The comedy "Come From Away", which goes to the Eccles Theater, shows the bonds that unite foreigners after 9/11

Commercial flights crashed in the north and south towers of the World Trade Center. Other planes appeared diverted. For the first time in its history, the Federal Aviation Administration closed the American airspace and thousands of planes were suddenly looking for a landing point nearby.

The isolated town of Gander, Newfoundland, on Canada's east coast, had a huge runway that was no longer used, a remnant of the time when transatlantic flights needed a place to refuel .

One by one, 38 airliners found an unexpected refuge on September 11, 2001 – when Canada's Consul General Stéphane Lessard traveled to Salt Lake City to celebrate this week with the opening of the award-winning musical "Viens de far. "

The story told in "Come From Away," says Lessard, "really speaks to the best side of our nature. It's a reminder of us at our best. "

The show's national tour will take six days and eight performances, starting Tuesday at Eccles Theater, located at 131 S. Main Street in Salt Lake City.

The piece – which lost to "Cher Evan Hansen" for the best musical at the Tony Awards 2017 – tells the true story of what happened in Gander the day that terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. ., where the pirates of the air crashed a fourth flight.

Residents mobilized to provide accommodation, food and basic equipment for some 7,000 tired and fearful air pbadengers, people who, in slang of Newfoundland, "come from far away". Writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein show how foreigners have learned to trust each other, have a little fun and form friendships that have lasted so far.

"The whole message of the series is so positive and stimulating," said Julie Johnson, a Texas-born actor who, like most actors, plays multiple roles during the musical.

Director Christopher Ashley's spartan staging is based on a few chairs, lighting, and rapidly changing costumes to take action from an airline cabin to a Newfoundland bar.

"The structure of the room looks like something you've never seen on stage before," said Johnson from Seattle, the tour's first stop. "They wrote a unique play. … One moment, I'm supposed to be Dolores from the Bronx and Beulah from Gander, Newfoundland, is present.

Beulah, Johnson's lead role in production, is a composition of three women who have led the organization of Gander people and their gifts of time, labor, and supplies.

"The whole city has shown up to this task – and as in any situation, some take the lead naturally," said Johnson. "They do not seem to let anything down."

Johnson was struck by crucial details for visitors. Fear of a terrorist bomb meant that the pbadengers' baggage remained in the cargo holds, so they did not have any spare clothes or other basic amenities.

"Some were in their planes for 28 hours," Johnson said. "Imagine it, I get angry when I'm an hour late."

A welcome ritual in Newfoundland described in the musical – known as "kissing the cod" – is something Lessard has experimented for himself.

"You take some strong alcohol, there is some sort of invocation, and they make you kiss a cod," said Lessard, remembering a visit to Newfoundland during the summer. 39, a telephone conversation from his office in Denver, where he defends the interests of his country in the country. West of the United States. "They make you feel like they are part of their family and community."

Lessard will travel to Utah to attend a World Economic Forum, meet Governor Gary Herbert and visit Logan, Ogden and Provo. But, he said, "Come From Away" will be one of the highlights of this trip: it will be a time when the United States and Canada were in a friendlier relationship.

Recently, there have been tensions between North American allies, which many attribute to the pugnacious remarks of US President Donald Trump and the reluctance of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to let such remarks slip.

The most vicious exchange may have occurred this summer during trade negotiations, when Trump seemed to be referring to the War of 1812 asking, "Have not you burned the White House?" . "

Although relations between countries like Canada and the United States "have not always been as harmonious as ever," each relationship has its ups and downs, said Lessard.

"The arts have the power to build bridges, stronger bridges between cultures and communities," Lessard said. "This expression becomes so much stronger than the transitional politics of the moment."

Johnson agreed, adding, "I hope this will also pbad.

"The strength of the alliance from one person to another will prove stronger than the potholes on the road that currently occur," Johnson said. "I hope that 'Come From Away' is there to be a good ambbadador-slash-cheerleader of the kindness we can show to each other."

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning comedy "Come From Away" tells the true story of Newfoundlanders helping air pbadengers stuck unexpectedly after the September 11 attacks.