Let’s go on tour with Come From Away!

I’ve spoken about Come From Away numerous times before, but this is not about the real people who were either diverted to Newfoundland or lived there since 9/11 and during the days following. This is not going to be about the Broadway Cast either. This month, I’m going to be talking about taking my best friend and her daughter to see the USA Tour Cast in Durham, North Carolina.

I’ve never seen this cast before. The same can be said for Dayna and Aislin so I knew this was going to be slightly new for me and very new for them. Dayna and Aislin had never seen any Broadway caliber show before. On January 18, 2020, I took them to their first ever show of this magnitude.

The show was going to be at the Durham Performing Arts Center, not too far from their house, which was handy. Dayna drove, I sat in her front seat and Aislin was in the backseat. Once we arrived, at first, we weren’t entirely sure how to work the parking, but we found a parking garage diagonally across the street from the center and drove upwards into it and parked on the first level not marked for employees, we got out, and in the rain, we walked to the Durham Performing Arts Center, better known as DPAC. There were lines outside to get in and special precautions to check bags and whatnot, just like at an airport, which was smart if you ask me. Nobody around us complained, everyone followed directions and we got inside quicker than I was expecting. Once inside, the three of us found our seats on the top balcony and I took my celebratory must-take-a-picture of the stage while they went to the bathroom. When they came back, I rushed to the bathroom and then rushed back just about in time for the show to start.

Neither of them knew what they were about to watch, or what they were getting themselves into when the onstage band/orchestra started and I watched their eyes light up at the first notes. The beautiful music and beat started off “Welcome To The Rock” and I turned to look towards Dayna who was smiling and at Aislin, whose eyes were wide with excitement. I couldn’t help but smile as the show took off without a hitch. The show started and, though I was watching the stage and the show through my own eyes, I also watched it through theirs and that was a whole new experience for me.

Sitting there in our seats on the tallest balcony of the theatre, I couldn’t help but mouth the words of the show that has come to mean so much to me and partly marked the dancing on stage alongside them right there in my aisle seat.

The show went on and after Welcome To The Rock, the show kept going and the wonderful actors and actresses went through the show, showing and telling us the stories of the real people, who were there in Gander and surrounding towns like Gambo, Appleton, Lewisporte, Norris Arm, and Glenwood. Thirty eight planes had to land at Gander YQX Airport when the United States Airspace shut down for the first time EVER. And the people of those towns pulled together and did everything they could for the strangers, who literally dropped down upon them. These towns were not the only ones who did, but they are the ones, who are shown in this musical and I’ll be talking about them since that was what we were watching.
I kept going between watching the show itself and watching Dayna and Aislin. I wanted to see it through their eyes, witness their reactions, and to keep my eye on them to double-check that they were okay. I caught both of them nearly crying a few times, but I also caught them laughing too (Dayna laughed more than Aislin did, as I recall) and to be honest, despite knowing what was coming and what was about to happen in the show, I STILL cried and laughed at the same time…

I knew Dayna had experience being on lockdown at the Airforce base she lived on at the time of September 11th, and so I mostly kept my eyes on her. I wanted and needed to make sure that she was okay. Yes, I wanted to be sure that Aislin was okay too, but she wasn’t alive at the time, and she wouldn’t have been affected as much, but still, that was why we had Aislin sitting between us, which was both of our ideas. Aislin, ten years of age at the time, pulled herself together quickly a number of times from what I’d seen, which I wasn’t surprised about because she’s a very strong young lady, having been taught to be that way by her mother (a thing I’m REALLY proud of both of them for). Throughout the show I saw both of them tear up, and for me, knowing everything I did about this show, I just wanted to be sure they were both okay through the whole show.

After the show, despite the fact that I wanted to stage door, Dayna didn’t feel comfortable, and I didn’t blame her, but I wish I could have met the cast of the tour. After we got back to Dayna’s house, Aislin and Dayna both were excited and we all told James, her husband, everything we saw. They mentioned some of the specific parts that they’d liked the best, Dayna mentioned how she loved the character of Beulah and how she got to say a number of really funny lines throughout the show, and how kind she was to the others, especially to the character named Hannah. Aislin was excited about the music and how it all sounded, and she had even asked for a beanie hat while we had been at the show, which I got for her, and she was really excited about showing that to James too.

Seeing how excited they both were put a huge smile on my face and made all the driving I had to do to get there worth every second of it. It made me feel amazing to have been able to share this beautiful piece of art with them, and I am so glad they enjoyed it just as I knew they would!
I asked both Dayna and Aislin about their thoughts on the show, so that I can add that into my piece and here is what they said.  
Aislin “I liked it, music was good”

Dayna: “I enjoyed it, I mean it’s one of those plays that’s on that topic that I can clearly remember where I was on September 11th 2001. It’s an interesting perspective to see what might have happened to others in different places at the same time. Well-done play, I’m not really good at expressing myself but I liked it.” 

Thank you’s go to the two swings who went on that night, Brandon Springman (as Kevin T/Garth), and Jenny Ashman (as Diane), as well as the rest of the cast, Sharone Sayegh (Bonnie), Harter Clingman (Oz), Marika Aubrey (Bev/Annette), Julia Knitel (Janice), James Earl Jones Jr (Bob), Kevin Carolan (Claude), Chamblee Ferguson (Nick/Doug), Nick Duckart (Kevin J/Ali), Danielle K Thomas (Hannah), and Julie Johnson (Beulah), and those who were not on stage that night, Christine Toy Johnson (Diane) and Andrew Samonsky (Kevin T/Garth). Thank you, Durham Performing Arts Center, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and the real people who inspired this beautiful piece of art called Come From Away!