The Script

FACTS ABOUT THE SHOW

The book Come From Away: Welcome to the Rock: An Inside Look at the Hit Musical includes an annotated copy of the libretto, which includes tons of comments from David Hein & Irene Sankoff about the writing of the show. I've pulled several of the bigger-picture ones and placed them below. In a few instances, I have combined multiple notes on a common subject.

Chris refers to director Christopher Ashley. Ian is arranger and musical supervisor Ian Eisendrath and August is August Eriksmoen the orchestrator. Kelly is choreographer Kelly Devine. Howell is lighting designer Howell Binkley. Caesar is Caesar Samoya, the original actor to play Kevin J.

"Welcome to the Rock" was the first song written. David sent it to me, saying he was worried it wasn’t quite right. But I listened to it and as soon as I heard the beat at the beginning I knew it was—and by the end of the song I was in love with it. It was almost scrapped altogether at one point, but it is essentially the same song from our first writing session. At La Jolla, we were encouraged to write a new opening number. From the very beginning, Irene hated it, but we kept trying to make it work. Ian and August arranged and orchestrated it. Kelly choreographed it. The cast learned it and Howell lit it. But somehow with the best of intentions on everyone’s part, it somehow came off resembling a theme park show. We sat at the back of the theatre gritting our teeth, but not knowing what to do. Ian even eventually came over to our side after his wife Anne heard we were changing the opening and told him it was a huge mistake.

One of our first interviews was with Diane, Annette, Maureen, and Diane—the teachers at Gander Academy—and Wayne, the vice principal at the time. They gave us so many details that we couldn’t write fast enough, and we had to frantically figure out how to record on our phones. They spoke to us for hours, each overlapping with a million stories. Transcribing it later, it was a challenge to pick out who said what, so they are all represented in the characters of Beulah and Annette. When we interviewed the teachers at Gander Academy, they spoke about the vast amount of supplies that needed to be collected and how the community came together. The local dentist brought in toothbrushes and toothpaste. Every store in town was open twenty-four hours. And blankets and bedding came in from Ladle Cove, Aspen Cove, Twillingate, and Wesleyville—towns that were two hours away.

“28 Hours” and “Wherever We Are” were originally two separate songs. We merged them together to more efficiently reflect as many experiences as possible, using the rumor section as a bridge in and the radio section as a bridge out.

We’d originally only interviewed Kevin T and he’d asked that we respect Kevin J’s privacy, so we changed many details, including naming them both Collin. And then in Seattle, Caesar received an email saying, “I think you’re playing me in a musical?! He came to see the show and loved it—and eventually both Kevins wrote to ask to change the “Collins” back to “Kevins.”

The quote from President Bush is taken from an earlier and less well-known speech which he gave that day. When First Lady Laura Bush came to see the show, we heard afterward that she wondered why we had invented text for her husband and we quickly sent her a link to the speech we were referencing.

Gander gets a lot of the press from the show and the story behind it, so it was always important to us to include the surrounding communities who also housed and fed passengers. But this doesn’t even include the other communities of Corner Brook, Deer Lake, Stephenville, St. John’s, Halifax, and as far away as Vancouver, where other planes were diverted. Across the country so many people helped that it would take a hundred musicals to celebrate them all.

All of Annette’s fantasies are inspired by our Second City improv training. We didn’t expect most of these “cut to” moments to make it to Broadway—but they did!

Each actor plays, at the least, a come-from-away and a local character. Not only is this theatrically fun (and economical when telling sixteen thousand stories), but it reminds the audience that we could all be in each other’s shoes—at any moment you could be helping or need to be helped.

"I am Here" was the last song that was added. Chris had been asking for “more” from Hannah since La Jolla, but we were always hesitant since we hadn’t met her in person yet. Finally, just before Christmas 2017, we were invited to spend a Sunday with Hannah and her now late husband, Dennis, and the rest of their family, touring the places in town that honored their son Kevin O’Rourke. In our final moments before having to leave, we joined some carolers in a park across from the train station—and suddenly a fire engine came roaring up and Santa Claus jumped out, giving our daughter a fuzzy white bear. The song was written shortly after.

One of the women Annette is based on offered a Muslim man a mat for his knees, but we couldn’t include it. It was such a nice thing to do, people had trouble believing it was real. There were a number of stories that were so “nice” that we couldn’t include them for that same reason. We were told several stories of tensions and Islamophobia that arose while watching the news. One host witnessed an argument in their living room between two American passengers, one who blamed Muslims and one who was Muslim. The Muslim told her, “It’s not all Muslims.” Another Muslim man at Gander Academy stayed to himself, uneasy that he would be blamed, until he finally unveiled a granite plaque that he presented to the school as thanks. All of this informed Ali’s character and added to what the Newfoundlanders had to overcome. Ali is an amalgamation of many people we interviewed or heard about.

