Come from Away

Crescent Theatre until 2^nd May

Crescent Theatre Production

***** “a rock-solid success”

Some musicals take off and have you humming familiar tunes for a couple of days and then some musicals come into land and stay with you for a very long time. Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s “Come from Away” very much belongs in the latter bracket. A musical full of highs and heart, a story of welcome and hospitality amongst the tragedy of the 9/11 atrocities. Indeed, it is the story of 9/12, or what happened after the fear and panic of the previous day. It is the story of the community in Gander Newfoundland Canada and how they responded to the call for help when 38 planes were diverted to runway 22. A true tale of people opening their arms and their homes to 7,000 strangers.

Come from Away is a collegiate undertaking, a company piece with 18 actors on stage for most of the one hour 40 minutes. And The Crescent Theatre Company worked brilliantly as a team, the acting was superbly directed and movement neatly choregraphed, both by Kevin Middleton. The musical numbers are essential of course but never seem to dominate the narrative. Gary Spruce leads smoothly as the musical director.

There is certain evocativeness about the simple set on such a vast clear stage. You can almost breathe the fresh Canadian air. Locals, passengers, and crew all have their moment in the spotlight and grab the opportunity with both hands. There is atmosphere of busyness throughout, but it is the feeling of teamwork and group encouragement that does the heavy lifting and that carries the production forward at a pace. The time, much like the planes in the end flies by.

The actors grapple with the quirky Newfoundland accent with admirable success, the audibility at times needed a little more attention and volume when carrying the voice over the orchestra pit. But the characters created are a joy and the delight for us an audience was not in observing one solo performance but watching the cast’s generosity not only to one another but to the story and to us.

It is a musical with a difference and not surprisingly is worldwide hit. The Crescent delivered a first-class service.

David Robinson