James Karas
Calling a musical
that opened less than four years ago legendary, may strike some as a bit of a
stretch. It is not. Come from Away is being produced in cities around the world and
quite aside from its qualities as a musical entertainment, what makes it legendary
is the attraction of its humanity, its decency and its ode to the better side
of human nature. And it is a true story that resulted from one of the worst
acts of terrorism – the attack on New York’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
Gander, Newfoundland,
a town of about 9000 people was a place with an airport. On September 11 when
all planes over or going to the United Sates were grounded, 38 of them, carrying
some 7000 people landed in Gander.
The Mayor was having
his morning coffee at Tom Hortons, the bus drivers were on strike, the
policeman was warning speeders to slow down (expletive deleted), a new reporter
was starting her career and life in the town had taken its regular rhythm. The
news came that something terrible has happened
and planes are landing at the airport.
The cast of COME FROM AWAY - Canadian Company, Photo by
Matthew Murphy
The people mobilize
their resources and galvanize their humanity to feed, house and care for 7000
people. That is an incredible and heartwarming story.
Bur acts of decency no
matter how heroic do not make a musical. Irene Sankoff and David Hein do and
they are bloody good at it.
Come from Away has fifteen musical numbers almost all of them sung by the company. The
songs do have quiet moments but the somber songs are followed by numbers of
increasing speed and urgency. From the opening “Welcome to the Rock” we follow
the townspeople as they mobilize everyone and everything (like all the town’s
barbecues and store supplies) to accommodate the new guests. The passengers
fret about being left in the plane for twenty-plus hours but they soon realize
the magnitude of the town’s decency.
Twelve actors play
all the parts of townspeople and passengers as we witness some prejudice, some
fear and some misunderstanding as well as courage, compassion and love. There
are tears and there is laughter that, along with the musical numbers, carry the
audience forward towards the end of the crisis which lasted five days.
The visitors leave but
nothing is forgotten. Ten years later they return to mark and celebrate with
love and generosity those five days when the human spirit was triumphant,
decency dominant and the experience for the participants and the audience
watching the musical unforgettable.
Who does it? Sankoff
and Hein, for a start. They saw a great story and went to the source – the people
that lived it – and tell their experiences with moving and rousing music,
humour, pathos and humanity.
Steffi DiDomenicantonio and the cast of COME FROM AWAY –
Canadian Company,
Photo by Matthew Murphy
Director Christopher
Ashley who sets the pace and has twelve actors represent numerous characters. Smooth,
seamless changes in roles with the right emphasis on emotions. Sad but not
maudlin, light humour and keep the audience with you for every second of the 100-minut performance.
The brilliant well-disciplined
and talented cast deserves and gets a standing ovation. All of them play
several roles and deserve praise. George Masswohl plays the Mayor whose morning
Pepsi is interrupted and he has to deal with the town, the striking bus drivers
and a few thousand visitors. Which may be easier than what Bonnie (Kristen
Peace) of the SPCA has to deal with. There are pets in the planes including a
monkey that expresses his distress by tossing his feces.
We all like Oz the
policeman (Cory O’Brien), Beulah (Lisa Horner), the teacher, the very funny Janice
(Steffi DiDomenicantonio), nervous and lost on her first day on the job as a
reporter. Kevin Vidal as Bob finds and meets bigotry and fear of blacks but
also discovers tolerance and humanity. Saccha Dennis plays Hannah, Barbara
Fulton plays Diana, James Kall plays Nick, Jeff Madden plays Kevin and Eliza-Jane
Scott plays Beverley.
In short, a must see.
_____
Come From Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein (Book, Music and Lyrics) opened on February
10, 2019 and continues until June 30, 2019 at the Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge
Street, Toronto. www.mirvish.com 416 872
1212 or 1 800 461 3333
No comments:
Post a Comment