by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
I was a sophomore in high school when I first heard that the World Trade Center was attacked with the first plane. I was in French class when some of my friends were talking about it. At that time, it felt like it was a catastrophic accident. It didn’t really sink in as to what was happening until my second class of the day, Intro to Guitar. My teacher was saying how it was intentional and it looked like scenes from a disaster movie. It was then also that another plane hit the second other tower where everyone in the class thought, “this is a straight up attack.” I felt pretty raw the rest of the day. All I could do was stay glued to the TV, offer my thoughts and prayers to victims, families, and responders, and stew with a variety of different emotions.
These feelings all came back watching Come From Away on Apple TV+.
Shout out to Apple TV+ for this one. In the streaming wars, I had pegged a couple of streaming platforms who were either going to be acquired or fail to capture a collective audience. I really dig Apple’s collection of original content. Their TV shows are fantastic and their movies have been pretty great as well. Props to them for scooping this one up.
Full disclosure, for Broadway musicals I’m in the wait and see camp. I do not actively keep up with Broadway. However, I like musicals enough to give the music a chance, and when they eventually show up in Chicago, I will gladly shell out money to go see it. I’ve seen a fair amount of the hits like Rent, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, and Hamilton, and I have a bucket list of shows I’d love to see one day. I don’t actively keep up on anything new, anything Tony award winning, or anything that a friend doesn’t recommend to me first. So when the chance to review this came up, I was most intrigued about the subject matter and story.
Movies, TV, and broadway shows about real life events are tricky to pull off. There’s always some semblance of story embellishment that helps bring the narrative forward where writers hope to do justice for the actual story at hand. Stories about September 11 are also tricky since the recency of the event is still prevalent in people’s minds. Considering that this year marks 20 years since the tragedy (let that sink in for a second… if September 11 were a person, they would be 1 year away from legal drinking age in the United States), this event has shaped a fair amount of people’s lives as well as the course of American history. Considering the first set of movies that came out to dramatize September 11 came out a mere five years after the event shows that audiences might want to see more of these stories. It’d be as if someone decided to write a TV show about a catastrophic pandemic five years after COVID-19 ravaged the world (don’t think I forgot about you, Songbird, the 2020 movie about COVID-23: a mutated virus that has ravaged the world. WAY TOO SOON FOR THAT).
An even more difficult task would be injecting comedy into an event where the gravity of how much destruction cannot be underscored. A variety of emotions envelope all events, including tragedies and trauma. For instance, one of my favorite movies of all time is Life is Beautiful. In an event where you see the absolute darkest of what humanity is capable of, Roberto Benigni’s masterpieces uses comedy and games as a means for a father to shield his son from the horrors of their situation. It may be deemed insensitive, however, it also shows the lengths someone would potentially go to in order to help someone they love. The prevailing thought of the duality of emotions, a Ying and Yang notion that for every tragedy where you feel sadness there will be situations where you feel joy, is helpful to anyone going through a tough situation. Inside Out brings this feeling out all too well.
Come From Away is a story about a Canadian town who unexpectedly plays host to dozens of flights when the United States shuts down American airspace to all planes following the events of September 11. The town of Gander, Newfoundland unexpectedly doubles in size, struggles with finding available resources, and rides a roller coaster of emotions for the town itself and the passengers unexpectedly rerouted on their journeys. The cast plays multiple parts, playing both Gander residents as well as people on the planes detoured. The residents form an unexpected bond with the passengers as they spend nearly a week together going through hardships, laughs, and forming lifelong bonds with one another that span the globe. People find ways to communicate, to help, and ultimately to find community in unexpected ways. The movie/play concludes with a reunion 10 years later where people come back to Gander to reunite with friends that they made in the most unexpected ways.
I love stories like this — a story about a massive event, but not actually having to do with the event itself. Biopics or movies “based on a true story or real life events” are sometimes more interesting if they tell something not as well-known, offering a fresh take and a different story for people to do research on. For me, this was a fascinating story, simply because it’s hard to think how some events are local or national events but some events shape the entire world. I have sometimes thought about what it was like for people flying on that day or the days after September 11, but also how the sheer number of people affected by the FAA’s decision to shut down US airspace is unthinkably large.
