There’s no denying that the hit Broadway show Come From Away is taking the world by storm. The smash hit musical is based on the true story of a community in Gander, Newfoundland, that took in thousands of stranded strangers when U.S. airspace was unexpectedly shut down following the events of 9/11 and flights already in the air needed a safe place to land. Entertainment journalist Frank DiLella recently caught up with the celebrated creative team — including the Tony-nominated and Olivier-winning music-, lyrics-, and book-writing married duo Irene Sankoff and David Hein; Tony-winning director Christopher Ashley; and Olivier-winning and Tony-nominated choreographer Kelly Devine — to discuss their global phenomenon.
Let’s talk about the genesis of this musical. Where did this idea come from?
David Hein: We were living in New York during 9/11 on the Upper West Side, in a residence for international graduate students. We had people from 110 different countries knocking on our door and making sure we were OK, taking care of us, playing music — all things to bring us together. Years later, when we heard the story of what happened in Gander, it resonated with us. It was this international community that took care of one another. We got a grant from the Canadian government to go up to Gander on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and we interviewed everyone we possibly could. We came back with what felt like 16,000 different stories that we wanted to tell in a 100-minute musical.
I remember seeing your show for the first time in one of its pre-Broadway tryout cities, in Washington, D.C., at Ford’s Theatre. I walked in skeptical, thinking, “How are they going to tackle a musical that deals with 9/11?” But I walked out a huge fan of Come From Away. All these years later, are you surprised at how people are still receiving the show?
Irene Sankoff: Absolutely. We wrote this thinking Canadian high school students and college students would be forced to do it because they’re Canadian and there are lots of characters. It doesn’t surprise me that the story is so resonant. It’s a wonderful story, especially to hear the story the way we heard it, firsthand from Newfoundlanders. And I guess the next best thing is to see this story on stage.
Christopher, your show opened on Broadway in 2017. You now have companies all over the world, and you recently directed a film version for Apple TV+ that is currently streaming. Why do you think this show works on a worldwide level?
Christopher Ashley: I think that everyone has experienced division, upset, and that profound sense of, What is going to happen next? The same thing that all of these characters in the show felt on that day. And here we are, 20 years later after 9/11, and everyone is feeling that again, this sense of, How does the world come back, and will it ever?
Broadway is slowly coming back, with shows reopening weekly. But Christopher, I have to point out that, technically, your show was the first musical back with a live audience. The Apple TV+ presentation of Come From Away was recorded with a live audience in the spring of 2021.
CA: It was so meaningful for everybody to come back together after months and months of being alone at home. There were a lot of tears during that first rehearsal, and everybody was really anxious. The most amazing thing was having that first audience back. The emotion in the room was extraordinary when the actors walked into the space for the first time. And there was this wall of sound from the audience — just screaming and whistling, laughing and crying.
Kelly, you recently helped put together a concert presentation of the musical that was done on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial around the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
Kelly Devine: The company that did the concert was a mix of the tour and the Broadway company. It’s the same concert we did in Gander right before we went to Broadway. It’s the entire show.
How about having the show play such an iconic and historic space?
KD: I feel so honored. The Lincoln Memorial — I’m just in awe as a spectator! I feel so proud of the work that we’ve done and I’m so changed forever by the people of Gander. For something like this to happen in your life, I just feel very lucky.
With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and everything we’ve gone through with the pandemic, it seems that we need the story of Come From Away now more than ever.
CA: Walking to set to film the Apple TV+ version, I walked through an empty Times Square and was thinking, “When was the last time that I can remember a time Times Square was this empty?” And it was 9/11. There really are ways that the current world rhymes with what we went through. They’re not the same moment, but they share a profound sense of dislocation. So I think this is an important story to tell as it was 20 years ago.
Irene and David, you began your work on Come From Away more than a decade ago. Has this show changed you?
DH: [Laughs.] In every single way.
IS: Yes, in every single way.
