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[0:00] John Schwab: Hi, John Schwab here and welcome to the Curtain Call Theatre Podcast. Just a short intro to announce the re-release of the Welcome to the Rock series that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the terribly tragic events of 9-11. Now I know we've released these before, but this is such a monumental time to reflect on the last quarter of a century. A period where let's face it, sometimes life doesn't seem to have got much better. But the story of Gander is such a feel-good story. Come From Away is such a feel-good musical. And Welcome to the Rock is such a feel-good series. We're really proud of it. So hopefully you'll leave today's episode in a good mood. Thank you and enjoy.

[0:53] John Schwab: Come From Away shares the incredible real-life story of the 7,000 air passengers from all over the world who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9-11 and the small Newfoundland community that invited these come-from-aways into their lives. As uneasiness turned into trust and music soared into the night, gratitude grew into friendships and their stories became a celebration of hope, humanity, and unity. Come From Away has become an international phenomenon, from humble beginnings as a Canadian high school workshop performance to a multiple award-winning musical currently playing on three continents. We were so lucky to be able to sit down with the creative team of Come From Away the night before the Olivier Awards here in London to discuss how they got on board the show and how much they were looking forward to sharing their collective vision with an audience.

We were eager to discover what their journey was, how they got from a high school stage to becoming an international hit. We started off by asking David Hine and Irene Sankoff what the genesis of the show was.

[2:00] David Hine: Our friend now Michael Rubinoff came to see Wiccan Wedding and started talking to us and reintroduced us to the story of what had happened out in Gander. We'd actually been in New York on that day, on 9-11, like a lot of us. My cousin had been in the towers but fortunately got out, so we were focused there. But when we were reintroduced to the story, we started rabbit-holing on it and found out there was going to be a commemoration ceremony and went out there. David and Irene spent time talking to tons of people in the town of Gander but were also in touch with everyone on social media. I don't know why they put up with us because I would write them on Facebook constantly and just ask them questions about, you know, for the SBCA lady, like, what does the inside of a horde look like and what were the names of all the animals?

And she's like, I don't know, it was 10 years ago. But because they're Newfoundlanders, they were so very nice about it. But of course, so were Captain Bass, who also answered every aviation question I had. They were absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of stories to be told. You know, we came back from Newfoundland with 16,000 stories that we wanted to tell in a, you know, in a 100-minute musical. The first draft was 100 hours but, you know, it was very long. But we had a lot of stories that we wanted to pack in.

[3:22] Irene Sankoff: So the writers had their research and now it was time to do their workshops and presentations. And just listening to David and Irene talk about the beginnings of this show, it's almost as if Come From Away was willing itself to be on stage.

[3:36] David Hine: So ours was the first show for the Canadian Music Theatre Project and we had the good fortune to think that the show would never get performed outside of Canada. So we just thought, OK, let's just do the best we can to honour these people who we have truly fallen in love with, like these unique people out in Newfoundland. And also, like, you know, Captain Bass and Nick and Diane who, like, you know, who are this older couple and we're thinking, oh, you know, if we ever did this show anywhere else, they'd want a young couple and so let's just not even worry about it. Let's just write the show that we want to write, that when these people show up, they're going to be happy that they saw it. We literally just, you know, tried to be as true to the people that we met as possible.

[4:23] Irene Sankoff: The first presentation we ever did of it was, we did, like, 12 presentations at Sheridan and then we took it to the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto. It was just a reading and we only had 45 minutes of the show. We hadn't written the rest of it. We had no idea how it was going to end or where we were going with it. And I remember talking to my friend and him saying this is, you know, this story is extraordinary. And I think that's what it is. It's the story that resonates with people so much. And we were like, we have no idea where we're going. We don't know what we're doing. It's all smoke and mirrors. But what was fortunate was, I think the story resonated with a lot of people and we kept getting opportunities.

So we had this initial workshop and then we sort of randomly reached out to Goodspeed and sent them an email. And I don't know whether it's something that just dropped out or what happened, but they said, do you want to be in our festival? And we said, oh, we can't. We have a conflict. And our friend, Michael Rubinoff, said, no, you need to take that and we'll just figure it out. And so we workshopped the show in Canada and the US at the same time with students Skyping back and forth with each other. And they knew when we were going to cut things far before we did. They were like, have they cut that song yet? No, no. But what was amazing was it was this show about cross-border collaboration, about, you know, actually students collaborating across the border.

