Theatre Review: Come From Away

photo by Matthew Murphy

Some of the best parts of a musical are the moments of glorious harmony, when voices blend perfectly together. In the briefest instance, disparate parts unite to make something magical, clicking together to enhance the overall performance – just as those types of connections enhance life. Come From Away, the 2017 Tony winner for Best Direction of a Musical from Christopher Ashley, reaches toward that harmony as a generous breath of hope. This gorgeous touring musical takes up discordant threads in a time of sorrow, bringing stories together to remind us that, occasionally, humanity is good.

The good is shown in the form of Gander, a small Newfoundland town, in the week following 9/11. During that time, 38 planes were grounded as international airspace shut down. The passengers of these planes essentially doubled the town’s population. What unfolds in the show are narrated snippets of experiences, from the townspeople scrambling to prepare for the unexpected refugees to the confused passengers thrust into unknown situations. The 18-person cast inhabits both the town and the “plane people,” seamlessly swapping jackets and accents as they embody multiple roles. They manage to fully capture anecdotal moments of anxiety, service, and endurance in an uncertain five-day sojourn. There’s Bonnie (Kathleen Cameron), the Newfoundland SPCA worker who remembers the abundance of animals that must be stuck in the airplane holds, caring for the dogs and cats and, yes, pregnant bonobo chimps. There’s Texan Diane Gray (Tyler Olshansky-Bailon) and Englishman Nick Marson (John Anker Bow), who find themselves drawn to each other. The real Diane and Nick live here in Texas, and conducted a talkback with fellow passenger Kevin Tuerff (Richard Chaz Gomez) after the show. There’s Hannah (Hannah-Kathryn Wall), who sings the soaring “I Am Here” when she can’t get any news about her NYC firefighter son. They are a drop in the bucket among the bus drivers, rabbis, mayors, pilots, and so many more featured in the production. Throughout it all, the characters are treated with grace and dignity.

Come From Away manages impossible narrative feats, juggling a slew of briefly seen characters who still manage to make the audience care about them. It’s a tricky bit of storytelling magic, creating a cocoon of emotional safety for the viewer. It’s hard to tone switch from snort-laughing hilarity to choked sobs within a two-minute span, but somehow this production controls that jump with aplomb. The range of stories – tales of finding love and friendship, and even the roots of fear and racial profiling – run the gamut of human experience. They don’t gloss over the ugly parts of 9/11. Middle Eastern and Muslim characters aren’t suddenly embraced. As in reality, they are met with ugliness in the wake of the event. And yet, even with this intolerance, the overall tone of the show rings this resounding note of faith in human goodness.

These nuances are deftly handled through an evocative soundtrack. From the onstage band playing folksy, Celtic-tinged Newfoundland ditties to the yearning tunes from stir-crazy plane passengers, each bar and line grounds the listener in place and time while retaining an uplifting tone. There are almost no uncanny dissonances in this score. Just expansive, perfected sound, building upon the pockets of human goodness found within the stories onstage.

The intense heartstring-tugging throughout the musical could easily veer into annoyingly manipulative territory, but it feels so good you don’t mind whatever emotional terrorism creators Irene Sankoff and David Hein inflict. Is it low-hanging fruit to have a song called “Prayer,” where scared passengers from different faith traditions find solace in rituals imploring their gods to “Make me a channel of your peace/ Where there’s despair in life/ Let me bring hope/ Where there is darkness, only light”? Absolutely. But with fruit this delicious, who cares? It takes power to connect the masses with true empathy. Come From Away holds that power well.

Come From Away

Broadway in Austin at Bass Concert Hall

January 4

Section: Arts & Culture