at around 90 minutes, and this length also suitably shows the condensed time period during which the events occurred. Much longer and the piece may feel a little too indulgent, but the stories of the individuals are all summed up during the epilogue to provide audience members with a sense of closure just before the curtain comes down.
The music is based in the foundations of the folk genre, with the unusual band featuring instruments such as a bodhran, mandolin, bouzouki, and uilleann pipes. A 3 year BA Music degree doesn’t teach you about some of those instruments, I’ll tell you that much! Add the prominent use of the violin (or as it is called in the programme, the fiddle) to the mix and the overall orchestrations very much conform to the folk genre to represent the lives of the ‘Newfoundlanders’. The fact that all of the music in the show sounds very similar both ties the songs together, and illustrates the idea that Gander may be stuck in the past, and very much based on tradition and group activities. However, songs sung by the ‘plane people’, such as Me and the Sky (performed impeccably by Jenn Colella as real life female pilot Beverley Bass) explore other musical genres, such as classic musical theatre and even pop and rock, to emphasise the fact that they are outsiders – and therefore have a different way of life.
I simply adore the concept and realisation of Come From Away. I’d never heard the story of what the people of Gander did for the ‘plane people’ who ended up there as a result of the 9/11 attacks, but now the circumstances which stemmed from the disaster fascinate me. The music is incredible and totally fits with the vibe of the show, and the cast of 12 (and of course, the talented swings) do so well night after night to portray such a vast number of different characters. Obviously, I would love to see the show for real, but sadly I doubt that it has much of a life outside of America – as this is where the story is most relevant. Nonetheless, I shall continue to obsessively listen to the cast recording and watch every Youtube video in existence – and I encourage every other theatre lover to do the same.
that musical theatre nerd 