And it was really magic. And then almost immediately someone came to see the Goodspeed presentation. Brandon Haldane invited us to be part of the NAMT festival. And from there, we had this relationship already with Junkyard Dog Productions, our amazing producers. We had brought our first show. When you say relationship, it was really like friend of a friend said, can you do me a favor and sit down and have breakfast with these kids? And they did.

[6:10] Irene Sankoff: Right. We brought our first show down to the NIMF festival, the New York Musical Theatre Festival. And, you know, a friend of a family member had introduced us to Sue and Randy and they had not produced our first show, which was fine. But what was amazing was when they came to Toronto to do Memphis, which Chris directed, they invited us out for breakfast to see what we were up to. And what we were up to on that actual day was we were we were saying, well, we're just going out to Sheridan. We're working on a show about 9-11 in Newfoundland. And they were like, we'll never see you again.

[6:51] David Hine: So we presented the show at NAMT and almost immediately, you know, what happens at NAMT is that it's a showcase for producers and theatres across the world. And afterwards, you present your 45-minute cut of the show and then you run outside and you hope that someone will come and talk to you. And everyone came to talk to us, which was amazing. But the first person there was Kenny Alhadeff from Junkyard Dog. We were completely overwhelmed. You know, like we had people from Disney talking to us and we had, you know, people from theatres and towns I'd never heard of. So we did a lot of talking with a number of people who were interested in it. But I still remember Skyping with Junkyard Dog and we just laughed and laughed and laughed.

And it was just it was just wonderful. You could clearly tell, like, this is going to be a marriage and hopefully it will last for a long time. And it has. And they were really clear at the beginning. They were like, this is a show that no one can remember the title of. It's a show that everyone's going to call the 9-11 musical. And it's a show that's an ensemble piece and doesn't really have huge stars. So they were like, we don't know if this is ever going to go to Broadway, but we really love the story and we want to tell it. And we trusted them.

[8:07] Irene Sankoff: The couple had no idea how big the show could be. We were just very fortunate that we never really looked too far ahead. We always just dealt with whatever was right in front of us. So if it was the getting ready for the festival at NAVT, we were like, OK, well, clearly no one's going to want to do this. So we'll just focus on doing this in New York as best we can and we'll just get out. You know, and then it was like, what do you mean we're going to La Jolla? OK, fine. We'll just do this the best we can. Then we're going to go home. Now I'm in London. Now the first part is the easiest. We'll soon get to the queasiest. I'll need you to repeat this mess. When you become a Newfoundlander.

[8:48] John Schwab: With the production happening in La Jolla, a creative team had to be assembled and it was led by the multiple award-winning director, Christopher Ashley.

[8:56] Christopher Ashley: My producing director at La Jolla Playhouse was reading for NAVT and read the script. And she came into my office and she put the script down and she said, you're reading this and I'm not leaving your office until you do. And it's going to be the next musical we're producing and you should direct it. So I read it on the spot and she had it. There was a little CD in those days of the music, which I started to play in my car and really fell in love with it. And I know I had been in New York during 9-11, so I had very unresolved and powerful feelings about what that event was. And I was so relieved that this was actually a show that brought so much kind of generosity and heart to that experience. It really helped me personally.

[9:37] Christopher Ashley: So we talked about the show and David and I bonded around what it's like to grow up in a tiny, tiny town. It was very interesting watching. And then shortly thereafter, when we decided to work on it, we went to Gander to do research in Gander. And it was very interesting because at the time they were both living in Toronto, but David always said, I'm from Saskatchewan, which was a very nice calling card of small town cred. And we met all the characters and never looked back.

[10:05] Kelly Devine: With movement being a crucial part of the show, Christopher Ashley looked to someone he'd previously worked with, the Broadway choreographer Kelly Devine.

[10:13] Kelly Devine: So I first learned about this project, I was doing a workshop at Goodspeed. I was directing a musical and they picked three shows and they put us in housing next to each other in this really cute quaint town in the winter. And I have two people living next to me that are very friendly and they've written a musical and we don't really know each other, but we're all going to go down to the, it was like a classroom or a rehearsal room. And you sit at a table next to strangers and you basically fight over who you want in your cast. They're students and they're wonderful, but you need that one guy that looks, maybe he could play 40. He's really 17, but he's got a beard. So you're like, great, we'll.

[10:59] David Hine: So we were sort of going through this process and chatting and lovely. And I don't know, David has a story that I vaguely remember.

[11:07] David Hine: Yeah, we both wanted the same person. And at some point in the audition process, it came down to Kelly and me arm wrestling. I'm pretty sure that Kelly won.

