Welcome to the Rock: A Come From Away Review
Michael and I headed to Proctor’s Theatre again recently; this time to see the musical, Come from Away. It is incredibly pertinent for Michael. He grew up in Rockland County, right across the river from NYC when the Twin Towers fell on that fateful day of September 11, 2001. The true story that the musical is based on is incredibly heartwarming and shows a side of humanity that is often forgotten. It takes place in the town of Gander, Newfoundland during the couple days after American airspace was shut down from the terrorist attacks. Written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, it liberally tells the story of some of the residents of Gander as well as some of the air travel passengers navigating the abrupt change in plans and international chaos.
The story begins, as the opening song attests, on the island of Newfoundland at a small town called Gander. The Gander International Airport at the time of September 11th, 2001, was seen to be on the decline. It was built in 1936 and was strategically used in World War II. More than 20,000 North American-built fighters and heavy bombers would travel across the Atlantic during the Battle of Britain. Between 1942-1945, the Newfoundland government handed over control to the Canadian government. They used it as a military airfield, but Newfoundland regained operations after the war, leading to a new $3 million terminal, handling 3,000 aircraft annually and a quarter million passengers, according to the Gander International Airport website. But the arrival of the jet age and bigger aircraft carriers made it possible for traveling across the Atlantic without fuel stops.
Gander’s population shrank over the years, leading to just under 10,000 residents in 2001. Small towns are quite familiar to me, having grown up in a place called Cinnaminson, NJ. At the beginning of the 2000’s, there was just shy of 15,000 residents, not too far off from the lives in Gander. Everyone seems to either know or have heard of each other, leading to a strong sense of community. When I moved to Glens Falls, NY eight years ago, the city’s population was oddly aligned, though had seen a precipitous decline over the past decades. But I digress.
The conversations and realizations from the residents of Gander in the opening act were surreal, as the audience knows what they are about to experience. Everyone has a story about where they were when they heard the news of the terrorist attacks. For myself, I was in elementary school in St. Charles Borromeo, a Catholic school, that was situated around hundred miles from each of the three incidents that occurred that day: the Pentagon crash, the destruction of the Twin Towers, and the tragic United 93 fall in the middle of Pennsylvania. My husband, Michael, was in a private school in North Jersey that had a clear view of the NYC skyline. The danger was certainly more imminent as everyone could see the horrific and senseless destruction.
As the residents of Gander talked about turning on their radios or watching the television news, it slowly dawned on them that the world had changed. With news spreading about the FAA’s update to divert planes out of United States airspace, the town began to mobilize with the impending increase in travelers. The song, Blankets and Bedding, details a rather humorous look at the situation. Each character on stage finds ways to help, whether heading to a local grocery store, making trays of sandwiches, or converting a school into a makeshift hotel. The outpouring of generosity for the town of Gander is what makes this an important story to tell. We can all learn the power of human kindness in times of tragedy.
After the initial chaos of air traffic controllers frantically diverting thousands of planes throughout country and nearby airports, 38 planes landed at Gander International Airport; close to 7,000 people who were suddenly delayed from their original destination. Given the confusion, it took nearly 28 hours for all the passengers to exit the planes while the town waited for FAA instructions to resume air travel. The musical does a fantastic job exploring and explaining the sheer boredom and unease for all the passengers stuck on the tarmac that day (and night). For those too young to remember, the world had fewer options for information. Cellphones were either too expensive or too limited. The Internet was just starting to accelerate in use, but data connections were limited to dial-up connections on desktop (or extremely bulky laptop) computers. It was a different time, for sure.
Rumors and heresy were rampant, as the hours dwindled, especially since the airlines also had limited information. And the tools to conquer boredom were limited as well; there were no streaming services with unlimited movies and television shows. It was rather humorous when they detailed the limited movies onboard, from Doctor Doolittle 2 to Titanic, illustrating just how prevalent and repetitive Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On was at the time. Not sure about the accuracy, but they implied the seemingly limitless alcoholic beverages that were divvied out on the plane. As one of the lyrics illustrated, “soon everyone got friendlier.”
