Come From Away: Triumph of Filipino talent and bayanihan in a feel-good 9/11 musical
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 as a subject for a musical? Are they mad?
You can’t be blamed for having the same reservations that we had before watching Come From Away, the first Filipino-led production of GMG Productions—known for bringing hits like Hamilton and Miss Saigon—together with Stages, which presents beloved musicals, including West Side Story and Footloose. The combination worked, however, in what turned out to be a delightful, dramatic comedy of generosity and the bayanihan spirit of communal unity in the face of tragedy.
The idea came from real estate lawyer and producer Michael Rubinoff—yes, another unlikely combination, but one that proved fortuitous for this piece that has earned over 38 nominations and won 18 awards, including an Olivier for Best New Musical and a Tony for Best Direction since its Broadway debut in 2017.
It was Rubinoff’s pride in how his countrymen in Gander, Newfoundland, a small town of 9,000 people in northeast Canada, graciously welcomed 7,000 strangers from 90 countries into their homes and community centers when 38 planes were diverted to their airport during the shutdown of US Airspace.
“It was a Canadian connection to such a tragic day. It took years for stories to come out, but each time, it brought all this emotion and pride,” he said.
Rubinoff’s passion for theater, which led him to a second career, had him producing musicals in Toronto with the philosophy that a new production should have “a compelling story and a compelling reason to musicalize the story.”
It was still a hard sell, however, until he got in touch with Canadian husband-and-wife team David Hein and Irene Sankoff, who did My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, which he loved and found very authentic. The couple was perfect for the job because they were living in New York during 9/11 and had lived through the trauma, allowing them to be sensitive in telling the story. But since they had settled back in Canada, they moved on, and were able to have a more balanced view in writing it.
Visiting Gander on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, they interviewed the townspeople and returning visitors in order to create the foundation of the show. The music they composed has a unique mix of modern musical theater ballads and comedy rhythms with Newfoundland folk, Celtic flute and bluegrass touches. The very premise makes for the most interesting and hilarious situations among the Ganderites and the “come from aways” of different nationalities, genders, religions, professions, and personalities—a total of 84 characters with 13 different accents utilizing only 12 actors. Quite a challenge to mount, right?
But the Philippine production managed wonderfully with some of the country’s most talented artists and professionals, who include Michael Williams as director, Delphine Buencamino as assistant director and movement designer, and Rony Fortich as musical director. The spirit of Newfoundland is captured by production designer Mikayla Teodoro in a stylized forest of gray birch trees that acts as a serene canvas where the characters provide the color. It also works well for lighting designer Harry Tabner’s on-point shifts of scenes and moods. The realism extends to Herhsee Tantiado’s costumes, which have a lived-in quality in warm, welcoming palettes.
Williams’ keen eye and ear for storytelling and a deep understanding of theater dynamics served the show well: While the dialogue was snappy and the scene changes were brisk, the narrative was clear and there was always a smooth flow as characters and interactions were distinctly defined through judicious blocking and movement; the latter done in tandem with Buencamino, known for her innovative work in physical and devised theater exemplified in Tanghalang Pilipino’s Balete.
Stressful scenes inside the plane and those at Gander would switch seamlessly while each was staged with heightened emotion, utilizing the movement of bodies as well as chairs that are crucial in the choreography. Although there were pre-planned movements, some arose in collaboration with the actors as rehearsals progressed, resulting in an organic melding of music, drama, and choreography.
This, of course, is only possible with the perfect chemistry among the actors, each of whom achieved amazing feats in delineating a multitude of characters and accents: Menchu-Lauchengco Yulo as Beverly Bass, the first female captain of an American Airlines commercial plane, who flies the diverted plane from Paris to Dallas; Sheila Francisco as Beulah, a Gander schoolteacher with a firefighter son just like Hannah (Carla Guevara Laforteza), a passenger waiting to hear news about her son in New York; Caisa Borromeo as Bonnie, an SPCA worker who cares for the animals on board the planes; Cathy Azanza-Dy as Diane, a Texan divorcée who strikes a romance with fellow passenger Nick (Rycharde Everley), a single British businessman; Janice (Rebecca Coates), a reporter in Gander whose first day on the job is also the first day of the attacks; Kevin J. (Topper Fabregas) and Kevin T. (George Schulze), a gay couple from California who encounters troubles in their relationship while in Gander; Oz (Gian Magdangal), Gander’s police constable; Bob (Garrett Bolden) a passenger from New York; and Claude (Stephen Cadd), the Mayor of Gander.
It’s quite amazing how the production was able to pull off a convincing, heartwarming dramatization of this obscure yet important story from the other side of the globe. The ensemble work of the cast and production team is a testament to the power of bayanihan, a Filipino trait, which, together with malasakit or compassion, is the very quality of humanity at its best that the people of Gander showcased during a time when the world saw humanity at its worst.
Come From Away is showing at Samsung Performing Arts Theater until June 29. Tickets are available at Ticketworld.