[11:21] Kelly Devine: And that kid is now on Broadway. So that's how we met. And then we got to see each other's shows and I thought that their musical was just fantastic and touched me and I was so impressed. And then I got to see them do, there's that cabaret performance that you guys did after, sort of to wrap up the two weeks there. And they were just great people and wildly talented. And I thought, what a great show to put out in the world. And then cut to, I guess like a year later or so, maybe a year and a half later, something like that. I get a call from Chris Ashley, and I was in Las Vegas doing Rock of Ages. I was in my little hotel room and out of the blue, Chris calls. And he said, hey, you know, I'm working on this new musical called Come From Away. I was like, Come From Away, I love that show. And he's like, I want to know if you'd be interested in doing it. And I said, absolutely. He's like, let's get on the phone with the authors. So that's how it came back around.

[12:19] Ian Eisendrath: Now it was time to bring in a musical supervisor for the La Jolla and Seattle Repertory Theatre Funds, someone that could take the sounds of Newfoundland and weave them into the story. For Ian Eisendrath, luck would have it that he was in the right place at the right time.

[12:33] Ian Eisendrath: I was just the luckiest person alive, I feel like, at that moment. Because you guys actually, there was another music director who'd done the project at NAMMT and Goodspeed. And I was just going to be around to support and say hello. And I have known Kelly since I was like 23 and had great experiences with her. Chris, I feel like I've been circling for a while and always really wanting to work with. And the producers said, Would you have breakfast with David and Irene? And you're going to really like them, they said. And I was like, OK, cool. And so right at that moment, that music director had another project. You guys were looking for someone, I think really just for the lab, just to explore what this show is.

And we had a lot of sweet things for breakfast. And I realized that we all bond over waffles and pancakes and coffee. I think we talked about the show, but the food was great. Then I had gotten to know the material. And I think the thing that captivated me was how completely, of course, the story. The story was just unexpected and emotional. But I also, you could just tell this was going to have its own DNA and it was going to be a brand new way of doing theater. And so getting together with them and hearing about their vision for what the show would sound like. David has this vast background in listening to the music of Newfoundland, and he gave me his playlist.

[14:02] Christopher Ashley: And I think it's maybe three or four days worth of music, which I did listen to and fell in love with, and also started working with Chris and Kelly. Just like you couldn't have full costumes and you couldn't have full production numbers, I think we discovered the same thing about the score, that the music functioned much more like a film, much more cinematically with that sort of documentary logic. And that became, I think, the joy, was figuring out all these themes and motifs and ideas and musical sections that are songs, but they're just very short, compressed to the point, and how do they help establish location and story points and all of that. Those three weeks in Seattle were magical.

It was incredible. I think we were nervous at first with the first production of a show, actually seeing it mounted, seeing it move, seeing it change, seeing it with lights and sets and costumes and the actors who we cast, and the first time it would ever be reviewed. We were really nervous, but we were just amazed, just overwhelmed by the reception. The farthest you can get on the continent from Newfoundland down in San Diego, people embraced the show. We couldn't believe they lined up for three hours outside the show. The general manager there said she'd never seen something like that since Jersey Boys. I think it spoke to the fact that people really wanted to hear a story about kindness. They wanted to hear a story about people being nice to each other, and it feels important to tell a story like that.

From there, we went to Washington, D.C. In Washington, D.C., we had the first opportunity to bring the show to a town that was directly affected by 9-11. It looked like Come From Away was definitely making a huge impact in the musical theater world, and it was only a matter of time before Broadway called. With only one more city stop in Toronto before heading to the Great White Way, the creative team knew there was one more place they just had to visit.

[16:15] Claude Elliott: I said, this has to come to Gander. We have to make it happen. And it took a lot of work, a lot of phone calls, and they really wanted to come to Gander. I mean, the cast themselves wanted to come, the production company wanted to come. They felt, you know, they would like to do this as a thank you to the people of Gander and the province, because there's people here from all over the province, today and tonight. So it was a provincial thing, so it's just amazing. And not every day you get a chance to dance with characters that's going to Broadway. And go to Broadway, it did. Following its Toronto run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Come From Away landed at the Schonfield Theatre on Broadway, opening on the 12th of March 2017.

