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The acclaimed Broadway musical “Come From Away” pours several glasses full of Mr. Rogers’ adage, “seek the helpers” when scary things happen in the news. While the phrase was originally intended for preschoolers, it has become a consolation meme for all ages usually circulating the internet in times of crisis. A sharper outlook has evolved this assurance for adults: be a helper too. Riding the wave of success of the Disney + release of “Hamilton” filmed on Broadway, “Come From Away” reminds us to be the assistants during the most painful and dark times.
Featuring a book and a folklore score and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the hit “Come From Away” highlights the helpers and people helped in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in which three of the four American planes hijacked hit their targets, killing thousands of people. With many planes diverted from their destinations, 38 were ordered to make emergency landings in Gander, Newfoundland for safety reasons. While the influx of planes was an unusual sight for Gander, the way the townspeople were able to welcome, feed and shelter 7,000 passengers from all corners of the globe for five days was nothing short of miraculous.
Connected by true stories of Newfoundlanders and passengers, “Come From Away” eschews big-budget musical standards with ensemble-focused numbers and no defined protagonist. With an unremarkable emphasis on procedure and a penchant for humor, the play did not initially appear to be substantial ground for a musical. “Are you writing a show about giving people sandwiches?” Good luck ! Said a Ganderian when he learned of the project.
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Seven Tony nominations and one win later, the musical was filmed live for its Apple TV + release at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in front of a masked audience (before suspending its race for COVID). The cast is small, but no absence is felt as each person plays multiple people simply by swapping coats, caps, and vocal inflections. Anyone can be the assistant or the receiver, functioning as both. The 12-member choir includes Jenn Colella, Petrina Bromley, Joel Hatch, Caesar Samayoa, Q. Smith, Astrid Van Wieren, Sharon Wheatley, De’Lon Grant, Emily Walton, Jim Walton, Paul Whitty and Tony Lepage.
When the play opens, the Ganderians invite us to Newfoundland with the boisterous opening “Welcome to the Rock,” featuring and the rugged manners of the locals before the news disrupts their routine of animal care, dropping children off at school, monitoring traffic and monitoring the strike of school bus workers. The first issue “Blankets and bedding” answers the question: “Where were you during September 11?” “For the Newfoundlanders who are mobilizing and who are shocked by the news images and the 38 planes landing at Gander airport (” The population has gone from 9,000 to 16,000 “in the words of the journalist played by Emily Walton). By crying “I need something to do because I can’t watch the news anymore”, the Ganderians turn anxiety into action by gathering everything you need – medicine, toiletries, second-hand clothes, sanitary napkins and tampons (women know more instinctively than their local cops this is not an option but a need) – off store shelves and their own closets.
During a 100-minute run, tension and humor overlap through sent information (“Crisis counselors are called to Gander Academy”) and weary observations (“Flight attendants n keep telling us everything is fine, but I have kids and grandchildren and I know when someone is hiding something. “) Meanwhile, in” Costume Party “, travelers feel out of place. change into donated clothing, and Newfoundlanders entertain their guests with the “Heave Away / Screech In” footstomper.
“Come From Away” gradually introduces us to each character, which is either based on a real person who experienced these events, or on composites, some of which are represented in the end credits. As individuals emerge from the choir, their stories weave a tapestry of threads of testimony that share snatches of actions and memories, similar to the talking heads documentary approach. We meet passengers with their own stories and arcs: a divorcee from Texas (Wheatley) ending up in a yard with an Englishman (Jim Walton), a mother (Q Smith) worried about her firefighter son on Ground Zero, a gay couple ( LePage and Samayoa) on the verge of breaking up who both call themselves Kevin (“that was cute for a while,” one says), and more.
