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[0:06] Josh Mitchell: Hey theatre folk and welcome back to We Are Theatre.

[0:09] Josh Mitchell: Today we are still in Gander kicking it with a cast of Come From Away Australia. Today, Kellie Rode joins us.

[0:15] Josh Mitchell: Hello Kellie, how are you going?

[0:16] Kellie Rode: Hi, Josh. I'm good, thank you.

[0:19] Kellie Rode: What a show, guys. Like honestly, Come From Away. I've literally spent an hour watching little clips on YouTube. And it is just one of the happiest shows that could ever be on stage. And you get to be a part of it, Kellie. So what's your favorite thing about the Come From Away story?

[0:36] Kellie Rode: Um, there are so many things that are my favorites. Um, one is being able to play a real person. I've never done that before. And thanks to opening in Melbourne last year, we actually got to meet those real people. Um, and when I say last year, I actually mean 2019. I'm still not up to the 2021 thing. So 2019. And so meeting Bonnie Harris in person. Um, and she was everything that the script said she was. So when we met all these people, the script is so accurate and so well written that we actually felt like we already knew them. And they were exactly as they were on the page, warm-hearted, generous, kind, very welcoming, and they brought with them a sense of their own community. So that was huge because it's so unique to the show.

Um, and it's such a unique piece of theatre. I don't think I've done a piece of theatre that even in its format, it's quite revolutionary, I think, for musical theater. It's, it can be considered a play with music. There's obviously minimal sets and set changes. It's us, chairs, and a few props to decipher which character we're playing next. So for an actor, it's heaven. Yeah, nice and easy and fluent. Um, so what was it like actually getting to have that conversation with Bonnie and be like, oh my god, you're actually literally the character that I'm playing? Like, and kind of process that.

[1:55] Kellie Rode: Yeah, it was, it was kind of mind-blowing to be honest. And I was quite nervous about meeting her, but that nervousness just dissipated in the first five seconds because of her lovely warmth and generosity. And um, before we even started rehearsals, uh, she sent me a Christmas card to welcome me to the Come From Away family uh all over the world. So um, you know, having that beautiful gift and card coming all the way to me from Newfoundland before we'd even started rehearsals, it gave me an idea of um, of what we were in for, and that's precisely what they're like. Very generous. And so it was also really, really helpful because I could ask her very specific questions about what were you feeling when this happened, and you know, how many phone calls did you have to make to try to get the animals off the planes and all of those logistical things that were very just useful, so useful. I didn't have to use my imagination, the information was right there.

[2:52] Kellie Rode: Yeah, it wasn't like a completely creation of a character. It was like, cool, this is background info of how I should be reacting to this because this is how you literally reacted to it.

[3:01] Kellie Rode: Absolutely. And that's something you literally don't get in musical theater because most of the musical theater pieces are either based on historical events where everybody is long gone or fictional. So like that's right. And the director was so generous in saying that we don't want you to mimic these people because you know we haven't been cast because we look and sound and walk exactly like them, but rather we share the same spirit or the same essence or the same kind of energy as that person, and then obviously we're telling their story, and so there's a responsibility with that. However, they would like us to do, you know, our interpretation of that story rather than mimicry, which was a relief as well, that it was still a creative experience, but based on all of this fact.

[3:48] Josh Mitchell: And taking this creative experience on stage, what are you most looking forward to in the coming weeks to getting back on stage and having an audience back to be able to perform this show once again?

[4:00] Kellie Rode: This show is so special in that we really get a tangible energy from the audience when they watch. We feel the transformation that they've gone through in coming in, sitting down, they don't necessarily know what they're watching unless they've seen the show before. And then at the end to feel them with us and obviously elated and moved and uh interested, fascinated, you know, all of those things. Um, and ultimately a lot of people are very devoted to this show because it is so moving and mostly it inspires such a level of hope that um, and that never gets old. Everybody loves feeling hopeful about the goodness of humans and the kindness of humans in um, you know, out of uh probably the worst of humanity, the most wonderful examples of uh beautiful humanity um were shown.

So uh it's just being able to tell the story to a whole bunch of new people. I feel like this is such an important story, not only the way that it's told, I thoroughly love what this is doing for musical theatre and taking it to a new style potentially, um, but also sharing this story of these incredible people who deserve their story to be told, um, and inspiring hope and perhaps for other people to follow suit and think of themselves last, other people first in the community, even in the worst of situations, which is obviously really relevant in our times at the moment.

