By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
A quarter century ago Friday the world was shaken.
The cast members of the musical “Come From Away” were a ways from coming into this world. They grew up in a world shaped by the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath.
The musical with book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein connects them to the chaos of those first few hours and days when 38 planes carrying 7,000 passengers and crew landed in Gander, Newfoundland, after American airspace was closed.
The residents and stranded passengers and crew bonded over a week during which Gander and surrounding small communities welcomed these unintended visitors into their homes and lives, providing comfort in discomforting times.
Commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the musical is on stage at Maumee Valley Country Day School’s Millennium Theater, 1715 S. Reynolds Road, Toledo. It opened Wednesday night, and continues with performances Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. Visit TEN.Ludus.com for tickets. Tickets cost $15, $10 for children, under 10, and $10 for first responders.
“Come From Away” is being produced by the Northwest Ohio Theatre Educators Network and features cast and crew from eight school districts, including Bowling Green. The play is being co-directed by Jo Beth Gonzalez, of Bowling Green High School, and Brian Bozanich, Maumee Valley Country Day School with Seth Johnson, Toledo School for the Arts, music director; Julie O’Connell, choreographer; Tom Mahas, Lake High School, technical director; Amy Corser, Springfield High School, stage manager; and Kory Meinhart, Perrysburg High School, production coordinator.
Though isolated, Gander, as the mayor ( Jayden Armitage) tells us in the introduction, had been the busiest airport in the world because it is the nearest point to Europe in the early days of international flight when planes had just enough fuel capacity to cross the Atlantic.
But this is not a return to glory. The residents count the planes as they arrive, aghast not knowing what will happen.
Until that moment the biggest problem the community had was the ongoing school-bus driver strike. The mayor and the union leader (Bee Stiles) argue about who has or will come to the negotiating tables while perched at neighboring tables at Tim Horton’s. Now the community of 9,000 is faced with how to accommodate their surprise visitors.
The crew and passengers are at first restricted to the 38 planes. The story focuses on the passengers on one plane bound for Dallas. They spend more than a day confined to the cabin watching whatever films are available — “Legally Blond” and unfortunately “Titanic.” What they don’t see are any details of why the planes were forced to land. We meet the characters we’ll get to know over the next 90 minutes.
There’s Hannah (BG’s Calista Motisher) whose son is a firefighter in New York. She’s increasingly frantic because she cannot reach him. She’s supported by local school teacher Beulah (Serenity Gregory) who comforts her by telling jokes as Hannah’s son did.
Two gay businessmen both named Kevin (BG’s Aidan Thomas and Mitchell McNalley) struggle with fitting into the community not as strait-laced as they fear.
Beverley (Mariam Doumani) is a pioneering female pilot confronting the new realities of her love of flying in the ballad “Me and the Sky.”
Bonnie (Annabelle Bucko) with her reluctant assistant and husband Doug (BG’s Quinn Percival) minister to the animals on board that include the usual cats and dogs and two Bonobo monkeys, one of whom is pregnant.
Nick (Will Stierman), a British passenger, and Diane (Emma Brazeau), a Texas divorcee grow close during their weeklong ordeal.
Ali (Reece Falade) is a Muslim passenger singled out for special scrutiny including a humiliating body search before he can board the plane.
All this plays out in song and dance that evokes the folk sounds of Newfoundland.
As part of making the passengers feel welcomed there’s a gathering at a local watering hole where they are introduced to the local culture with a rousing jig and the rite of passage of kissing a fish.
They also gather in various places of worship for “Prayer’ with elements of different worship music woven in.
The seven-piece music ensemble, conducted by Johnson, is set just above the stage. The band provides not just accompaniment to the musical numbers but also underscoring that sets the scene and mood.
The planes’ eventual departure is met with relief but also a sense of regret as Gander returns to its routine — the bus strike isn’t settled.
The characters, who are all based on actual participants, deal with the changes to the world and their own psyches. The musical ends with a 10th year reunion in Gander. This provides some sense of closure.
It’s fitting that the production brings together students and teachers who may not come from that far away but still from their own spheres, to commemorate this gleam of hopefulness amidst a tragedy.
It’s also a needed reminder of the closeness between the United States and its neighbor and ally Canada.
