(Production photo by Sarah Kozma. Courtesy of Sharon Playhouse.)

by Tim Leininger

SHARON, CT — One day I will attend a performance of Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s emotionally monumental musical Come From Away and not cry. It wasn’t last month when I saw it at Ivoryton Playhouse, and it definitely wasn’t Sunday afternoon when I saw Sharon Playhouse’s production, directed by Hunter Foster and choreographed by Krystyna Resavy, running through Sept. 27 at Sharon Playhouse at 49 Amenia Road.

            This is the fifth time I’ve reviewed a production of Come From Away. Along with the the Ivoryton production and this one here in Sharon, I reviewed the Broadway production and then the touring production twice. Some performances have left me wrecked more than others. Obviously the Broadway production hit me hardest, because it was the first time, and I went in with no idea what I was in for. Essentially Niagara Falls came to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre for 90 minutes in the form of my face, and the ushers had to bring mops to clean the aisles. That’s how impactful this musical is to me, and I suspect many others who lived through the horrific events that happened 25 years ago when four planes were taken hostage, with two of them crashing into the World Trade Center Twin Towers, one in the Pentagon, and another crashing in a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew fought back.

(Production photo by Sarah Kozma. Courtesy of Sharon Playhouse.)

            I happened to be traveling via the PATH train into Jersey City, New Jersey earlier that morning. I was a freelance lighting tech at the time, and I had a gig at the Nieman Marcus in Paramus. We found out via phone call what happened and went to a bar in the mall in time to see the fall of the south tower live. I, still, vividly recall heading back toward Jersey City. There’s a hill you have to drive over to see the New York City skyline. Once we breached that hill, all we could see of the entire southern tip of Manhattan was smoke. By some oddity, or miracle if you will, the northern PATH train line was in operation, and I made it back into the city the same day. As I came out of the station into Herald Square at W 34^th St. and Broadway, with Macy’s behind me, the city seemed empty. The commuters: cabs, cars, buses, cyclists, walkers, that commonly compacted the byways of Midtown were nowhere to be seen. At the time, I was living on W 92^nd and Columbus Avenue, so I started my trek home up Broadway…literally walking up the middle of the street of Broadway, with no fear of being struck by any vehicle. There was no one. Not a soul on the street. People were visible, but as I walked up the most famous thoroughfare in the world, humanity found solace in one of two places, the bar or the church, both of which were packed. I had a friend who was a firefighter that survived the event, and another who had been working in the Twin Towers but had quit his job only six months earlier. It was the most surreal day of my life.

            Since this day, I have held 9/11 tightly to my soul. I didn’t start to emotionally grasp the totality of the situation for nearly five years, until I visited the Museum of Modern Art and saw a collage honoring the lost. I sat in the museum and started bawling. Everything I held in for those five years started to let out. Rage, fear, grief, emotions that aren’t adequately described by the English language started their pouring out of me.

(Production photo by Sarah Kozma. Courtesy of Sharon Playhouse.)

            That well within me runs deep, and nothing taps it like Come From Away. Sankoff and Hein told me a story that I needed in 2017 when it opened on Broadway, and it’s a story I still need. As they and people associated with the musical like to say, it’s not a 9/11 musical, it’s a 9/12 musical. It’s about how we move forward from tragedy. It’s about how we can overcome terror with compassion and generosity. 38 planes were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, crew, and animals, nearly doubling the population. The townspeople did the miraculous, taking in everyone, finding them places to stay, feeding them, clothing them, caring for their needs in any and every way they could. When the worst of humanity reared its vile face with extreme acts of violence, the best of humanity countered with simple goodness.

