Harris Center To Present COME FROM AWAY & LIFE ON OUR PLANET

Harris Center for The Arts will present back-to-back shows to wrap up October: OUR PLANET LIVE – LIFE ON OUR PLANET with Dan Tapster, a Netflix Original Documentary Series on Sunday, October 20 at 7:30pm, followed by a “Best Musical” winner all across North America, COME FROM AWAY, performing eight times, October 22-27, with Tuesday-Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm, and Friday-Sunday matinees at 2:00pm.

OUR PLANET LIVE – LIFE ON OUR PLANET with Dan Tapster

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Four billion years. Millions of species. Five mass extinction events (and counting). It’s the story of Life on Our Planet. From the Emmy Award-winning team behind Netflix’s Our Planet series, comes a new natural history speaker series event: Our Planet Live. Brought to you by Silverback Films and Producer esk in association with Netflix, Our Planet Live is a new and immersive live show featuring behind-the-scenes stories from the explorers, filmmakers, scientists, and adventurers that created some of the most eye-catching footage of our planet. Join us live on stage as we bring to life these stories from the natural world. With a focus on climate fragility and climate migration, Our Planet Live tells an unprecedented story about overcoming obstacles on a global scale and explores the messages at the heart of these action-packed, emotional, and unforgettable sequences. Video and imagery will be used throughout the presentation.

“This has been a true labour of love for hundreds of filmmakers, cinematographers, conservationists, editors, musicians, and production teams, all of whom have brought their best work to the most important story that there is – a story that could not be more universal or more timely.” – David Attenborough

Dan Tapster

An 8-time Emmy-nominated showrunner, Dan Tapster started out at the BBC Natural History Unit in the 1990s where he worked on series including Sir David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals. Following a varied career which included being kidnapped by Quichua Indians in Ecuador and firing cannonballs through houses by mistake, he became the showrunner for a TV show that went on to become the second most-watched factual TV series in history: the phenomenon that is MythBusters. After leading the show to 12 series renewals and over 18 billion views of content, Dan left MythBusters in 2016, and after more pop-science shows, he joined Silverback films in 2018. Combining visual flair with strong story-telling, at Silverback Films, Dan was the showrunner for the epic that is Life on Our Planet (Netflix). Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, LOOP uses stunning natural history and world-class VFX to reveal the story of life in a way that has never been attempted before.

COME FROM AWAY – Tuesday-Sunday, October 22-27

COME FROM AWAY tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.

On September 11, 2001 the world stopped. On September 12, their stories moved us all. Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times called the show “An affecting, stirring, and unpretentious new musical. Christopher Ashley's production lets the simple goodness of ordinary people outshine sensational evil,” and Bob Verini of Variety raved, “Superb! Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein have forged a moving, thoroughly entertaining tribute to international amity and the indomitable human spirit.”

A “Best Musical” winner all across North America, the smash hit musical has won the Tony Award for “Best Direction of a Musical” (Christopher Ashley), 4 Olivier Awards (London) including “Best New Musical,” 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards (NYC) including “Outstanding New Broadway Musical,” 3 Drama Desk Awards (NYC) including “Outstanding Musical,” 4 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards (North American Tour) including “Best Production,” 4 Helen Hayes Awards (D.C.) including “Outstanding Production of a Musical,” 4 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards (Seattle) including “Excellence in Production of a Musical,” 6 San Diego Critics Circle Awards including “Outstanding New Musical,” 3 Toronto Theatre Critics Awards including “Best New Musical,” 3 Dora Awards (Toronto) including “Outstanding New Musical/Opera” and “Outstanding Production,” and the 2017 Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award (Toronto).

The Grammy Award-nominated original Broadway cast recording of COME FROM AWAY is available digitally and in stores everywhere. Grammy Award winner David Lai and Grammy Award nominees Ian Eisendrath, August Eriksmoen, Irene Sankoff & David Hein served as album producers.

Husband-and-wife Canadian writing team Irene Sankoff & David Hein have written a very complex, unconventional musical that breaks all the rules of musical theater. Their main focus has always been on telling these amazing stories, so the stories dictated the storytelling. This is an ensemble show where all character story lines are equally important. David and Irene wrote COME FROM AWAY following a visit to Gander on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.

Individual tickets for both events are on sale now at the Harris Center Box Office at (916) 608-6888, or online at HarrisCenter.net. Box Office hours are Tuesday-Friday from 12:00pm-5:00pm, and one hour before showtime.

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