by Michelle Willson, Feature/Entertainment Editor
Have you ever heard of a little town in Canada called Gander?
On September 11, 2010, 38 planes were diverted to the small town of Gander. Those planes included 19 animals and 7000 passengers.
“Come From Away” is a Broadway musical about the aftermath of 9/11. It focuses on the small town of Gander Newfoundland.
After 9/11 They closed the American airways. No plane was allowed in so the planes that were in the air landed in Gander. The musical captures the emotion of everyone involved and shows how this tiny town came together to house and feed the people stuck there.
There were all nationalities and religions so they had to accommodate everyones eating habits. They also show how those of Muslim religions were treated by the other passengers.
The Audience is taken on this roller-coaster of emotions. The passengers on the airplanes were not allowed to get off for hours because the government was treating them like bomb threats. Some were sitting on planes for over 24 hours with no service so they didn’t even know why their planes were diverted until they were allowed off and the Newfoundlanders turned on the news for them.
One of my favorite parts of the musical is that the characters are based on real people still alive today. If you look online there are interviews with these people who speak of the experiences.
As someone who is involved in the theatre that is something that will only happen once in a lifetime. Its one thing to be given a back-story and information about a character your playing but to talk to them and watch how they interact its a whole new experience.
Professor Kimberly Weast and Dr. Dena Walker got to meet Captain Beverly Bass, one of the real-life stories behind the musical. They happen to recognize her and she even signed playbills for them in the lobby before the show.
Beverly Bass was the first female pilot. She was flying American Airlines and her plane was one of them diverted to Gander. Her character inspired one of my favorite songs “Me and the Sky.”
The most powerful moment in the musical comes during the song “Prayer” because so many different people were stuck and scared and they all reach out to their religion for some guidance. The song is sung in many languages, all of which are singing over each other yet its composed in a way that different sounds do not impede.
Weast had contacted Julie Johnson, who played Beulah, over Facebook and arranged for our group to have a talk with some of the actors we even got a behind the scenes look at the stage and equipment.
They talked to us about the set display and how they made the realistic trees and what it takes to play multiple parts in one performance. They play a week at a time and in one day they have it moved, they rest and set up in the new theatre.
They pointed at the two real trees at the back of the stage both broken and splinter and asked us “What do you think this symbolizes.” Until that moment I hadn’t even noticed them. They symbolize the twin tours and the original set designer decided to add that in to pay homage to attack New York. It’s interesting because it’s not pointing out during the show so most people will miss it but its a pretty big part of the set.
One of the best things about the musical is not that it shows the aftermath of such a terrible event it is that it simultaneously shows female empowerment, Why you should always see the best in people and how much of an impact lending a helping hand can give in a time a need.
The people who inspired this story continue to go back to gander and reconnect with the people that helped them that day.
I came into this show with high expectations because I have been listening to the soundtrack since the original Broadway cast performed for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2017 that same year I watched them preform on Good Morning America and The Tony Awards. I fell in love with the soundtrack and the back story.
I give this musical a 5 out of 5 starts. Not only is the musical itself well written but the cast does an amazing job switching between parts and taking the identity of their characters. OKCs performance did not disappoint though they are different actors they brought the energy and everything else I could have wanted.