Broadway in Columbus: 'Come From Away' an uplifting portrait of hope, humanity, hospitality

“Come From Away” is a rare musical forged directly from real people and recent history.

Widely perceived as the “9/11 musical,” “Come From Away” focuses on hope and humanity in the aftermath of tragedy — highlighting Canadians’ hospitality to stranded airline passengers on and immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.

Broadway in Columbus and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts will present the national tour of the Broadway hit, which will open Feb. 8 at the Ohio Theatre.

“You wouldn’t expect a musical about 9/11 to be so uplifting, but it’s more of a 9/12 show about what can be done when people pull together,” Bonnie Harris said from Gander, Newfoundland.

Weaving oral histories

Harris, the Gander SPCA manager who spearheaded efforts to save 19 animals overlooked on planes, became a character in the musical created by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein from recording interviews with the nicknamed “plane people” and “islanders.”

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“I was leery about how Newfoundlanders were going to be portrayed, but I was blown away. I know it’s accurate because living in Gander, I hear stories of the people portrayed,” Harris said.

Collaborating as composer-lyricist-authors to develop their musical over six years, Sankoff and Hein wove an oral-history collage depicting how 9,300 Gander residents welcomed, fed and housed 6,700 passengers and crew from 38 diverted flights.

“Somehow, they fit it all into a 100-minute one-act that runs smoothly... with my character really five or six people (including other caretakers), and some characters composites of 50 or 60 people,” Harris said.

Earning acclaim

Nominated for seven 2017 Tony awards, including best musical, score, and book, “Come From Away” won a Tony for Christopher Ashley’s direction, New York’s Drama Desk Award for outstanding musical and London’s Olivier Award for best new musical.

In his review, New York Times critic Ben Brantley praised “the big bearhug of a musical” for its agile staging, honorable intentions, air of improvisational urgency and respect for the material’s complexity.

“Even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed during this portrait of heroic hospitality under extraordinary pressure,” Brantley wrote.

Overcoming odds

Today, the production is about to surpass 1,400 performances on Broadway.

“It was a word-of-mouth hit against the odds,” producer Sue Frost said.

“We knew ‘Come From Away’ would be a challenge because it’s a tricky title, an ensemble without stars, and everyone would call it the 9/11 musical,” Frost said.

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Visiting Gander in 2011 to interview residents and returning visitors during a 10th-anniversary reunion, Sankoff and Hein created a two-act musical workshopped at Ontario’s Sheridan College in 2012, with 45 minutes featured at two 2013 festivals.

“We were so moved by the unique spin on something we all thought we were familiar with,” said Frost, who saw the early effort with Otterbein University graduate Randy Adams, her co-founding partner in Junkyard Dog Productions.

“What captured us was the amazing story and how they were telling it, with direct address to the audience," said Adams, an Ohio native who will return to town this week and meet with Otterbein students.

“A story like this, about everyday people responding as a community, rarely gets told in such a theatrical way," Adams said.

Tightening focus

While recognizing issues in the work in progress, Junkyard Dogs optioned “Come From Away” in 2013 for development.

“It was longer, with an intermission, and in the first 90 minutes written, people hadn’t even gotten off the planes yet,” Frost said.

The challenge: Compressing the multifaceted story into a long one-act.

“This is a roller coaster and you can’t stop... The people in Gander didn’t stop and didn’t get to rest,” Frost said.

Co-produced in 2015 by California’s La Jolla Playhouse with follow-up runs in Seattle, Toronto and Washington, D.C., “Come From Away” gradually came into form under Ashley, with costumes by Ohio State University graduate Toni-Leslie James.

Countering misperceptions

“When we took it on, as an ensemble piece with tricky material and limited characters, we didn’t imagine what life it might have,” Frost said.

Consistently enthusiastic audiences made them envision its Broadway potential. Even after final standing ovations, complete strangers remained standing, sharing 9/11 memories with one another, Frost said.

“We realized this musical does have resonance and speaks to many people,” she said.

Even so, they wondered how to correct misleading social-media references to the “9/11 show,” Frost said.

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Not until Frost, Adams and several marketing-team members toured New York’s 9/11 memorial in 2016 and discovered the museum’s “9/12” area did they have their “aha!” moment.

“The docent said that’s where they tell the positive stories. We came out realizing that’s our musical. This isn’t about 9/11, but what happened afterwards,” Frost said.

Shaping up for Broadway

To fulfill the show’s promise, though, the creative team had to shape history into a good-humored drama without fictionalizing its source material, as most musicals do.

“Developing a show is an ongoing process, but one thing David and Irene were adamant about is that they weren’t going to make anything up,” Frost said.

“When we said we need more dramatic tension here, they had to dig farther and do more research,” she said.

For instance, the creators had heard about Hannah O’Rourke, a stranded passenger worried about the fate of her son, a Manhattan firefighter.

“They knew they had to sit down with her family... and find out how they (Hannah and her husband Dennis) were feeling about their son, who perished in the twin towers,” Frost said.

The result was “I Am Here,” a new song not added until Broadway.

Singing their stories

Sharone Sayegh, who plays Harris on tour, is one of 12 performers singing “snippets” of songs while frequently shifting among multiple roles.

“It’s an ensemble piece, so we all sing every song in this beautiful and emotional score,” Sayegh said.

Orchestrating their Celtic-accented score with bagpipes and flutes, Sankoff and Hein evoke Irish folk songs and traditional Newfoundland-Canadian music.

“Grounded and hardy, the music has a lot of oomph to it,” Sayegh said.

During the opening “Welcome to the Rock,” Sayegh, portraying Harris, is driving home from her SPCA job when the radio announces the “insane” news that many jumbo jets have landed at the airport within two hours.

“Scared and shocked by such a strange event, Bonnie quickly feels she has to step up and find out if there are any animals on the planes,” Sayegh said.

“Everybody shrugged her off... But she found 19 animals, including two rare bonobo chimpanzees (one headed to Columbus),” she said.

Playing real people

Harris is fun to play, Sayegh said, because “she’s tough and a little sassy.”

“I like to bring warm honesty to Bonnie to reflect her direct culture and show her sharpness comes from... love and caring,” she said.

After performing on Broadway in other musicals, Sayegh got something special from “Come From Away.”

“It’s an honor to play real living characters. I feel excited to play someone who really exists, because everything I say really happened,” she said.

Sayegh appreciates the opportunity to tell an inspiring story.

“I love that people in Gander didn’t think twice about opening their homes and helping... Playing multiple characters shows their community,” she said.

“Our country has gone through a lot,” she added, “so it’s important to see a musical about kindness and human connection.”

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At a glance

Broadway in Columbus and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts will present “Come From Away” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-10, 8 p.m. Feb. 11, 2 and 8 p.m. Feb. 12 and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Masks and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required. Tickets start at $39 at CBUSArts Ticket Center (614-469-0939, www.cbusarts.com)

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'Come From Away' musical to run Feb. 8-13 in Columbus