#Sankoff and hein

[doyouknowthismusical]

[barrygeuse]

come from away: my retrospective

now that come from away has ended, i've decided to collect my thoughts and put them all together in one (not-so) little post for myself and anyone else who wants to to read.

lots of emotions below the cut and a long story about how this thing came to mean so much to me!

if you stick around and read, i really do appreciate it. this is my favorite musical (my second favorite piece of theater!) and my second biggest special interest.

tl;dr — come from away is a beautiful show about the best of human nature, about people healing from a collective trauma. it will be a part of me for as long as i live, and i couldn't be happier to have it nestled right next to my heart, keeping me warm.

i first saw the show when it visited my local theater on tour in 2019. despite being a musical theater kid, i managed to skip over it entirely—i feel like that wasn't uncommon—it wasn't exactly targeted toward the middle school crowd! my mom and i went to see it (we went in knowing literally nothing at all, and i mean nothing besides the title!), and we left that theater crying and absolutely gushing about how beautiful it was.

it became a pretty common staple to play over bluetooth when we were in the car together for the years to come.

at that point, besides having seen it and loved it immensely, i moved on. it was another piece of media to add to an ever-growing list of adorations, and it wasn't until december of two years later that it grabbed my attention for a lasting period of time.

in september of 2021, the proshot released, a day before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. i didn't end up hearing about this myself until later in the season—i was busy with college and had a lot of other things on my mind—but i was ecstatic nonetheless when i did find out.

i got my hands on the recording and watched it. something changed that day, even if i hadn't realized it yet. i showed it to my friends, new ones every time, over and over again. when i was home for that holiday break, i showed it to my parents, and put it on in the background in my free time.

as i got back to school and february came to an end, come from away became the thing that i watched whenever i felt poorly. it was a feel-good show about wonderful people. i've always loved stories, especially stories about the beautiful nature of humanity, and it got me through some pretty rough times. over the winter months i started to learn the dialogue, since i already knew the numbers.

for spring break, i took a trip to florida, and watched the proshot probably over seven times during the course of travel alone. i fell in love with the characters, their mannerisms, the stories, the reality of people coming together to heal from trauma. it was a beautiful thing to make a part of myself.

time pressed forward. sharon wheatley released her second book, which i bought, and then had the honor over the summer to send to her and have her sign for me (not to mention read my annotations and write alongside them!).

the news that the show was closing devastated me. at that point, i had no hope of going to see it, which didn't upset me too badly. i was happy to just have the professional recording to watch and to celebrate the show from afar!

summer flew by. i got back to school, settled in, and started going to classes. at the beginning of september, my parents called me and surprised me with the news that we would be going to new york city at the end of the month to see the show. i was absolutely floored. my pupils genuinely grew two sizes (it was funny, i looked like i was on drugs but it was just concentrated autism in the bloodstream) and i made a countdown for the trip as soon as we got off the phone.

telling you the details of my time in NYC could be a whole post on its own. with the broadway flea happening at the same time, i got to buy some things that i really wanted (hello, beetlejuice obc signed playbill!) and i had the insane opportunity to meet sharon, who actually recognized me and my book when i went to the table and gave me the sweetest hug.

we had front row seats, which i could never thank my parents enough for, and i silently mouthed along to the show the entire time. the actors smiled at me, i was ecstatic, i was flying, i was there and a part of the show. it was more than anything i could've ever dreamt of. i laughed, i cried, i had the time of my life.

i was lucky enough to meet jim, astrid, and jenn at the stage door, alongside seeing sharon again, who spoke to me briefly and gave me another hug before leaving. it is an experience i will never, ever forget.

come from away is something that means so much to me. more that i could ever describe, really. today, the day of the final performance, i watched along to the proshot at 3pm while the matinee played in new york. i cried nearly the entire time.

i am so proud of everyone who was a part of this amazing, amazing production. it changed lives, it put newfoundland on the map, it told real life stories about real people and did everything endless justice. i could not thank everyone involved enough.

"you are here at the end of a moment," and "you found your heart but left a part of you behind," and "you're gonna be okay," and a dozen other lines that would make this already long post too much longer.

come from away: thank you for telling stories. thank you for doing something beautiful. thank you for the tears, the laughter, and the endless joy. thank you for everything you did for me and for millions of others.

this is not the end. it is only the beginning of a tale that will be told for years to come, one that will live on in my heart and in so many others.

thank you.

[atlanticcanada]

'Come From Away' musical comes home to Gander in Newfoundland where it all began

Bringing the hit musical "Come From Away" home to Newfoundland for the first time is a bit like bringing a new romantic partner home to meet your family, says actor Petrina Bromley.

"There's always that fear of, 'Oh gosh, I just hope this goes well, because I love this person, and I love these people, and hopefully they will all love each other," Bromley said in a telephone interview from Gander, N.L., the central Newfoundland town in which the show is set.

Bromley was the musical's sole cast member from Newfoundland during a run of more than five years on Broadway. She said it's "surreal" but incredibly important to her to be bringing a new iteration of the show to Gander for an eight-week run. Every performance is sold out, including the previews beginning Friday.

"On a very basic level, I just think it's so important for the show to be here, and to be seen by the people who inspired it," Bromley said.

"Come From Away" tells the story of how people in Gander dropped everything to care for more than 6,500 passengers aboard 38 planes diverted to the town's airport after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks grounded air traffic. Residents opened their houses, community halls and businesses to the stranded people, offering them food, clothes and comfort during a terrifying time that ultimately changed parts of the world.

The show was a surprise smash. When the curtains closed after its final show at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City last October, it was the 49th longest-running show in Broadway history, and the longest-running production in the theatre's 105-year history. The play hasbeen staged across North America and as far away as Australia and Argentina.

The Gander production adds the tag line "You Are Here" to the title. It will be the first fully staged presentation of the musical in its hometown, though locals have been treated to alternative iterations, said Michael Rubinoff, the play's originating producer. In 2016, the original Broadway cast performed the show for residents in a local hockey rink. Last September, the cast of the Canadian production performed the show's songs, also at the arena.

This time around, the musical will be staged at Gander's Arts and Culture Centre. Tickets sold out within months, particularly after the local Gander cast -- which includes nine Newfoundlanders -- was announced early this year, said officials at the venue.

Rubinoff and his team can see from purchasers' postal and zip codes that ticket-buyers come from all over the world -- the United States, Europe, Japan, Israel and Argentina, he said.

Mounting a full productionof the show in Gander has long been a dream, Rubinoff said. Newfoundlanders are often modest about how they helped the stranded 9/11 passengers. Sometimes they say, "'We don't get why this is a big deal. All we did was make some sandwiches," he recounted. The play shows them exactly what the fuss was about.

"I hope they will see it as a celebration, especially this production. This is Newfoundland's production," he said. "When the actors sing 'You are here' in the score, this is the only place in the world where that will actually be true," he said.

The songs and the script in the Gander production are the same as the Broadway version, which was written by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein. But the way those words and songs are presented on stage is different.

The Broadway version was directed by an American, Christopher Ashley, earning him a Tony Award in 2017. The Gander version is directed by Newfoundlander Jillian Keiley, who is known for innovative stage design and striking visuals that bring a unique depth to her productions.

Under Ashley's direction, the story was seen more through the lens of a "come from away," a term used in Newfoundland and Labrador -- and across Atlantic Canada -- to describe people from outside their provinces.

But in the Gander show, "you're seeing it more from the lens of being the islanders, the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians," Bromley said.

Both Bromley and Rubinoff said the show's commercial success was a shock. Rubinoff described it as being beyond his "wildest of wild dreams." But they understand why this story from a little town on an island in the North Atlantic struck a chord with so many people.

"I think it's because it's a story, a simple story in the end, about people helping people," Bromley said. "I think we watch it, and we all hope in our hearts that if we were in that situation, we would rise to it in the way that the people here did."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2023.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/cIzniO6

[meandmypagancrew]

come from away

favorite || me and the sky

least favorite || 28 hours/wherever we are

[freckle-queen]

Y’all! I just did an interview with Michael Rubinoff!! Michael freaking Rubinoff! Wow.

[curtashiism]

I think one of the most brilliant things about Welcome to the Rock is that it uses that framing everyone knows when talking about 9/11. Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing. David Hein and Irene Sankoff capturing it in song form is just another level of their genius.

[38-planes]

wecomefromaway

Stop the world: #ComeFromAway is going to be featured on @NBCNightlyNews! Tune in THIS Saturday, July 21st at 6:30PM EST for a conversation with creators David Hein and Irene Sankoff, PLUS exclusive footage from NBC's recent trip to Gander! 📍

[writergirl659]

Out of the darkness Suddenly brightness Everything changes Darkness and trees Out of the darkness Suddenly light

[the3dimaxofmymind]

SHOUT OUT TO THE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS OF COME FROM AWAY FOR REALIZING THEY DIDNT NEED TO BRING IN A CELEBRITY TO MAKE THE SHOW A SUCCESS

[thingofnewyork]

Come From Away + the word here

[comefromawayy]

sankoff and hein agree this has to happen

[templeofshame]

what other lesbian musicals would you recommend?

Ooh I wanted an excuse to post about this! The tough thing about recommending theatre is that so much great stuff is very inaccessible because there aren't cast albums or professional recordings or published scripts. But at the same time, these deserve attention and hopefully someday we can get productions and cast albums and such.

(First off, I want to mention that I listed Fun Home, The Prom, and Rent specifically in the tags as the “mainstream” ones because that’s what came up in the podcast, but you can’t just leave The Color Purple off that list.)

Love in Hate Nation: It’s a 1960s interracial teenage lesbian romance in juvie hall by my musical theatre fave Joe Iconis. For my list, it’s on the darker side, but not relative to the more mainstream ones. It has a more or less optimistic ending and a general vibe of empowerment for girls who have so much against them in the world and in their own heads.

A Letter To My Ex: A personal musical by amazing queer singer-songwriter Be Steadwell, this one is still in development but I was fortunate enough to see an early version in DC. It’s very intimate and raw, poetic and thoughtful about a failed relationship between Black queer women and the grieving process that follows. A number of the songs from the show are on her recent albums -- which means they’re on Spotify! I don’t know of a track list to identify exactly which songs are from the show though.

The Break Up Notebook: It’s a bit of a classic tropey comedy setup of a 20-something coping with being dumped with the help of friends and new dating adventures, but about a lesbian who actually has a queer social group! (It doesn’t feel similar to A Letter To My Ex at all, even though they both tread some of the same plot ground.) I felt like it was pretty well-known in the ‘00s for an indie musical, but I can’t find much on YouTube except some awkward promo materials. I should have the demo somewhere...

My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding: I am only just now learning that it’s by the writers of Come From Away, but it’s lighthearted and all adapted from stories of David Hein’s family and his mother’s process of coming out after a divorce and her titular wedding. I also should have a demo for this...

But I’m A Cheerleader: If I didn’t have a preexisting love of But I’m A Cheerleader, this might not make my list, but I do, and the music is probably more Typical Musical Theatre than the others on this list, but it’s fun and cute and that kind of bubbly brightness that fits the vibe of the movie. It seems like the YouTube channel is a recent development, so there may be a future for this yet! (I have an older demo...)

Sample songs under the cut!

[ulrichgebert]

Weil es so schön war und noch nicht so viel Neues läuft, sowie zu 20 Jahre 9/11 gönnten wir uns noch einmal das schwungvolle, clevere Wohlfühlmusical über die von weit her gekommenen Flugreisenden, die in Gander, Neufundland strandeten. Unsere bewährte strenge Elphaba Alice Fearn (mitte) allerdings hatte eine Erkältung und ließ sich von der möglicherweise nahbareren Jennifer Tierney vertreten.