[5:30] Josh Mitchell: Exactly, and I think that's why it's such a great show to be having open right now. Um, just for a bit of perspective, I guess. Like, yep, we transport you into another continent, another country, but the message is universal, like just love one another, like simple.

[5:51] Kellie Rode: Yeah, absolutely. That we're all human, and it doesn't matter what colour skin we have, what language we speak, where we come from, we are all the same. And when someone is in need, our instinct is actually to help them, our human instinct. And it's um, yeah, for these people, it wasn't even a quick, there was no question. There was no, they just did it automatically. In fact, when the writers um, Irene and David, when they were speaking to the community about their interest in making a musical about this, and they interviewed thousands of people, and they didn't understand what the story was. They said, you know, okay, so you're gonna write a musical about making sandwiches. That's all we did, you know. They didn't understand the importance. It's like, well, of course, of course we did that, wouldn't everybody? And of course, well, no, not necessarily, but obviously in this situation, um, they did, and it's such an important story to share.

[6:48] Josh Mitchell: Yeah, and you get to share this story with some wonderful cast members. You've got some new um faces joining you for this portion of the run. Um, so what's it been like getting back into the room with these guys, putting the show back together, and um obviously welcoming the new members of the family into the crew?

[7:05] Kellie Rode: Yeah, well, it's been exactly that, as you said, welcoming them to our family, and um they have just slipped right in seamlessly and beautifully, and it's a joy to welcome them. It's a gift for us as well to have an influx of new energy and um, new ideas and new ways of saying things, and so that affects us, of course. Um, and so that's a gift, and you know, we'd be foolish to consider it anything other than that, and it's been a joy. The rehearsals have been nothing but joyous, and I don't think I've ever I've had some very, very joyous, wonderful rehearsal periods, but this it filters from the top down from our associate director and our associate choreographer from America who are here. They are um very clearly aware of the task at hand, and so there is an element of pressure there, but no one feels the pressure because they are so joyous and supportive and jovial.

That's actually genuinely um genuinely jovial. It's such a hoot, and uh all the new cast are absolutely sensational, and uh we are just relishing in you know that new energy as much as we truly adored our um our original cast members and they will always be a part of the family. The family just got bigger.

[8:21] Josh Mitchell: 100%, yeah. Um, getting to kind of um the show and the heart of it. What's the biggest thing you've learned out of this experience of being a part of uh the Come From Away family?

[8:35] Kellie Rode: I think one of the um most wonderful things that I'm I've learned and I'm enjoying is that uh I am the least important person on the stage in that moment.

[8:48] Kellie Rode: It is all about someone else. It is all about something else. It is all about the story. So that fantastic reminder to take yourself and your ego, your sense of self out of the equation and just honour the story, honour the music. This is a true ensemble piece. And I feel like there's 12 of us on stage. Someone throws up a ball, the other person has to grab it, the other person throws up the ball, and you have to grab it. So the show really works, you know, metaphorically, like we're all juggling the same ball and we're all there for each other. So I've never worked on a show that has such an ensemble requirement. And as a result of that, it's so delightful in that you set yourself aside and just service the piece. And I think that's my goodness, one of the richest things I've learned on this show.

[9:38] Josh Mitchell: That's awesome. Being an artist during this time, obviously, you guys have had nearly a year away from this show through lockdowns and that type of thing. What does it mean to you to be one of the first four shows to reopen here in Australia? And I think five or six in the world.

[10:02] Kellie Rode: I know that you know you never know what you've got until it's gone. And, you know, I think it's such a it's so important that we get this right, that we all follow the very clear and fantastic COVID plan that we have, and we obviously, to the best of our ability, just keep marching forward and fingers crossed everything continues and it's all gonna be okay. But um it's really, really important for the arts to be waving this flag and to encourage and ensure people that it's safe to come back out because of you know, the fantastic systems that are in place from the theater, from Mariners' theatres and our producers and um we need theatre, we need that balance in our lives, we need the arts. You know, I was a little dismayed by you know, perhaps the lack of support for the arts throughout lockdown within Australia.

Having said that we were very lucky to be a part of a team and to continue back, but I just think that without the arts, what balance do we have as humans? And it is so important. What do people do when we go home? We read a book that's been written by an author, we turn the television on that's been, you know, with actors, fabulous actors, we listen to music that a musician has, you know, all of these things in our lives that give us colour, that give us balance, that give us, you know, relaxation or entertainment. That's the arts. It's a part of our every single day, not necessarily having to, you know, go to a musical, but now that we can, um, I just I'm so proud. Yeah, so proud and um happily waving that flag.

