Have you heard of the musical Come From Away?
This year has been filled with theatre trips for our little family and this weekend my husband and I went to see Come From Away at the Bristol Hippodrome.
I feel as though Come From Away isn’t as well known as other musicals, possibly as it’s relatively new having only begun touring in the UK this year after a stint in the West End.
What Is Come From Away About?
Come From Away is a musical about the impact the events of 9/11 had on a small town called Gander in the Canadian province of Newfoundland.
At 9.45 am, when the first plane hit the northern tower of the World Trade Center, a complete closure of North American airspace was ordered.
This meant hundreds of planes, heading for airports all over the USA could no longer land at their destination.
Thirty-eight of those planes we redirected to Gander, Canada and Come From Away tells the story of some of the 7,000+ stranded passengers and the community of local people who came together to look after them.
Two strangers meet and fall in love.
A mother is in anguish as she waits for news of her son.
A Muslim man fears for his future.
A couple realise this might be the end of their relationship.
Based on the real stories of both passengers and townspeople, Come From Away is a joyous and uplifting piece of theatre that focuses on the things that bring us together, even in the worst circumstances.
SIX The Musical UK Tour Review
Come From Away Review
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this performance of Come From Away, and even though we are both very familiar with the soundtrack, there were still plenty of things for us to discover and enjoy while we watched.
As I knew the overarching story and themes in Come From Away, I did worry that I would spend the entire show sobbing (and I’ll admit that I did have two packets of tissues at the ready!) but there are plenty of jokes and lighthearted moments that keep it from feeling too heaving.
Each of the actors on stage did a fantastic job of portraying not one, but several characters each (with plenty of very quick costume changes so the audience could see who they were).
While the entire cast was fantastic, Sara Poyzer as Beverley Bass and Anette stood out, possibly as she sang the show’s main ballad, ‘Me And The Sky’.
My favourite song in the show is ‘Prayer’, which takes the Christian hymn ‘Make Me A Channel of Your Peace’ and combines it with prayers and music from other faiths.
This is a stunning moment in the show and I’ll admit I shed I tear or two during this part of the performance.
Another stand-out moment is ‘In The Bar / Heave Away’ where the band joins the cast on stage for a raucous song and dance while the plane people are introduced to some of the Newfoundland customs.
Moments like this help lift Come From Away from being too much about the subject matter of 9/11 and help us rejoice in community spirit.
Overall, we loved every second of this performance and I would happily watch it over and over.
Come From Away – Final Thoughts
As a regular theatre-goer, I rarely leave the theatre feeling quite as uplifted as I did after watching Come From Away this weekend, despite some of the sensitive subject matter involved.
I think the music especially lends to this feeling, so a big shout out to all of the members of the fabulous who played a most wonderful encore before we left the theatre.
For recent theatre trips, this show comes second only to Hamilton.
While I would always advocate for seeing live theatre, I am aware that cost can make this prohibitive, so it’s worth mentioning there is a filmed Pro-shot of Come From Away on Apple TV.
Finally, I just wanted to reiterate that this is not a paid or gifted review, we paid for the tickets ourselves and were lucky enough to find a box for £30 each which I felt was very reasonable for a Saturday afternoon performance.
You can see us enjoying the show in the rather blurry image my friend’s son took below.
If Come From Away is showing at a theatre near you, then I would highly recommend going to see this show.