We rely on stories to connect us, to share human experiences that may or may not be our own, and to teach us, again and again, what it means to be human.
But rare and perhaps most lasting are the stories that remind us of what we all too often forget: that above all, humans are kind, generous beyond measure, fundamentally driven by love, and when called, particularly in a crisis, will actively show compassion and carry each other.
This feel-good truth and recognition of who we really are is at the heart of Come From Away, the 2017 Tony Award-winning musical that opened this summer’s season at Mason Street Warehouse. Though many may have been introduced to this beautiful, heart warming show on larger stages, perhaps even on AppleTV+, the production at Saugatuck Center for the Arts is uniquely special, a phenomenal performance of this unforgettable story.
This Canadian-born tale, with book, music and lyrics written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, exquisitely directed by Kurt Stamm, is set in Gander, Newfoundland, a place where “everything starts and ends at Tim Horton’s,” according to its mayor, a little place in Canada with a big airport where 38 planes were diverted on Sept. 11, 2001, instantly bringing the population from 9,000 to 16,000, dropping “7,000 scared and angry people who don’t want to be here” into the open arms of locals who stop at nothing to make sure they’re sheltered and made welcome.
Based on a true story, it offers a remarkable memorial to 9/11 that focuses on the extraordinary kindness and hospitality of ordinary people in the face of horrifying tragedy. It captures something gorgeous and uplifting that emerges from a terrible moment in history reminding us what humanity is capable of when we band together for our greater good and out of genuine care for one another.
The story is earnest and sentimental but far too smart and elegantly told with genuine heart and surprising humor to be saccharine. Told in vignettes through a diverse and glorious ensemble cast of 12, each plays multiple characters—at least one distinct Newfoundlander as well as a displaced passenger. There’s a terrific efficiency to this show that doesn’t call attention to itself, including a set designed by Ranae Selmeyer (with stunning walls colorfully lit from within by Jennifer Kules) largely composed of chairs the actors pick up and move to create distinct spaces—a plane, a coffee shop, a bus, a bar, a cliff, to name a few—every movement beautifully choreographed by Kurt Stamm and Jay Gamboa to make the finite space of the stage feel infinite.
At times the present is juxtaposed with the past as they shift in time through memory and song with really moving standout numbers such as the beautiful feminist anthem “Me and the Sky” from Marya Grandy and company as well as “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.”
The score, with orchestrations by August Eriksmoen and arrangements by Ian Eisendrath, is shot through with a strong Celtic influence played to tremendous effect with high energy by a fabulous live orchestra music directed by Josh Keller, a couple of whom play on stage throughout the show, though they also join in a bar scene and at curtain call for high energy traditional sessions.
The subtext of the Irish diaspora and its cultural traditions is present here (warm hospitality, rhythmic language, music and dance), as is the subtle fact that refugees are warmly welcomed with the implicit belief that if the roles were reversed, they would extend the same care.
Its earnestness as well as the implicit irony given our current cultural climate is enough to give us pause.
Each character is vividly drawn and fully embodied by this extraordinary cast, including the town mayor (Brian Ray Norris), a local police officer (Kyle Southern), rookie reporter (Payton Reilly), head of the Gander Legion (Nicole Hale), SPCA manager (Katie Fay Francis), a pilot (Marya Grandy), a New Yorker hardened by systemic racism but softened by the genuine kindness of the Newfoundlanders (Christian McQueen), a mother of a NYC firefighter (Melrose Johnson), an anxiety-ridden gay couple (Joe Somodi and Zummy Mohammed), an Egyptian master chef (through whom anti-Muslim bigotry is explored, also played by Zummy Mohammed), an awkward Brit (Scott Fuss) and Texan divorcee (Kimberly Chesser) who find solace in each other’s company.
Their timing is impeccable, their ability to embody so many different characters, so many different accents and to work together so seamlessly astonishing. Everyone on this stage is a star and yet there is no singular star in this show. And to see how this tense situation pressurizes each one of them to change is a magnificent unfolding and a reminder of who we are, where we’ve been, how far we’ve come from away, how much we’ve lost, and how we could and should do better now.
This truly fine production of Come From Away takes us on a roller coaster of emotion that appropriately makes us feel so much so deeply as only a live performance in such an intimate space can. We can’t look away and we don’t want to. And to see it shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of others who, if given the opportunity, having been reminded of what extraordinary kindness, love, and generosity humans are capable of in the worst of times, might shelter and care for one another, invites us to rise to the level of humanity we get to witness on stage—a reflection of how we might be at our best in the worst of times.
Come From Away at Saugatuck Center for the Arts offers not just the most beautiful legacy of 9/11, but a hopeful and glorious depiction of humanity itself. It’s in the extraordinary talent, artistry, and uncompromising ensemble work as well as the unforgettable story itself.
Come From Away
Saugatuck Center for the Arts
June 20-July 13
sc4a.org
