Come from away

 

I am not much of a theater guy, certainly not a musical theater guy, as Dylan once said, just ain't my cup of meat. Or did he?

In any case, I will go grudgingly when asked and my wife definitely enjoys it. Last year we saw Fiddler on the roof at Moonlight and it didn't send me looking for a roof to jump off of so I am making some slow progress.

Our friend Richard is a donor and has second row seats and asked us if we wanted to see this play, Come from away? I am so glad that he did, it was incredible.

The true story recounts an interesting vignette of 9/11. Thousands of airline passengers coming back from various countries were not allowed to fly into New York and were instead diverted and forced to land in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland.

The town was not prepared on any level to take in thirty eight planes, six or seven thousand passengers, the buses were on strike for one thing, there was limited place for shelter but the townspeople and passengers made it work.

The play is a nonstop and captivating ninety minutes. The characters deftly switch roles from passengers to townspeople. It won a Tony and various Olivier awards. The Moonlight gets its original La Jolla and Broadway director, Geno Carr. The cast was topnotch, I was especially taken with the beautiful voice of the woman who played the real life pilot, Beverly Bass, Lulu Lloyd.

I think that the play goes another eleven days. If you want to see it I would buy tickets now, it was marvelous and thought provoking, and mirrors tragic events that happened twenty five years ago this week.

Trust me, you will love this play.