When we first met Beulah Cooper, she invited us to the Legion that night, to be Screeched-in next to Nick, Diane, Beverley, and her husband, Tom, all officiated by Claude. Probably not how most writers find the subjects for their plays. In another bizarre bit of life imitating art, the bottles of Screech in Newfoundland now sport a sticker saying, “The official drink of Come From Away.”

Diane’s fear of kissing the fish is actually based on Irene. When we were first Screeched-in, Irene could not bring herself to kiss the cod. To be fair, it’s far more disgusting than you can imagine, freshly caught and dripping. After failing to persuade her, Claude eventually said, “You can either kiss the fish or you can kiss me.” Irene promptly kissed the mayor. At our introductory interview, I said, “Hi, I’m David, and you’ve already kissed my wife.”

Originally, there was an intermission. Our producers suggested we cut it since no one in Gander was able to take a break.

LANGUAGE AND DIALECT

There are more varieties of English spoken in Newfoundland and Labrador than anywhere else in the world. Dating back four centuries, the accents are rooted in western England and southern Ireland. There are also French and Indigenous influences that have helped shape our colorful language. And since we're off the beaten path, the multitude of dialects and traditions that have long since evolved in other countries remain preserved right here. It's more than just accents; you won’t be surprised to find we have our very own dictionary and encyclopedia. The Dictionary of Newfoundland English was first published in 1982 and contains hundreds of words and phrases you'll find nowhere else.

You can explore the Dictionary of Newfoundland English through an online version. Or a similar dictionary below

And if video learning is more your speed,

the Newfoundland Tourism Bureau has created a series of short videos like the one above to help!

SOME ADDITIONAL NEWFOUNDLAND WORDS AND PHRASES

(assembled by a local)

CFA
- Come From Away. Someone who isn’t from Newfoundland.
- Example: “George Street is full of CFAs tonight.”
B’y
- Though originally a short form of ‘boy’ it’s actually gender neutral and isn’t interchangeable with ‘boy’. It adds emphasis to a phrase.
- Example: “Yes, b’y”, “Go on, b’y”
Some / Right
- Used similar to ‘very’. On a scale, right is more than some.
- Example: “It’s some cold out.” or “She’s right pretty.”
After
- we sometimes use this word instead of ‘have’ to mean in the past.
- Example: “I’m after buying the wrong lightbulb.” instead of “I’ve bought the wrong lightbulb.”
Wha
- similar to the Canadian “eh?” We throw it in to make sure that you’re paying attention.
- Example: “It’s some sunny out, wha?”
Luh
- we apparently have a complex or something about people not listening to us. This one roughly means “Look!”
- Example: “Luh. Missus over there’s wearing leggings as pants.”
Buddy and Missus
- What you call someone when you don’t know their name. Missus can also refer to your female better half.
- Example: “Buddy on the corner.” “Missus, get me a beer from the fridge.”
Rotted
- Annoyed. Pissed off.
- Example: “It’s snowing in April. I’m rotted.”
Crooked
- cranky, grouchy
- Example: “You’re right crooked today. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?”
Mauzy
- Damp and warm. Muggy.
- Example: “It’s a mauzy old day out there today.”
Fousty
- Musty, off-smelling
- Example: “I left dirty laundry in a plastic bag and now it’s fousty.”
Blocked
- Busy, crowded, packed.
- Example: “We went to the bar, but it was blocked. There was a line-up to get in.”
Squat
- Squished, smashed.
- Example: “I stepped on a spider and squat it.”
Stunned
- Temporary lack of intelligence, dumb.
- Example: “Buddy’s some stunned. He left his car running with the keys locked in it.”
Shitbaked
- Scared, terrified.
- Example: “When I saw the moose charging at me I was shitbaked.”
Arse
- Ass – it just sounds nicer when we say it.
- Example: “Look at the arse on d’at!”
Skeet
- You say “white trash” we say “skeet”. Aggressive, uneducated, unruly people usually associated with loitering and petty crimes.
- Example: “Some skeet held up Marie’s Mini Mart again last night.”
Stogged
- Full
- Example: “I’m stogged. I couldn’t possibly eat any more.”
Sleeveen
- A scoundrel, a rascal
- Example: “Get out of here you little sleeveen. You’re after stealing my lunch.”
A Time
- Funny, happy, social setting
- Example: “Man, we had a time last night.” | “It was quite a time at Joe’s this weekend.”
- Reverse: No so much a time. Something that wasn’t very much fun.
Not Fit
- Exceptionally bad
- Example: “It’s not fit out today so it’s the perfect time for a Netflix binge.”
Chummy
- A thing which you may or may not know the proper word for. Along the lines of thingamajig, whatsit, or doodad
- Example: “Pass me that chummy would ‘ya?”
Streel
- An unkept person. A bit of a mess.
- “You’re not leaving the house like that are you? You look like a streel.”
Racket
- A loud noise. A commotion.
- “Someone’s making a racket out there.”