‘Come from Away’: U.K. production also soars

‘COME FROM AWAY’: The West End cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

COME FROM AWAY

Phoenix Theatre

Charing Cross Road

London, United Kingdom

WC2H 0JP

https://comefromawaylondon.co.uk/

By Scott Harrah

LONDON—Come From Away, the sleeper hit musical about the inherent goodwill of humanity and the kindness of strangers during a global crisis, has maintained all the brilliance of the Broadway original in its transatlantic transfer to London’s West End. The show won four Olivier Awards this year, including Best New Musical. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is a musical about what happened when nearly 7,000 people from 38 transatlantic jets were forced to land and stranded in tiny Gander, Newfoundland, Canada on September 11, 2001. For people like this reviewer who witnessed 9/11 firsthand (I saw the first plane crash into the North Tower), the concept of Come From Away seemed implausible at first because how does one make a musical about such a tragic day in American history? Somehow, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the writers of Come From Away, managed to create a classic story of hope during a grim period in history.

This may not sound like “feel good” material to fill one hour and 45 minutes. A 9/11 musical sounded unbelievable when the show first opened in New York in spring 2017, but it is this show’s ability to surprise and touch even the most jaded theatergoer that makes it so unusual and emotionally powerful. After seeing the show again in London two years after its Broadway debut, the musical still made me misty-eyed.

Most of us never paid attention to the little human interest story (overshadowed in the press by the grisly articles dispatched from Ground Zero in Manhattan, the Pentagon in DC and Shanksville in PA) about how a remote town in Maritime Canada opened its homes and hearts to thousands unable to return to the USA when planes were grounded as U.S. airspace closed on 9/11. The West End version of the musical is exactly the same but with a different cast.

As in the Broadway production, Beowulf Borritt’s barren set of weather-beaten trees and little else vividly depicts Newfoundland. The show opens with the rousing number “Welcome to the Rock” (a reference to the fact that Newfoundland looks like a giant rock in the North Atlantic “between there and here”), and the cast sings in twangy, hard-to-decipher Newfie brogues (a strange hybrid of Canadian and Irish/Scottish dialects). However, this reviewer found the London cast to be more authentic because the actors’ accents have the proper tones of Celtic sounds, perhaps because a U.K. actor has a better frame of reference for speaking like an Irishman or Scotsman. Whatever the case, the British cast and dialect coach Joel Goldes do a fine job of making the townsfolk sound like bona fide Newfies. If you have ever spoken to a true Newfie from “the Rock,” you know they sound more Irish and Scottish than Canadian. In the New York production, the Newfies just sounded like Canadians from Toronto at times (not that it mattered).

The cast’s frenetic energy and the Celtic-themed music command our attention. As is the case with Broadway, the West End rarely gets original shows that are not adaptations of a film or book, and this one is based on real-life events and has a docudrama feel to it. On paper it sounds like it shouldn’t work at all, but the fact that it does beautifully makes Come From Away all the more trenchant. Based on interviews with the people of Gander, Canadian book and songwriters Irene Sankoff and David Hein (a married songwriting duo) have assembled a pop opera that simply tells the stories of the diverse characters stuck in Gander without being trite or sentimental.

There are the “come from aways” (Newfoundland slang for outsiders): Texans, Brits, a Jew, Muslims, Germans, a female American Airlines pilot (Rachel Tucker), as well as the townspeople, ranging from a teacher to an animal rescue worker. The actors play many dual roles. Jonathan Andrew Hume alternates between a gay man and a Muslim Egyptian (with amazing conviction). Other subplots include a budding romance between an older Texas woman (Helen Hobson) and an Englishman (Robert Hands), and the experiences of a neophyte TV reporter (Emma Salvo).

There are jokes about Newfoundland and Canada in general (complete with Tim Horton’s gags), and odd local customs like kissing a codfish (don’t ask). Amazingly, for such a short show, there is also plenty of depth here, and the people aren’t portrayed as stereotypes

Songs like “28 Hours/Wherever We Are,” ”On the Edge” and “Me and the Sky” (Ms. Hobson’s showstopper about being the first woman pilot of a commercial jet) and more jump out at us with the melodic, emotional force we used to experience in old show standards.

In addition to the outstanding cast, expertly directed by Christopher Ashley, there is innovative choreography by Kelly Devine, which contains bits of country and lots of Irish-style Riverdance moves. The narrative is expertly woven through nonstop movement and song.

Come From Away is unlike anything we’ve seen on the West End or Broadway, a musical that celebrates and glorifies humanity, understanding and the reasons to embrace the differences of people we don’t know, while showing how no one is really that different—without coming off hokey or contrived. This is a musical with a simplistic yet sobering message of unity for the divided world of 2019, making the show relevant, topical, and fun. It’s a new type of never-before-seen, uncharted musical territory much like Hamilton was. It deserves to remain a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 18, 2019
Reviewed at performance in London on June 12, 2019

‘COME FROM AWAY’: Rachel Tucker and cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘COME FROM AWAY’: The West End cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘COME FROM AWAY’: The West End cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy