Review: COME FROM AWAY at The National Theatre

The National Tour of Come From Away is playing this week at The National Theatre, bringing all of the joy and magic of the Broadway production with it.

As four hijacked airplanes attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 a bigger emergency emerged - the fate of thousands of airplanes in the skies all over the world. Fearing additional attacks, the FAA closed U.S. airspace, and ordered all flights to immediately land at the nearest available airport. Come From Away tells the true story of 38 planes that made emergency landings at Gander International Airport in Gander, Newfoundland, and the extraordinary kindness and hospitality of the Canadian people who opened their hearts and homes to 6,600 stranded passengers and crew - an influx of people that almost equaled the population of the town.

The original 2017 Broadway production of Come From Away earned seven Tony nominations, including a win for Best Direction of a Musical for Christopher Ashley. Ashley has also helmed the current touring production, and it's easy to see why he won the Tony - this production is a tight, fast paced show that keeps the audience engaged from the first note to the final bow. Choreographer Kelly Devine also deserves a share of the credit for the energy and pacing of the show - the cast never stops moving, whether they're sing and dancing, creating the many touching vignettes that tell the interwoven stories, or managing the seamless flow of scene changes (which consist entirely of rearranging the chairs and tables that comprise the minimalist staging of the show).

It's the cast that truly epitomizes the very essence of an ensemble show. There are no stars or leads in the show, just an incredibly talented group - Sharone Sayegh, Harter Clingman, Marika Aubrey, Julia Knitel, James Earl Jones II, Kevin Carolan, Jeremy Woodard, Chamblee Ferguson, Nick Duckart, Danielle K. Thomas, Julie Johnson, and Christine Toy Johnson - that forms an amazing unit that is even greater than the sum of its parts. Each actor plays 3 - 5 separate, distinct roles - from the Newfoundlanders who provide aid and comfort, to the airline pilots, crew and passengers - seamlessly changing from one character to the next in the blink of an eye. And all while doing subtle costume (and accent) changes and constantly re-arranging the tables and chairs on stage to create airplanes, buses, shelters, bars and even a scenic overlook. (For an actor and director, watching the carefully choreographed logistics of all of the action was a pleasure in and of itself.)

Each one of the characters has featured moments in the show, and every single actor shines in those moments. It's impossible to list them all, but two strangers falling in love (Stop the World) is heartwarming and touching, the mother of a New York firefighter, waiting by the phone in the chaotic days after the Towers fell, trying to learn of his fate (I am Here), the first woman pilot for a major airline telling her story (in the moving and powerful song Me and the Sky), and the young television reporter (on her first day on the job) are just a few of the dozens of vignettes and story lines that made the audience laugh, cry, clap and gasp.

And the band is an integral part of the ensemble, too - they are on stage for the entire show, and even appear as local musicians in a hilarious bar scene toward the end of the show. Music director Cameron Moncur (who also plays keyboard, accordion, and conducts the band), Isaac Alderson (whistles, Irish flute, uilleann pipes), Kiana June Weber (fiddle), Billy Bivona (electric and acoustic guitars), Martin Howley (acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki), Sean Rubin (electric and acoustic bass), Steve Holloway (bodhran and percussion), and Ben Morrow (drums and percussion) cover a wide range of styles - folk, acoustic, Celtic and rock (to name a few), and give the show an authentic sound and feel that contributes heavily to the emotional underpinning of the production.

What's most impressive about this group of actors, musicians and technicians is that their love and respect for the story they are telling is palpable. Individually, they are all veteran, accomplished performers, with impressive resumes - but what is truly remarkable is the way they have all melded into such a formidable troupe. You can see the joy in their faces, and the energy that radiates from the stage is impossible to miss. Come From Away may have been written by Canadians, but it feels like a love letter - a giant "Thank You" note - from all of us, to our neighbors to the north.

The show runs in a brisk hour and forty minutes, without intermission. The pace is deliberately frenetic, to mirror the hundreds of split second decisions that were made in a matter of hours, when the people of Gander realized they were about to be overrun by displaced travelers. The crisp scene changes and shifting perspectives pull the audience into the unreal week that saw the planes land on Tuesday, and depart just as quickly on Saturday. In between, nerves are on edge, people pull together, fights and suspicions arise, strangers fall in love, couples break up, all as an entire region greets those bewildered travelers with opens arms and takes care of each and every one.

Come From Away is inspiring and uplifting. It will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride, with each high and low superbly rendered and delivered with honesty and heartfelt sincerity. It will take you back in time, and share a story about triumph in the midst of tragedy - a story that arrives here in DC just as all of us are looking to the theatre to take our minds off the last two years, and everything that is happening in the world today. Don't miss this amazing production - it reminds us all of the power of theatre to transform and inspire, as it tells the story of a horrific tragedy bringing out the best in a group of amazing people.

Running time is 100 minutes.

Come From Away runs through April 17th.

For more information on Broadway at the National, click here.

To post a comment, you must register and login.