            Director Hunter Foster has a full understanding of this message, and though it might sound antithetical to the drama of the moment, he warmly embraces that with goodness comes tenderness and, even in the worst of times, joy, and even some laughter. Because isn’t that what we do? We grasp at those moments that make us smile and look beyond the tragedy; to move forward with courage and love. Foster gets this completely. He doesn’t undercut or downplay the lighter and joyous moments like the budding romance between Nick (Michael F. McGuirk) and Diane (Erin Lindsey Krom), or the riotous “Screech In” number. One of my favorite story’s is Bob (Willie Marte), a Black man from New York who initially is afraid of being profiled or potentially robbed but finds camaraderie with the locals, drinking and barbecuing with them. These moments where we can see humanity at its best, allows us to feel the tragedies in the show hit deeper, like Hannah (Cherish Love) calling her New York City firefighter son over and over trying to see if he is safe, or Beverley (Chelsie Nectow), an American Airlines pilot, who struggles to come to terms with the fact that what she has loved and lived for most of her life has been horribly violated (“Me and the Sky”). Foster delicately weaves all of this together, and it feels cleansing, like the filth of political and social divide in 2026 is being washed away in a spiritual shower. Sankoff and Hein, with one of the best scores of the last decade elevate everything in a soaring score that builds and builds with tension and release, ultimately leading to one of the best climactic ensemble songs written in musical theater history in “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.”

(Production photo by Sarah Kozma. Courtesy of Sharon Playhouse.)

            I love the new design for the show by brothers Christopher and Justin Swader. The set feels at once like a giant barn, but also like a menagerie of locations throughout Gander. Signs like Tim Hortons and the airport give a sense of distance, but also of how compact and tightly knit the community is.

            The cast is great. It feels like a full-fledged functioning ensemble, with actors that know the assignment they have and working diligently with each other in a unified fashion. The moments individuals get to shine are great. Nectow’s “Me and the Sky” is wonderful. Marte is the best Bob I’ve seen since Broadway, and McGuirk and Lindsey Krom are adorable as the fledgling lovers Nick and Diane.

(Production photo by Sarah Kozma. Courtesy of Sharon Playhouse.)

            If there is a quibble I have, it’s that I would have given a slightly longer beat to the more dramatic moments at the end of the show. Bonnie, who is played with delicate affection by Tracy Liz Miller, tends to the animals on the plane, and there is a tragic moment that could have had an extra beat. Just a breath before moving forward. When Gander’s mayor, Claude, begins to have the town recover from the chaos that was the five days they experience I would have liked a little more shift in the weight on his proverbial shoulders. Max Bennett-Parker is a delightful Mayor Claude, it’s just nuance. These moments needed to breathe so the audience can start to come down from the breakneck pace of the previous 85 minutes or so of the show.

            Regardless, Sharon Playhouse has put on an excellent production of my favorite musical of the last nearly 10 years. If theater companies keep producing quality productions of Come From Away like this, I’ll still be crying every time I see it, and I can’t wait.

TICKETS: www.sharonplayhouse.org

PRODUCTION

Book, Music and Lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein; Original Broadway Production Produced by Junkyard Dog Productions; Orchestrations by August Eriksmoen; Arrangements by Ian Eisendrath; Associate Producer: QUESTUS; Directed by Hunter Foster; Music Direction by Eric Thomas Johnson; Choreography by Krystyna Resavy; Scenic Design: Christopher Swader, Justin Swader; Costume Design: Kathleen Deangelus; Lighting Design: Aidan English; Sound Design: Graham Stone; Wig & Makeup Design: Bobbie Zlotnik; Production Manager: Perseis J. Grant; Interim Technical Direcotrs: Alan M. Highe, Selina Amargo; Audio Engineer: Madeleine Carroll; Casting Director: Judy Bowman, CSA; Production Stage Manager: Kristine Schlachter; Assistant Stage Manager: Perseis J. Grant

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Max Bennett-Parker as Claude & others

Jeffrey Konowitch as Oz & others

Erin Lindsey Krom as Diane & others

Meagan Lewis-Michelson as Beulah & others

Cherish Love as Hannah & others

Willie Marte as Bob & others

Michael F. McGuirk as Nick & others

Tracy Liz Miller as Bonnie & others

Sophie Nassiri as Janice & others

Chelsie Nectow as Beverley/Annette & others

Ricky Oliver as Kevin T./Garth & others

Cameron Sirian as Kevin J./Ali & others