Come From Away

It’s official. The Gold Coast has been conquered by the show with the weird name. How good is Come from Away, you ask? Well, imagine not one, not two or three, but FOUR standing ovations at the end of the opening night. And this was not a usual first night. Covid ravaged the cast, and the official opening had to be cancelled and moved to Saturday. Media and dignitaries had to be squeezed in with the Saturday night audience. We didn’t care. By the end of the evening, we all felt that we wanted to hug each other.

This astonishing one act musical is a true story, which makes it doubly impressive since true stories rarely translate well to the musical stage. It’s the brainchild of husband and wife team Irene Sankoff and David Hein, who wrote the book and music and lyrics. They couldn’t have conceived how much the world needed a show which nurtured compassion, love and understanding, and community. It is impossible not to be moved by the extraordinary story of the 38 planes that had to be diverted from Mainland USA on Sept 11^th when the Twin Towers were attacked. And where were the 7,000 passengers diverted to? A little town called Gander in Newfoundland, Canada. Anyone who isn’t native to Newfoundland is said to have Come from Away, hence the odd title. It may sound an unlikely premise for a show which will make you laugh and cry and feel uplifted, but trust me, it works on every level of entertainment and excellence.

What started as a small show in Canada has become a multi award winning world-wide phenomenon, and rightly so. From the moment the strongly Celtic influenced music starts and the cast take the stage, singing Welcome To The Rock, with appropriate Irish foot stomping, you know you are in for something special.

Originally directed by Christopher Ashley, with staging by Kelly Devine, this production is in the more than capable hands of Michael Ralph, as resident director and choreographer. I have been an avid fan of his work since his very first show. He is totally committed to excellence and it shows. Every move is perfection.

Another Michael, the legendary Michael Tyack AM, leads a band that melds the purity of Celtic instruments with contemporary music that takes your breath away. There are no big love ballads, no 11 o’clock song for the leading lady, and you’d be hard pressed to sing four bars of any song as you leave the theatre, and yet every part of the music stays with you well into the night. Small wonder that the eight-piece band received its own standing ovation as it took to the stage at the end of the night for a rousing play-off that had us all dancing while we cheered.

This is very much an ensemble piece, and every stand-by (understudy) was required on stage to cover for those who were ill. Every actor plays multiple roles. Each one was superb in every role, so it is impossible to single anyone out. But it would be equally churlish to let such masterful work go uncredited. So let me introduce you to the cast.

They are: Kyle Brown, Kaya Byrne, Zoe Gertz, Manon Gunderson-Briggs, Kat Harrison, Joe Kosky, Phillip Lowe, Joseph Naim, Sarah Nairne, Natalie O’Donnell, Emma Powell, David Silvestre, Jeremy Carver-James, Noni McCallum, Michael Lee Porter, Ash Boussety, Alana Tranter and Jasmine Vaughns. Each one is a star.

And now I have run out of superlatives. You may have gathered that I loved this production and put this in my list of top three shows of all time.

You have less than three weeks now to see it. You’d be crazy not to.

Coral Drouyn

Click here to read Coral’s interview with Kat Harrison.

Images: Jeff Busby