DH: Our daughter has grown up with the show as her sibling. We feel like we’re parents to the show and we’ve traveled around the world. But, personally, when we started doing the show and started to travel, we realized our house was going to be empty as we were traveling. We specifically took the messages of the Newfoundlanders and said if people needed a place to stay, or if people needed help, that we would offer our home to them while we weren’t using it. We want to have that practice of being aware of the ways that we can be kind to the people around us and try to spread that message as much as we can.
The remarkable true story of community, compassion, and commemoration is now available on Apple TV+. Click here to watch or to sign up for your free trial.* New subscribers only. $4.99 month after free trial. No commitment. Plan automatically renews after trial until canceled.
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Delivery of Advertising and Other Content
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Use of This Site by Children
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California Visitors
California Civil Code § 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about whether we have disclosed personal information to any third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. California residents have the right to request in writing: (a) a list of the categories of Personal Information, such as name, email address and mailing address and the type of services provided to the customer that a business has disclosed to third parties (including affiliates that are separate legal entities) during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes and (b) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To make a request, please contact Us at the following email address: [email protected].
EU Visitors
If you are located within the European Union, you should be aware that your personal information will be transferred to the United States, the laws of which may be deemed by the European Union to have inadequate data protection. If you are located in a country outside the United States and voluntarily submit personal information to Us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this privacy policy and to the transfer of that information to, and/or storage of that information in, the United States. We transfer Personal Information from the European Economic Area and Switzerland to the USA and other countries, some of which have not been determined by the European Commission to have an adequate level of data protection. Personal Information of EU residents will be transferred in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
Rights of EU Data Subjects
If you are a resident of the European Union, under the GDPR, European Union residents, as data subjects, have the following rights:
Right to access – This right allows individuals to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning him or her is being processed and provide access to such personal information. It also allows individuals to request details of the processing of his or her personal information, including, without limitation, categories of recipients to whom the personal information have been or will be disclosed and purposes of processing.
Right to rectify – This right allows individuals to rectify any inaccurate personal information about him or her.
Right to restrict processing – This right allows individuals to block or suppress processing of personal data under certain circumstances.
Right to be forgotten – This right is also known as the “right to erasure”. It is an individual’s right to have personal data erased or to prevent processing in specific circumstances.
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Right to object to processing – This right allows individuals to object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing, profiling and providing for purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics.
An EU resident has the right to access his or her personal data that We hold and to ask that their personal data be corrected or erased and to port their data. An EU resident may also have the right to object to, or request that We restrict certain processing or to withdraw consent previously provided. If you would like to exercise your rights under the GDPR, please contact us at [email protected]. If you are an EU resident and have a concern about our processing of your personal data that we are not able to resolve, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority where you reside. For contact details of your relevant local Data Protection Authority, please see http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=612080
Security of Your Personal Information
Broadway Direct employs reasonable security measures consistent with standard industry practice, for personal information collected through this Site, including physical, electronic and operational measures to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access. While Broadway Direct takes all appropriate steps to safeguard personal information under Our control, unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or method of storing data can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As such, We cannot guarantee that personal information supplied by users will not be accessed on Our servers, or intercepted while being transmitted to Us over the Internet. We assume no liability for any damages you may suffer as a result of interception, alteration or misuse of information during such transfers.
Retention
We will retain your information for as long as your account or inquiry is active and for a reasonable time thereafter in accordance with Our standard procedures or as necessary to comply with Our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce Our agreements. Even if We delete some or all of your Personal Information, We may continue to retain and use aggregate or anonymous data previously collected and/or anonymize or aggregate your Personal Information. Please note that We will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.
Choice/Opt Out
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Correct/Update
This website gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided, at any time.
Users can send mail to the following postal address: Broadway Direct 1501 Broadway 14th floor New York, NY 10036
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Successors
In the event that We are, or any component of our operations is, merged with, or is acquired by, another entity, then any such successor or acquiring entity may become the successor to Our obligations with respect to the personal information that you have provided to Us, which would be necessary for the entity to effectively continue our business. By using this website, you consent to any transfer and use of such personal information by an entity assuming control of Our operations as a result of a merger, purchase of assets, or liquidation in bankruptcy or insolvency.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, you can send an email to [email protected]. Our data protection officer can also be contacted at [email protected].