The award‑winning show about compassion in the wake of 9/11 lands at the Forum Theatre this March, with NK Theatre Arts taking on one of the most demanding productions in modern musical theatre.
by Ian Cheeseman
When the hit musical, Come From Away, became available for amateurs to perform, I noticed lots of societies around the country, and of course in Greater Manchester, chomping at the bit to stage their own versions.
The show made it’s Broadway debut as recently as 2017 and is based on a true story at the time of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. It tells of thousands of air travellers who were forced to land in the small Newfoundland town of Gander, when the attacks on the US, grounded all flights.
Thirty-eight planes carrying around seven thousand passengers landed at the town’s modest airport, which more or less temporarily doubled the population. In times of crisis, humanity steps up and those on the planes were taken into homes and fed and watered. Friendships were formed that have lasted until today.
Jen and John play various characters in the show. John says one of the biggest challenges is mastering the various accents, “I go from the Newfoundland accent into Los Angeles or a deep south way of speaking.” Jen says that’s just one of the many challenges the cast face, “There’s costume changes plus there’s a lot of movement and a lot of dialogue to learn.”
When you think of choreography, you generally think of dance, and while Come From Away has a lot of movement that has to be in unison, it’s not dance. “It’s the most challenging production I’ve been involved in”, says Jen, “but the movement can be complicated because you are relying on the set being in the right place at the right time and of course the rest of the cast. We have to work really closely together to get it absolutely bob on.”
John describes it as, “Box choreography. We’ve chosen not to use chairs like they did in the professional show, we’re using luggage. It’s vital we understand the people and do the story justice, because we are portraying real people. This was a real story coming out of the tragedy of 9/11 but celebrating the positives that came from the experience”.
I’ve seen the professional show several times. There’s no interval but the show wizzes by. I highly recommend it and I feel those talented folk at NK Theatre Arts will do it proud.
Come From Away – NK Theatre Arts, Forum Theatre, Romiley, 25–28 March