Q &A
THE EMBRACE OF BEING HERE (an opening night thought from your humble dramaturg)
Come From Away brings full circle my experience telling the stories of September 11, 2001. Back in the summer of 2019, a magazine article sparked an idea which became a documentary drama produced on the UWL stage. Partnering with Greg Parmeter and two tremendous groups of students and colleagues, we told stories about heroism, sadness, and even some genuine miracles.
But what wasn’t part of Severe Clear, simply because we needed to make choices to manage the length of the play, was this tale of simple kindness. We put Ben Sliney on the stage—the FAA Administrator who, on his first day of work, had to make the unheard-of decision to close American airspace. But we could not showcase what came next around the world.
One of the crochet squares in the Gander set. Photo by Abby Moss, Adventure Central Newfoundland
Come Fom Away is that story. It remains fascinating to me that all these years later the people of Gander adore the show and see the story as accurate but still believe they did nothing remarkable. What anyone would do, they say. But opening your doors and hearts to nearly 7,000 strangers who would soon become family IS remarkable. And the bonds formed during that time are genuine. Beverley Bass has seen nearly 200 performances of Come From Away, in many different locations. Oz Fudge and Brian Mosher travel around the world to screech in new companies of actors, and the production in Gander itself has a back wall comprised of individual crochet squares, created by Newfoundlanders from all over the island in what was named the Warm Embrace Project.
In an interview about the musical Oz Fudge remarked: ”This business of kindness: it’s born in us; it’s bred in us. And people can’t understand it. And I can’t understand why they can’t understand it.”
It was a kindness to be allowed into the LCT world to help bring these stories to you. Putting my gently loved Newfoundland phrase book to use, the people of Come From Away are “right wunnerful.” And so are the talented actors and creative team members who worked to put them onto the stage. It’s truly been a time.
LOBBY MATERIAL
By request, embedded above is a copy of the video playing on the lobby monitors at LCT
March 6
BECOMING FAMILY
Each time I read about a new production of Come From Away , I also read about something special happening to the cast and creative team putting on the show. I witnessed it myself last night. I think it due to the original Ganderites and Plane People themselves.
February 27
HEAVE AWAY
"Heave Away" is an actual sea shanty. We have record of it today because Cecil James Sharp, the best-known collector of English folk music, first learned of it from Captain Vickery of Minehead, Somerset, on August 8, 1904. The song came to Come From Away via a singer-songwriter named Bob Hallett from St. Johns. He is a key member of one of David Hein's favorite Newfoundland bands (Great Big Sea), and according to Hein & Sankoff became the Newfoundland music consultant for the show, working with Ian Eisendrath.
There are several well-known recordings of the song which date back to the 1950s. It also shows up, though with a different melody, int he film adaptation of Moby Dick. The most popular version of the tune in Newfoundland, was recorded by the band The Fables, and the song was briefly a hockey anthem. Heather Barrett of the CBC has the full story on that!
click image to enlarge
February 15
TEN YEARS LATER
Rogers TV created a video special about Gander and 9/11. It includes some very special footage of their decision to attend the 10th Anniversary celebration, simply because it was happening. The reporters talked to many Ganderites and plane people who came for the celebration. Brian Mosher happened upon a pair of playwrights in town hoping to do some interviews, whom he initially mistook for other plane people.
The whole video is worth watching, but be sure to watch that tenth anniversary footage starting at 31:35
February 12
WHAT WAS ON TV
Archive.org has assembled a fascinating collection of what was on major television networks around the world during the week of 9/11. Please note that the content contains footage of the September 11 attacks and may be disturbing. But it is also active viewing only. You will need to click on an individual video cell to watch any footage. Nothing will begin playing automatically. You can find the CBC in between footage from Paris and Tokyo. Click the image below to visit the web page. The remarks by President Bush used in our show were delivered around 1:00 pm from Barksdale Air Force Base.
February 10
GANDER AIRPORT
Go inside the airport to see what the plane people encountered when they finally were allowed off!
On February 9, it was announced that the airport would be recognized in a National Heritage Moment.
February 7
TALES ABOUT KIDS
We only learn small pieces of information about the families of our characters. Here are some other facts.
BEVERLY BASS- had children 9 and 10 years old. Tom picked them up from school.
HANNAH O'ROURKE- was the mother of three. In addition to her son Kevin the firefighter, she had a daughter, Patricia, and a son Dennis Jr. Hannah's nephew and his girlfriend were with Hannah and Dennis Sr. on their flight and in Gander. Kevin was married with two college-age children.
DIANE- Nick first mistakes Diane's concern for that of a husband. She is thinking of her son, who is also on a flight.
BONNIE HARRIS- the "human kids" she refers to are three daughters
OZ FUDGE- had a 17-year old daughter at the time of the story. She is the one who dressed up in the Commander Gander costume for the Wish Kids!
LYLA HINKLE- A "plane baby"
"...My parents and I were on our plane for about 10 hours. My parents patiently played with me, reading the same book over and over, but nobody could contact friends and family because most people didn’t have cell phones. Finally, we deplaned and went through intense security, then were shuttled in the dark to a local high school, Gander Collegiate." (read more)
And a charming story about some Gander teens and how the experience influenced who they are today
January 30
DOVER FALLS
This is the photo Nick took of Diane at Dover Falls on September 13
TOUTONS
And in case you need a side dish for your cod au gratin, here's a recipe (with a little backstory too)
January 29
Our fabulous costume designer, Jess, has assembled some resources on clothing and accessories specific to several of the religions included in this show.
January 28
Stories known and unknown from an event at the Evangel Community Church in 2022. Included are:
22:25- Employee at Allied Aviation- The ground company that handled all the aircraft
34:55 Beulah
43:00- story about the Rabbi and the kosher food
1:16:30- search & rescue officer sent to volunteer by his commander
Also other stories and comments from the assembled audience
January 26
Someone in the cast found a pair of new resources and asked that I make it available to everyone. They're worth checking out! (Thank you, whoever you are...)
January 23
It's cold! Need to get your blood pumping to stay warm?
January 22
this video includes Arabic wording with translations
SWAHILI TRANSLATIONS
p. 43- Wewe watuchukawa wapi: Where are you taking me? (click to listen)
January 21
ADDITIONAL CHARACTER INFORMATION
PLANE PEOPLE
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Two stories from different flight attendants can be found.
DELTA FLIGHT - note: although this text is anonymous, it is considered to be legitimate and accurate--with one exception. It was Shirley Brooks-Jones who came up with the idea of the scholarship, not a man in the group.
KAREN VOSKANIAN- Continental Airlines
(video below)
ALI
Based on a collection of Muslim characters as well as a good friend of Irene Sankoff. The primary inspiration for making the character as a chef came from Indian-born passenger Vikram Gang. He has even saved his certificate as a member of the Royal Order of Screechers
NEWFOUNDLANDERS
SHELDON KIRBY
Sheldon is a retired teacher in Norris Arm, a community about 45 minutes from Gander. He and people at his school cared for the passengers of Delta Flight 49 headed to Cincinnati from Frankfurt, Germany.
DAWN BAKER
Dawn is a Ganderite and the wife of one of the air traffic controllers. Her daughter attended Gander Academy, and she was involved in preparing for and caring for passengers in Gander. Dawn's daughter and mother also got involved.
Two short excerpts of Newfoundlanders from the book The Day the World Came to Town. (it's a good read!)