Caesar Samayoa, Sharon Wheatley, Q. Smith and Tony LePage in “Come From Away” (Apple TV +)
While the majority of the songs are sets, the only solo is tuned for the “Me and the Sky” show, sung by Colella playing the actual pilot Beverley Bass. She shares her experiences as the first female American captain in history and her uneasy reaction to the attacks: “The only thing I loved [flying] more than anything has ever been used as a bomb. “
The musical has a charming simplicity, due in no small part to Beowulf Boritt’s stage design, which promotes an almost naked humility with branches of trees on a floor stage populated by tables and chairs, moving bodies leaving rarely the scene, and a seven-strip of pieces located behind the woods. Christopher Ashley, who ran the production, directs the floating camera work to showcase Kelly Devine’s unfussy choreography.
Although linked to September 11, “Come From Away” avoids the most traumatic or provocative realities of the day, such as the removal of imagery from the Twin Towers. Instead, the mass hospitality in Gander almost feels like the fringes of history, but so inexplicably tied to passengers outside of the devastation of Ground Zero and cut off from their grieving nation. This collective cognitive dissonance is expressed sadly in the penultimate issue “Something’s Missing” once they no longer bask in this hospitality.
A 10-second preview of then-President George W. Bush (LePage in dim light) delivering a fragment of a speech – “this nation’s resolve is being tested” – aims to provide a symbolic context rather than sitting on the implications and consequences of US wars fought abroad and US policies that violate human rights and intensify Islamophobic violence. Oh, the irony of Bush’s star phrase: “We will show the world that we will pass the test.”
It’s not that “Come From Away” neglects to illustrate the escalation of Islamophobia, however. In a sea of stories, we follow a composite character: the Muslim passenger, Ali (Samayoa), navigating his surroundings and bureaucracy with apprehension. He is singled out by a loud racist when he speaks his mother tongue on the phone, then by officials. A daring scene snatches Beverley Bass, who then wrapped up her showstopper, and positions her as a white woman in power responsible for subjecting Ali to a strip search, an act that violates her privacy, her being and her faith. Bass then offers a symbolic apology; the unspoken rationalization is that they were just following the procedure.
While the sequence is disturbing, the play quickly shifts to Bass professionally dealing with the passengers, thus cutting off the audience the opportunity to further absorb his role in institutional xenophobia. Here there is a clear difference between watching the filmed and live version. The recording is competent to delegate concentration to its performers, but it does not correspond to my personal experience of being seated in the mezzanine. Camera work and editing cannot convey the creepy image of Ali isolated outside the circle of the turntable during “Something’s Missing”, as he is too traumatized to talk about his plight within the collective until what he finds the energy to do it.
Other passengers bring with them their own mistrust, shaped by life experiences of prejudices from their home countries. The Kevins are reluctant to reveal their relationship at first and get nervous when the news is spread, before being pleasantly surprised by the locals casually talking about gay, lesbian and bisexual family members. A black passenger (Grant) fears being shot by strangers. His unease is heightened when a mayor (Hatch) who hosts him asks him to have grills in people’s backyards (yes, just come in and take them) to organize a community barbecue. In a moment of laughter that doesn’t stick to the landing, he freezes when a Newfoundlander sees him and innocently offers him his grill.
Although better watched while being aware of its shortcomings, “Come From Away” sums up a reflection on the crisis of September 11, visceral when experienced in person (it resumes live on September 21 with compulsory vaccination and mask) but no less refreshing to see his humor and heart preserved on the accessible small screen. The buzzword “feel-good” is frequently applied to “Come From Away”. While not inaccurate, the benevolence depicted underscores how much work is needed to ease the psychological shock of a crisis, and how being the recipient of such kindness does not always resolve the troubles. . Those who assimilate the themes of “Come From Away” will be reminded that aid must respect cultural particularities. Breakfast is prepared according to the German time zone, a rabbi is employed to prepare kosher food for Jewish passengers, and a Muslim finds privacy by praying in the library as he is suspicious of stares. What makes the acts of humanity universal is respect for small details and specifics.
“Come from afar” is now streaming on Apple TV +.
More Salon on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of September 11:
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