[11:42] Josh Mitchell: Yeah, and guys, that's a brilliant um thing that Kellie brought up is the COVID plans. Like I've been in a theater during COVID times. Fantastic the way the theatres handle this situation, fantastic. Feel safe because they have your back. Um, they're not thinking about themselves, they're thinking about you and how you're gonna handle the situation and 100% just do it.

[12:06] Kellie Rode: Yeah, yeah. Um for people on the edge of the seat wanting to buy tickets, what's your encouraging words for them to just be like, just do it? Like, what is that thing that you think will get them over the edge?

[12:20] I think this will it it's a life-changing musical for a start. And I think if you want something to help you through transitioning from lockdown into real life, or if you're dealing with lockdown, wherever you are, um, and I it's such an inspiring piece that it's actually it's it's beneficial for your mental health for a start to actually come out, see something wonderful, but also see an example of what the best of humanity can be and something that's very hopeful, very inspirational. But it's also um the producers and all of our team wouldn't be putting anything on if there was any risk um of you know, they're doing things the right way. So masks will be worn, um, there are sanitizing stations everywhere, there are staggered entries, there are one entry point, one exit point.

Luckily, we don't have an interval because it's such a fabulous short, sharp show. So there's no mingling at interval to the best, the best of their um possible, you know, COVID plans is going ahead, and they've been uh really, really smart in having um a health advisor throughout the entire process. Um so they're going about it the best way that they possibly can, and everybody is confident that um the proper procedures are in place to go, and it's lovely to come away for an hour and a half and just leave the world and go to a beautiful place and then go home, hopefully transformed.

[13:45] Josh Mitchell: Exactly. Um, as an actor, getting to play kind of multiple roles in the one show um that as like a main character, what is that experience like getting to swap between the two quickly?

[13:58] Kellie Rode: Yeah, it's really intense. There's no time in this show to think about anything. So it's all body memory and go. Um, it's not a cerebral um exercise. It's very much uh there is no time. We just move so quickly from one to the other. But it is the ultimate satisfaction for an actor to be able to play different roles and do different things in one show. I mean, not only, yes, it shows that you can do lots of different things, but it's just really satisfying because I mean, A, we are never bored, let me tell you. For an hour and a half, we do not stop. As soon as the drum starts from the beginning, that's it. You know, it's basically we're almost taking up our it's it goes so fast. Um, but it's it's uh again just comes back to that lovely sense of ensemble and all of us playing different roles, and we feel like we're a part of a community, which is the entire point.

We were supposed to, you know, um complement that that idea of there being a community over there that helped 7,000 people, 7,000 stranded passengers. And the pace is also supposed to reflect exactly what they lived for five days. They did not stop. There was always something to do. There were 7,000 people that needed help that needed food that needed clothing, and um, so it actually emulates exactly what happened for them.

[15:27] Josh Mitchell: Yeah, that's a perfect representation. And if you guys want to see this craziness on stage, head to comefromaway.com.au right now. There's a yellow button in the top right corner that says tickets. Click on that. Melbourne is running right now. Um, so make sure you guys are getting your tickets for the limited run Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney. Hopefully, everything calms down around the world, and we are back to theatre in full swing. To wrap us up, Kellie, what is your favorite thing about? Uh, favorite moment in this show.

[15:52] Kellie Rode: Oh, I have so many. Um I don't want to give anything away, but there is one moment where a Newfoundland bus driver was taking Africans to a certain house that they needed to go and stay at. And the Africans didn't understand what the Newfoundlanders were saying, as because there were so many people, thousands of people from all over the world speaking different languages. And in order to translate, he used a Bible that one of them were holding to actually read a phrase in that that said, be anxious for nothing. And then they both understood that it was safe. You are safe, we are here to look after you. And that's just so connecting of cultures, connecting of people, a reminder that we are all human, we are here to look after you. We don't understand what we are saying, but we can still communicate as humans that we are here to look after you. And that's just a breathtaking, one of the many breathtaking moments in the show.

[16:56] Josh Mitchell: There we go. So guys, if you haven't packed your bags and headed to Gander already, please do it. Um you guys will not want to miss this show. It will be the biggest regret you have in 2021. I'm calling it right now in January. If you don't do it, do it. Um thank you, Kellie, for coming and joining us.

[17:12] Kellie Rode: Thanks for having me, Josh.

[17:13] Josh Mitchell: No worries, guys. You will catch me next week when we are back here in Gander once again with another fabulous cast member from Come From Away Australia. Make sure you guys grab your tickets and we will see you in the next episode. Bye.