The performances are outstanding. Special shoutout to Jenn Colella, who plays Beverly Bass and various other people (you’ll see this a lot as I shout out multiple people in their roles). Bass is the captain of one of the planes forced to land in Gander and she talks (and sings beautifully) about how she loves being a pilot, but how this has brought about conflicting feelings for her. She laments about how this is a game-changing event for pilots, who now have an extra level of difficulty for an already tough job, but also how her love and passion for flying remains undeterred. She’s a trailblazer as a female captain for American Airlines, but also deeply saddened about the toll 9/11 took on her coworkers (she knew the pilot whose plane crashed into the Pentagon) and her family (gives her new context about being away from her family and the toll this situation must have took on them as they were left in limbo not knowing whether she was okay or not). It’s a little hard to keep track of all the people changing roles constantly, but it also allows the cast to shine in a variety of different ways. The range of this cast is spectacular, as people morph in and out of characters with ease ranging from serious to silly and shifting dialects, mannerisms, and personality. This had to have been a tall order for the cast to carefully weave in and out of different characters like they did.
The central story remains largely intact with the town of Gander providing aid to the stranded passengers. I really thought the leader of Gander, Mayor Claude Eliott played by Joel Hatch, did an outstanding job of rallying his town and the residents to help in whatever way they could. The issue I had was the plots continuing to branch off with some getting more resolution than others and some even getting the short end of the stick. At the beginning of the play, they talked about the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shelter and it occasionally intercuts moments where Bonnie, who works at the SPCA, is tending to the animals stranded on the plane without their owners. There’s all kinds of different animals on the planes and they focus on a few of them but it felt jarring sometimes to shift to this story. In addition, there’s a group of passengers from Africa that are scared because they have no idea where they’re going and no idea how to communicate with people. I thought this was a powerful story, especially since oneGander resident has the brilliant idea to communicate with them through a Bible passage, but a story that is ultimately given a small piece of the enormous plot pie.
I was most invested in three stories — two passengers on a plane, one from Texas Diane, played by Sharon Whetley and one from London Nick, played by Jim Walton, who unexpectedly find love in one another. It’s a beautiful story about two people who just happen to be in the right place at the right time to love even if the situation that brought them together was tragic. An Egyptian master chef, played by Caesar Samayoa, who falls under the scrutiny of the passengers due to mounting distrust of muslims. He’s stoic and mainly keeps to himself but offers to help with the food. At the end, he’s forced to do a strip search due to a random screening at the airport where he feels like the world will never be the same again. The story that I was most invested in though was with Hannah, played by Q. Smith and Beulah, played by Astrid Van Wieren. Hannah is a passenger on a plane and her son is a firefighter helping with rescue efforts. Beulah, a citizen of Gander, bonds with her since her son is also a firefighter. Hannah is extremely distressed because her son is missing. Beulah makes her feel better by telling her bad jokes. This bond ultimately last the test of time as whenever Hannah think of a bad joke, she tells Beulah even after they leave. Whether or not her son makes it though is ultimately something I encourage you to watch the movie for yourself to find out.
The songs are catchy and driven by great singers. There isn’t one song that stands out as the song that this musical will be remembered by similar to “Seasons of Love” from Rent or “For Good” from Wicked. The actual music itself is great too, showcasing a variety of different instruments and has a powerhouse mini concert with a showcase of the musicians at the end. The stage production is phenomenal, especially how they get creative with using the small stage piece and the props for a variety of different purposes. This must have been a fun production to watch on stage.
The element of Come From Away that ultimately made this a memorable viewing experience for me is its inclusion of themes and messages. It’s a triumph of human decency, and kindness in the face of tragic situations genuinely moved me. People are often surprised by the kindness of strangers but in this once in lifetime event, kindness and helpfulness was especially needed. The stories of the town and passengers forming lifelong bonds was a beautiful way to show that friendships can transcend even the darkest of circumstances. The range of emotions felt during the play mimics the range of emotions felt during that week of September 11. Feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, and most notably helplessness. Feeling helpless during this time was a tough feeling because we, as a county, wanted to contribute in any way we could to help. Come From Away proves that people can have a lasting impact on people just by simply offering a heart full of grace and soul generated by love.
I would highly recommend Come From Away to a variety of people. This is a must watch for musical lovers, especially since it’s a stage production versus a stage to film adaptation. For anyone who remembers September 11 vividly, this is a great reminder about the good in the world. For those who are looking for a great story with funny characters, great music, and owners of Apple TV+, this is definitely worth checking out.
Grade: B
You can follow Mike Hilty on Twitter and Letterboxd