By Aliza Gans, Arts and Culture Editor
“On the north-east tip of North America / On an island called Newfoundland / There’s an airport / It used to be one of the biggest airports in the world / And next to it is a town called Gander”
From the first drum beats, Come From Away draws you into the story and transports you to what the musical dubs “the farthest place from Disneyland.” Welcome to the Rock — Gander, Newfoundland, a small town in Canada with an extraordinary story. On 9/11, following the closure of the American airspace, 38 planes were diverted to Gander, causing the population of under 10,000 residents to double in size overnight. Come From Away follows the true stories of people from Gander and those who were on the planes that landed there. It details the way the Newfoundlanders took the “plane people” in and welcomed them to their town.
Though the story is centered around 9/11, it is not entirely sad, and there are moments of laughter and moments of tears sometimes even immediately following one another. The show ran on Broadway from March 2017 to October 2022 and was recently put on at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, where I saw it last month.
One of the main ways this version of the show differs from the original Broadway production is that it is performed in actor-musician style, meaning the cast plays their own instruments on stage instead of relying solely on an orchestra. This change enhanced the show, making it feel much more personal. There is a moment in the opening number when the entire cast sings together for the first time, and in this version of the production, that is when the actors start playing their instruments along with the backstage band. It gave me definite chills. This production style also highlights how incredibly talented these actors are, that they can act and sing so well while playing an instrument at the same time.
In addition to the actors playing their own instruments, the set also differs from the Broadway version. The Broadway stage was sparse, with scattered trees being the main element of the very minimal set. The Paper Mill Playhouse production featured a set made to look like the inside of a building with suitcases stacked in every nook and cranny. Many set pieces would pop out of the walls at the specific moment they were needed as opposed to the actors bringing them on and off.
While I saw the show twice while it was running on Broadway, seeing it post-October 7 was an entirely different emotional experience. I found my mind going back and forth between the show and my memories of October 7 in Israel and drawing parallels between the two events. For instance, the song “Lead Us Out of the Night” is sung when the travelers find out what actually happened in America. This feeling of knowing something awful has happened yet having so much still unknown was reminiscent of the way things unfolded in Israel. With so much communication unavailable, it was only later that night that we found out what had truly occurred, and it wouldn’t be until days later that we would learn the full extent of things.
There’s also a scene where the “plane people” get the chance to call home for the first time since the tragedy. Their desperation to find their family and friends and check that they are okay reminds me of the texts I received after yom tov from my parents and others just waiting to hear that I was safe. Not everyone in Newfoundland was able to get ahold of their family, and the same happened in Israel. While one character, Hannah, attempts to contact her son who is a firefighter in New York, I kept thinking back to those declared missing or unaccounted for after the Hamas attack, only for us to find out they had been kidnapped or murdered.
Toward the end of the musical, “Something’s Missing” details each of the characters’ emotions as they return to their homes. They describe this fear and sadness and collective grief they feel passing Ground Zero. This number perfectly encapsulated how I felt going to Otef Aza (the Gaza envelope), being faced with places that emitted such sadness. The kibbutz frozen in time without its community, the hostages so close and yet so far, the immense destruction all around — the show, while about something entirely different, captured all of this
While one may initially think of Come From Away just as the “9/11 musical,” it is so much more than that. In a time when communities are so divided, Come From Away tells the story of individuals coming together for the greater good and putting aside their differences to do so. In some ways this also reminds me of the Jewish reaction to October 7, when Israelis and Americans alike were offering anything they could to help our nation heal. The musical is a reminder of the goodness that humanity is capable of, and when one leaves the theater, you can’t help but feel inspired.
While Come From Away’s run at Paper Mill Playhouse ended March 1, a recording of the Broadway production is available on Apple TV.
Photo Credit: Aliza Gans