[17:07] Christopher Ashley: And how did director Christopher Ashley hope that New Yorkers would receive the show? So I've been a New Yorker for most of my life. So I hope that New Yorkers will recognize in the week after 9-11, and the people of Newfoundland, how incredibly generous they were. I hope that New Yorkers will recognize that about themselves, too. I have never seen New York as kind as it was from 9-12 and following. People just took care of each other all the time and asked how each other were, opened the doors for each other. There was a sense of community, which is always under the surface in New York, but which came right out to the top in that week. I hope that New Yorkers will recognize the respect that we feel when we tell this story for the people who gave their lives, the respect for the people of New York, the respect for the people of Newfoundland. And I hope that New Yorkers will feel that this is a story about kindness at a moment where it's hard to be kind.

[18:14] Christopher Ashley: Well the people of New York loved it, and so did the critics. The rave reviews for Come From Away kept rolling in after opening night, with Ben Brantley of the New York Times making it a critic's pick and saying, "Try, if you must, to resist the gale of goodwill that blows out of Come From Away, the big bare hug of a musical that opened on Sunday night at the Gerald Schonfield Theatre. But even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed during this portrait of heroic hospitality under extraordinary pressure." And Peter Marks of the Washington Post wrote, "The lump that forms in your throat in the opening minutes of Come From Away, and remains lodged there for a hundred buoyant minutes more, is the physiological confirmation that this effervescent musical, enveloped in Canadian goodwill, is an antidote for what ails the American soul."

And with that, the West End transfer was announced in June 2018, with a short visit to Dublin as a sort of European tryout. The tour was formally introduced to the press at a party hosted by the Canadian Embassy in London, with some words by David and Irene.

[19:19] David Hine: When we first started Come From Away over six years ago, we thought that the only people that might perform it would be Canadian high school students who would be forced to do it. But instead what we found is that this incredible story is universal somehow. It's a story about how we all felt on that day. We've seen that no matter where people come from, they all connect to this in the same way that we did when we heard the story in the first place, because we all wanted to be able to do something that day. We all wanted to be able to help. People around the world are hungry right now for stories about kindness, and this is a story about people coming together, which is needed now more than ever before. It's a story about the world coming to a small town, and we can't wait to share it with the world. We're so excited that Come From Away is coming to Dublin and the West End. Welcome to the Rock!

[20:07] Rachel Tucker: My parents must have wondered how I was a crazy kid. The cast announced that day couldn't wait to get started working on it. We later caught up with Rachel Tucker, who plays Captain Beverly Bass in the West End, who went to New York to get some early research in. But now I did see the show on Broadway in September, so I was that audience member where I couldn't wait to stand and clap. I was ugly crying. I had snot bubbles coming out my nose. I'm not ashamed to say it. It moved me and my husband so much. It was the best piece of theatre we'd ever seen. On their return to London, I asked cast members how the show went down in Dublin.

[20:50] Rachel Tucker: They went mental. I think the wonderful thing about Irish audiences is I've been very lucky to work there a lot of times because it's home, and the wonderful thing about Irish audiences is that if they love it, they really, really love what it does. They want to show you. Dublin is all word of mouth. If they don't like something, no one goes. I've been to those shows. If they don't like it, no one goes.

[21:10] Rachel Tucker: Just you, there. Oh, hello. Hi, Mum. But it was phenomenal.

[21:16] Rachel Tucker: You couldn't get a ticket?

[21:18] Rachel Tucker: I couldn't get my family a seat.

[21:20] Rachel Tucker: It was like Wembley Arena. Neither did mine. I had to literally beg, borrow, and steal tickets because my family were all like, ah, we'll go and see you.

[21:26] Rachel Tucker: I know, right, but I'm not getting tickets either. Be grand, don't worry about it.

[21:29] Rachel Tucker: No, sold out. Last week, they're going, can we see your show? I went, no, you can't. It's sold out. No tickets.

[21:35] Rachel Tucker: So I found that there was a worry for me that they might find it, they might almost be, not insulted by it, but a bit like, hold on a second, what are you doing?

[21:43] Rachel Tucker: Irish jiggy-jiggy music. It's this diddly-eye music and funny Irish accents. Are you taking the piss?

[21:49] Rachel Tucker: Are you taking the piss a little bit? I think in comparison to what we've heard now, the first 10, 15 minutes in Dublin, you felt and saw, we could see a lot of the audience, still can with this show, them sitting back a little bit because of what David has just said.

[22:03] Rachel Tucker: I've never seen Irish audiences like that, ever, in terms of just there. I've never seen an audience react like that at the end of a show, ever. I don't think they've ever seen it at the Abbey either.

[22:12] Rachel Tucker: And what were the reactions like in London compared to Dublin?

