Newfoundland Adventures part 13: Come from Away the hit Broadway Musical

Don and I readily admit it is a little crazy traveling 15,000 miles to see a show we have already seen twice on Broadway, and can watch anytime we want on Apple TV. When Tracey told us she saw the show in 2023, and we later learned it was coming back this summer, we figured out how to do it.

It was worth it! One of our top theater experiences.

The first time we saw the show in New York City I got to chatting with the security guard while Ashley was collecting autographs from the cast. He mentioned the real life Captain Beverly Bass has seen the musical 67 times as of THIS WRITING, it may have increased since then. I remember thinking what a musical about my life would be like. 

Sitting in the audience in the 400 seat Joseph R. Smallwood Centre I wondered how many audience members were in Gander on 9/11. Director Jillian Keiley starts each performance with a small speech. She points to the thousands of crocheted squares visible throughout the theater and tells the audience she wanted this production to feel special so she asked locals to crochet their stories into squares. She hoped for 500 to line the stage. Instead she received over 2,700 squares, each with a written story telling her about that time. (Yes, the website says "over 1,000," but during her speech she cited a much larger number.)

Before each of the eight weekly performances, Jillian has a local come up and tell their first hand story about 9/11. For our performance she invited Brian, the head of the historical society and one of the few people we had already met in Gander when I emailed him to ask for a map of Come from Away spots. He said on 9/11 he was running the aviation museum (which we visited earlier that day). He waived the $3CAD admission for the plane people (admission is now still a bargain at $10CAD). He also said he would keep the museum open as late as people wanted to visit. A thousand people visited from 95 countries. He stayed open from 8:30 am to 1 am -- and hardly slept that week. He wanted to greet everyone in their native language, but couldn't figure that out quickly enough.

Jillian asked us in the spirit of the show to introduce ourselves to our neighbors. Next to me was a couple from Newfoundland. I believe he said it was their first time seeing the show. As he hogged the armrest I gave him more grace than I usually do because we had looked each other in the eye before the show started.

At the end of the show, the on the aisle asked us to pass them as they collected themselves. They, too, had been crying the entire 100 minutes. 

We saw Brian again after the show and asked about specific lines, including "the river behind the Legion" -- we saw the Canadian Legion Hall and there was a street behind it. He said it was in Gambo, not Gander, and that artistic language was taken. Fair enough. He also said Gambo is really the "gayest town in Canada," so we decided to visit Gambo on our way back to St. John's. 

The show was amazing. I was in tears from the first note until the last. Good tears. Therapeutic tears.

We stopped in the art gallery to admire more of the squares up close.

After the show my new friend Jillian (we met at Rosie's as we waited for dinner) asked us what we thought. It was easy to tell her how much we enjoyed it.

As we make the ten-minute walk back to the hotel it starts to drizzle. The rain poetically mirrored the ending of "Come from Away" where the weather was perfect while the CFA's (Come from Aways) were in Gander, then it started to rain. Director Jillian pulled up to us an offered a ride. We would have been fine without the ride, but it was too good of an opportunity to continue the conversation. She was also taking her friend to her hotel. There are two major hotels in town, Jane was staying at the other hotel.

Jillian shared with us how there are times when she is doing a show that the overall experience mirrors what happens on stage. This was one such time. This is her third summer of this production. The first year (the year our friend Tracey saw it was her son, Chris) the town was not ready for the influx of tourists. There were not nearly enough hotel rooms, just like in the show. By this year, the town was more prepared thanks to more AirBnB options. In 2023 when our friends saw the show they stayed in Twillingate because there were no rooms to be had in Gander.

The next morning we went to the Gander Bread Box for toutons (similar to Thomas' English Muffins). The night before we had mentioned the place to Jillian and Jane, but they were not there when we arrived. By the time we placed our order, I had a tap on my shoulder. Jillian was greeting us with a warm smile. It made the Gander experience complete. 

Newfoundland Adventures part 12: Come from Away Signs

Throughout Gander are placards identifying where lines from the musical Come from Away took place. They made the show come to life. When we did sit in the audience the tears started from the first downbeat and did not end until our walk home from the Steele Community Center. 

Real people were involved. 

Real places.

Though dramatized, there is a lot of truth behind the stories.

Twelve actors portray 46 different people. At the time nearly 10,000 people lived in Gander (today it is 13,000). Plus another 7,000 people on the planes. 

Here are some pictures from the 11 places highlighted in Gander. They were also sent to neighboring towns.

A) St. Paul's Intermediate School

The Make-a-Wish children stayed here and were entertained by Commander Gander, hayrides and other fun. Had they made it to Walt Disney World they would have had rain every day of their trip.

  

B) Gander Collegiate (High School)

"4 am in NL is breakfast time in Germany, and we got a lot of passengers here from Frankfurt, so breakfast starts at 4 am and we start scramblin' eggs."

