Review Roundup: COME FROM AWAY Opens in Toronto

Come From Away, a new musical about what happened when 38 planes landed in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, following the September 11 attacks, is set to begin a Broadway run this coming spring following a run in Toronto, which began last night.

The Broadway and Toronto cast of Come From Away features Petrina Bromley(Stratford's As You Like It); Geno Carr (The Old Globe's Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas); Jenn Colella (If/Then); Joel Hatch (Annie); Rodney Hicks (The Scottsboro Boys); Kendra Kassebaum (Wicked); Tony Award nominee Chad Kimball (Memphis); Lee MacDougall(Stratford's The Music Man); Caesar Samayoa (Sister Act); Q. Smith (Mary Poppins); Astrid Van Wieren (North American premiere of Mamma Mia!); Sharon Wheatley (Avenue Q); Josh Breckenridge (The Scottsboro Boys); Susan Dunstan (The Lion King US National Tour); Tamika Lawrence (If/Then) and Tony LePage (Rock of Ages).

Let's see what the critics had to say!

J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail: Come From Away may be a celebration of humanity - but it is not starry-eyed. Sankoff and Hein do an especially nuanced job of writing about what it was like to be a Muslim in those circumstances, actors Caesar Samayoa and Collela interacting in the musical's most complex moment, one where otherness is not overcome and cultures conflict in an impossible way.

Alan Henry, BroadwayWorld: Come From Away is not a musical about the September 11th terrorist attacks - if anything it is the exact opposite. Come From Away is a musical about all that is good in people - compassion, care, love, acceptance, equality, and treating others with kindness. Truly, it is a musical written for now.

Karen Fricker, Toronto Star: While there is some cause for worry that this show's emphasis on good ol' Canadian goodness could be eaten alive by New York cynicism, recent events may have played in its favour. On Nov. 8, 2016, the world changed again with the election of Donald Trump, an event many are likening to 9/11 in its ground-shaking effect on the American (and global) consciousness.