[22:15] Rachel Tucker: I think the opening night, our first preview was our opening night, but that reaction of the audience, the gut thing that now happens, knowing Dublin, because it happened in Dublin, there were 500 people at the Abbey and they all seemed to have an electric shock from that.

[22:31] Rachel Tucker: We had not experienced that before. It was a leap to their feet and a real, oh, it was not a, oh, that's quite a nice play. It was a roar. It was an explosion. It was a roar. It was a release.

[22:42] Rachel Tucker: When that happened again in London, obviously it was just more people, so the sound was like, unlike anything I'd ever heard before in my life. Imagine being a rock star.

[22:51] Rachel Tucker: Yeah, it was quite overwhelming. I think I had a little tear. I did. I still do.

[22:55] Rachel Tucker: Yeah. Absolutely couldn't believe it. Very emotional, actually. I didn't want to take it. For me, I was just like, okay, that's just the first night, it's never going to happen again.

[23:05] Rachel Tucker: With how many months now? Five, seven months in?

[23:07] Rachel Tucker: Five. Every single performance, that wall of sound comes.

[23:11] Rachel Tucker: After we finished the opening number, the first preview here. We had the same reaction, but multiplied by two, because it's about twice as many people.

[23:19] Rachel Tucker: What was it? The first preview was the most bizarre experience. Everyone went, it was crazy.

[23:28] Rachel Tucker: We said, welcome to the rock box. And we were a bit like, oh my God.

[23:30] Rachel Tucker: It's like being in a wind tunnel. Just screamed, and we couldn't get it. I don't think I've ever heard that noise in a theatre before, in terms of the end of a musical.

[23:39] Rachel Tucker: And that was the end of the opening number. In our first preview here.

[23:44] Rachel Tucker: And Clive being like, okay. Clive had to literally, because he's featured after the number, he had to kind of, just like, guys, seriously, we've got a whole show to get through, yeah, relax.

[23:52] Rachel Tucker: He had to calm down. He had to put his hands out and say, you know, anyway, show.

[24:13] Christopher Ashley: With responses like that from houses night after night, it came as no surprise that Come From Away garnered fantastic reviews in London to follow on from those on Broadway. And there was a guy named John Maxwell in the Times commenting, "See the show in the West End, and it takes all of ten seconds to be in its generous embrace. You stay there for the next hundred minutes, laughing, tapping your foot, wiping away tears, feeling good about humanity. What a rare, welcome feeling that is these days." Five stars. It was not its only five-star review. And in a strong season for musicals, Come From Away led the way, along with a gender-swapped production of Company, with nine Olivier Award nominations, and taking home four statues on the night, including Best Choreography.

[25:15] Ian Eisendrath: Best Sound Design. Sound design is a collaborative effort, and none more so than the relationship between sound and music. So to that end, I'd like to start by thanking our awesome musical supervisor, Ian Isendrath. Outstanding achievement in music. And the Olivier goes to...

[25:39] Christopher Ashley: I know, I know. Come From Away! Thank you to the people of Newfoundland and our friends from Away for trusting us to tell your story.

[25:50] Christopher Ashley: And Best New Musical. Ooh, and the Olivier goes to...

[25:55] Rachel Tucker: I'm nervous. I just saw them last night and they were magnificent! Come From Away!

[26:03] Rachel Tucker: Come From Away! Firstly, we want to thank and congratulate all the nominees for making it such an amazing, diverse, challenging year of musical theatre. So thank you so much. We want to thank our incredible cast, who shine so brightly eight times a week at the Phoenix Theatre. We want to thank our amazing creatives, and all of our crew, and our writers. We want to thank our partners, the Abbey Theatre. We want to thank all of our co-producers. Thank you so much. And finally, we just want to thank the audience, because you're the foundation on which this great industry is built. And every time you come into our theatres, you allow us to tell our stories and live our dreams. And thank you so much.

[26:53] Sue Frost: And this is Sue Frost. Thank you. Thank you, London, for embracing this story, this show. And I also just want to make a special thank you shout-out to the people of Newfoundland. Every day, every day, lead with your heart. Thank you.

[27:21] Christopher Ashley: Not bad for a show that had hopes of hitting a few high school stages across Canada, huh? Join us for the next episode of Welcome to the Rock, as we return to Gander to meet the real people behind the story of Come From Away, including all your favorite characters, like Captain Beverly Bass, Sheriff Oz Fudge, Mayor Claude Elliott, and many, many more. They'll tell you what it was like for them when 7,000 people descended on their tiny community to offer hope in the midst of a global tragedy. So join us then, and we hope to see you soon.