(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Broadway
Balances America brought to you by
Broadway Across America, bringing the best of
Broadway to a city near you.
- Time now for Broadway Balances America,
our series that takes you behind the scenes
of some of the most beloved Broadway musicals
as they appear across the country
in your local theater.
- Today, the original musical, Come From Away, which
tells the personal stories of both the generous folks
of Newfoundland, Canada, and the passengers whose
planes were diverted there immediately following the
events of September 11, 2001.
- Amber Milt has more on how somewhere
in the middle of nowhere provided a safe
harbor for thousands.
("38 Planes" by Irene Sankoff and David Hein)
∫ Somewhere in the middle of nowhere ∫
- It's been 17 years since those tragic events
that changed our lives, but the response from
a small town in Canada on September 12th and
the days following inspired the creators
of Come From Away to tell 16,000 stories
over five days with 12 actors in one powerful
Broadway musical.
∫ You are here ∫ - [Amber] Creating a show
inspired by real life events, writers Irene Sankoff and
her husband David Hein interviewed hundreds of folks
who returned to Newfoundland on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
- During the first interview, we realized that we
couldn't write fast enough, so we had to start recording.
Then we just transcribed them, and we just listened to
them over and over again.
- We've been living with their words
and their interviews for years now.
We've been working with them.
It took us six years to get to Broadway,
and every day we would hear their voices.
It's meant the world to us when they come to see
the show and they say, "That's exactly right,
that's exactly me."
Even though we've had to amalgamate characters
and combine story lines, we wanted them to tell
us that we got it right, that that was the
truth of what happened.
- [Amber] Helping share the true story on stage
is Producer Sue Frost.
- What point did you become involved with Come From Away?
- It was actually when we saw it.
We saw 45 minutes of it at music stands,
and we were like, You know?
I don't know where this is going to go, but we love it.
We love the storytelling, we love the style
of the storytelling, we love the music,
and we love the heart of it.
It's got a funny title.
It's an ensemble piece.
People are going to call it the 9/11 musical.
We have no idea what to do with this,
but we're going to figure it out.
∫ This is Newfoundland ∫ ∫ Welcome to the rock ∫
∫ I'm an islander ∫ - [Amber] One element of
figuring it out was the title.
- Come From Away is anyone who is not from Newfoundland,
so all of the people who landed there
were Come From Aways.
∫ Suddenly all of those pilots were testing me ∫
- [Amber] One of those 7,000 Come From Aways
was American Airlines Captain Beverley Bass,
whose plane was flying from Paris to Dallas
on that fateful day.
This pioneering pilot's story was pivotal
to the creation of the musical.
- I was the 36th out of 38 wide bodies to land that day.
When I was on final approach, I'm looking around,
and I mean honestly, it looked like
there wasn't even enough space to park the airplanes.
So, we got parked.
It was about 10:00 in the morning,
and they came on the airplane and told us
we wouldn't be getting off until the next day.
When we got off at 7:30 the next morning,
we walked into the terminal.
Of course, we'd been up all night.
We're exhausted.
It was probably the first time that I realized
that we had landed in an incredible place
because when we walked into the terminal,
it was lined with tables and tables of food.
- She was the first female captain for American Airlines.
It wasn't because she was trying to make a statement.
It was because she loved to fly and that's what
she wanted to do.
- You really paved the way for so many women,
including your daughter, to follow in your footsteps,
in a field that was so dominated by men.
- I am so grateful that our paving the way
has helped the next generation of female pilots.
Hopefully, it's a little bit easier for them.
- [Amber] Becky Gulsvig will portray Bass
on the North American Tour.
- I'm so excited.
I'm so honored.
It's a thrill to play someone real,
and it's a thrill to be a part of a story
that is so heartfelt and so full of generosity
and all the things that this world needs.
This story celebrates that, and I'm very excited
to take that across the country.
- [Amber] Compiling so many stories into one musical
means that the actors play multiple roles,
and that the staging is stark and effective in its simplicity.
- It's a wonderful metaphor for anyone
being able to step into each other's shoes.
We've got a line in the show, "That because we
come from everywhere, "we all come from away."
Each of our actors plays either a Come From Away or a local,
and at any minute, we could either be welcomed
or we could be welcoming people.
There's something wonderful about remembering that.
∫ Heave away, me jolly boys, we're all bound away ∫
∫ Farewell you Newfoundlander boys, you're leaving us alone ∫
∫ Heave away, me jollies, heave away ∫
- It's also a bit of a Canadian sensibility
in having nothing but a bunch of chairs
and a couple tables and really willing actors...
- Who can put on a show.
Yeah.
- You're everybody and you bounce around
and you take turns and you sing the lead,
you sing the backup.
I feel like those of us that love theater
really just like to get our hands dirty and get in it.
- [Amber] All of the characters in this musical
represent real moments and people.
Although cultures clashed and nerves ran high,
in the end, uneasiness turned into trust,
music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into
enduring friendships.
- What they remember, their experience of that day
was people responding with kindness.
- It's not really a 9/11 story.
It's about all the wonderful things
that happened the next day.
The kindness, the generosity, all the things the
people did for us.
- I feel like that's the good thing
that comes out of tragedy in life
is people come together.
- It is a global story.
Everybody has a memory of that day.
If they're not old enough to have a memory of that day,
they live in the world that was created that day.
- [Amber] As the show tours the country,
it's sure to generate just as much emotion and joy
as it provokes personal memories and reminds us all of the
power of the human spirit.
- We are greater than the sum of our parts.
If we just reach out to one another,
we can find kindness and peace.
- We didn't want to tell a 9/11 story.
We wanted to tell a 9/12 story.
A story about how this small community
responded to a larger event.
That's the story that we fell in love with.
We fell in love with the people that were there
and our experience of coming there.
It's a joy every day to get to share it.
It's a gift.
- Give it a try.
Give it a try; don't be afraid of it
because it really, truly is a story
that will make you feel better.
- I've seen it 107 times.
I laugh.
I cry.
I cry at different parts in the show,
and at the end of the show, my face hurts because
I have smiled so much.
I never get tired of it.
- I've done this my whole life.
I've never worked on a show like this.
- The North American Tour of Come From Away
is coming soon to a theater near you.
Check out Broadway Across America
or you can always go to our website,
TheBalancingAct.com for all the show information,
tour dates, and more.
("Welcome to the Rock" by Irene Sankoff and David Hein)
∫ Welcome to the ∫ ∫ Welcome to the ∫
∫ Welcome to the ∫ ∫ Welcome to the rock ∫
∫ Welcome to the rock ∫ (audience
enthusiastically applauds) (dramatic orchestral music)