C) College of the North Atlantic

:"Poached eggs, scrambled eggs, omelettes .. fried bologna ... something called 'toutons'."

The two Kevins stayed here.

D) Gander SPCA

The highlight of our tour. We saw the new SPCA. The sign is not yet installed.

While looking at the original SPCA, Don met "Bonnie," yes, the real person the character of Bonnie is based on. She separated some fact from fiction. By the time she got to the airport, the bonobo monkeys were already off the plane and in the care of their two official handlers.

Together with those two, a local vet, and Bonnie, there were four people taking care of the animals. Don said she was very modest in her role. I was waiting for him in the car, meanwhile he was trying to stall Bonnie so I could meet her, too. Missed opportunity.

E) North Atlantic Aviation Museum

I think this made the cut because the current head of the historical society was the former head of the aviation museum. He kept the museum open as late as people wanted to visit it, and did not charge them for their visits. In those days it cost $3 CAD, today it is $10 CAD. Still a bargain.

Over 1,000 of the plane people from 95 countries over the five days. Like many, Brian worked around the clock to take care of their CFAs.

Commander Gander, the town mascot

F) Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce

"Yes Gander is large enough to land planes and your family will be safe and well cared for. And I will get a message to your loved ones if you have the flight information."

G) Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 8

Rumor has it the real Beulah has a corner inside where she does regular "screechings." I did not see anything about how to do this. I saw a sign in St. John's offering "family friendly" screechings, and one in Trinity where I could pay someone $20 for a screeching ceremony, but did not find a place to do it in Gander.

H) Gander Academy

I) Steele Community Center

The Steele Community Center is the hub of the city. Come from Away first debuted on the makeshift theater on the hockey rink. This summer it is being performed in the 400-seat theater attached to the hockey rink. When hockey was cancelled, the mayor ordered all of the food to be sent to "the world's largest walk-in refrigerator."

"After 5 days, they just ran the Zamboni over the ice, and played hockey."

Debut of Come from Away

When we were there they were set up
to handle refugees from the fires
happening an hour north of them

J) Gander Town Hall

"On the northeast tip of North America, on an island called Newfoundland, there's an airport -- it used to be one of the biggest airports in the world. And next to it is a town called Gander."

A picture of all 38 planes that landed
in Gander

One of three pieces of WTC steel in Gander.
A fourth (the largest) is a town away.

Letters dropped in this box are sent to
families of 9/11 victims

K) Gander Fire Rescue

"Someone told me your son's a firefighter -- and mine is, too, here in town, and I know -- Gander's not New York, but is there anything I can do?" ~ Beulah to Hannah. In real life, both parents were in Gander, not just the mother.

I understand this is a rather long post. I'm impressed if you made it this far. There will be a second post with other places we saw in Gander and surrounding towns that do not have signs in front of them, but do feature in the show.

There will also be a post with pictures of the pieces of World Trade Center steel.

Newfoundland Adventures part 11: Gander Airport

On a normal day, we get a half dozen flights — 

now we've already got three times that many landing in two hours. It's a lot of noise. You can smell the fuel. You can smell the exhaust. 

~~ 38 PLANES

Come from Away starts and ends with the Gander Airport. 

In the post-WWII era planes would land in Gander to refuel making it one of the busiest airports in the world. Famous and infamous people such as Frank Sinatra,  Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, Adolf Hitler, and Queen Elizabeth II all landed at the Gander Airport. 

Locals would hang out at the bar -- the first 24-hour bar in Newfoundland -- to see was coming. It was the biggest employer, and the center of entertainment.

Today, as Bonnie said in the song 38 Planes, they get a half dozen flights. 

When we planned our trip I asked Tracey for advice. She suggested flying in and out of St. John's. It was only after I booked that I realized I could have flown in and out of Gander. A quick search on Expedia showed the prices is about the same. I'm just not convinced they have rental cars. I'm glad we saw St. John's.

The Gander Airport has a few metered parking spaces out front. They require four 25 cent pieces or a looney. That gets you half an hour of parking. I'm not even sure they check.

Original First Class Lounge

Inside is a large waiting area. Behind it is the original first class lounge. The bathrooms look like a step back in time, too. There is a gift shop, an art gallery, a museum, and the original escalator -- the first in Gander. The escalator is not running. In its heyday, it provided much entertainment for children waiting for flights. Up the escalator. Down the staircase. Or the reverse.

On the wall facing the second floor is an enormous mural. It was too big to appreciate in a quick glance. 

Back in the lounge is a statue of geese. They say rubbing it brings good luck. We can all use good luck.

In the museum I met a family. The wife pointed to the typewriter people were encouraged to use to write a message on and said "I used to play on one in my grandparent's house." OUCH! Don used one for his college papers. I used one through high school. The did remember 9/11, so perhaps they were not as young as my first impression. They were up from St. John's to see the play.

You never know who might be at the bar

The Ladies' Room had a crown to represent
Queen Elizabeth II.
The Men's Room had Frank Sinatra