Once the hundreds of buses appeared at the airport, the passengers descended out of the planes and headed into various directions for sleeping arrangements. The lyrics from “Darkness and Trees”, as well as the broad range of passengers depicted, detail the uncertainty, foreboding, and anxiety of moving over 7,000 passengers from all over the world to makeshift hotels. The language and culture barriers were especially apparent, given the limited information and rumors surrounding the terrorist attacks. One of the interactions between an African couple and a bus driver was powerfully uplifting. The bus driver used the couple’s Bible, though written in a different language, to point to a passage that illustrated his words and intentions. It was Philippians 4:6, which reads, “Be anxious for nothing.” The bus driver and African couple thought out loud, “And that’s how we started speaking the same language.”
Religious beliefs, while they have different languages and customs, share a common truth. The lyrics for “Prayer” later on in the musical are powerful, as it leads to a euphony of prayers from different religions, from Muslim to Jewish to Christian. It is beautifully performed and a great message for all; we can instill kindness just by respecting each other’s beliefs, as long as they don’t harm others.
With my new meditation practices the past couple months, I am learning to reduce my fear of Islamic chants by utilizing a meditation room at my workplace. (My work has a small, open room with small rugs and a few chairs that is used by some workers that are practicing Muslims.) Growing up with the widespread stigma of Muslim’s in America led to a slow increase in anxiety whenever I heard Islamic chants. Since I did not know the language, I incorrectly feared what was said. Learning how to meditate while hearing Islamic chants has allowed me to repair my parasympathetic nervous system and feel comfortable listening to unknown languages. In fact, it spurred a cursory glance into the Muslim religion to explore their own beliefs and customs.
The desire to learn and understand new things is something all of us should strive for in life. And that is exactly why one of the songs, Me and the Sky, is incredibly poignant. It is sung through the character and experiences of Beverley Bass, the first female captain of an American Airlines commercial plane. She was the pilot onboard a flight heading to Dallas, TX before being diverted to Gander. Through an emotionally powerful song, we learn the struggles and triumphs of her life as she constantly pushed the gender-norm boundaries of airline pilots. Gender-norms are not set in stone, from male nurses to female engineers. We should all strive to break boundaries and make the world a better place for all.
There were moments of fun and human camaraderie among the locals and the guests, whether karaoke, dancing, or a ceremonial "screech-in”. A “screech-in” is a real ceremony by Newfoundlander’s where they invite mainlanders, or those that “come from away”, to drink a shot of Screech Rum and kiss a codfish to become honorary residents. The strange, drunken ceremony imbues a sense of absurdity and community that embodies those that have chosen to remain in Newfoundland. The opening song detailed some of the extraordinary challenges for Newfoundlanders, like harsh winters and destructive hurricanes. Even with the tumultuous weather conditions, those that call Newfoundland home remain, creating a community through adversity.
Unfortunately, though the passengers received good news that they were disembarking after five days, America was still in the throes of a crisis. Terrorist attacks from the three incidents left a hollow feeling of loss, distrust, and anxiety. As the song “Something’s Missing” alludes, the country that some of the passengers traveled to was not the same; something was missing. One of the characters ruminates on the horrible possibility that a terrorist could drive down I-95 and shoot a grenade launcher at incoming airplanes heading to Newark Airport. Another character divulges the terrible daily experiences of being a Middle Eastern, driving her daughter to school. The terrorists that stoked fear that day had succeeded in changing the social landscape, at least for a while.
Sparks of hope started to push through fear as the ten-year anniversary of the attacked neared and a reunion was being planned at Gander. Almost all the passengers that were diverted to Gander on that fateful day were invited back to mourn what was lost but celebrate what was found: a sense of community, shared human connections, and an outpouring of generosity. The story of Gander on September 11th should be remembered not of a day of tragedy but as a day celebrating the power of human connection. I highly recommend you check out this musical, which is streaming on Apple TV+. You will be thumping your legs and kissing a codfish before you know it.
