Broadway Across Canada’s Come from Away

There’s still time to get tickets for Come from Away, Epic Canadian Musical

Last week, I had the awesome privilege of seeing Come From Away at the National Arts Centre. As a long-time homeschooler and mother of five, I have always taken my children to the theatre. While Broadway Across Canada has been to Ottawa many times, we had never been to a show because there are so many of us and, frankly, Broadway tickets are a bit of a splurge. A night out with just my partner, Adam, seemed like the perfect way to see if shows like this would be a good fit for our entire family - only one way to find out!

I was incredibly excited to see the show, as I could recall seeing it once before when I was in Ireland. I deliberately don’t read through plots, listen to soundtracks, or read up on cast before I go to a show to leave a little mystery for myself, so I was pleasantly surprised when the music kicked in, the amazing ensemble began the first song, and it was a play that I had never been to! Somehow I had mixed up the titles and I was getting to see a new Broadway show for the first time ever, which is a real treat for me since I’ve been going to the theatre regularly for the past two decades. The first thing I thought of was how much my children would all love the show. 

There aren't enough good things to say about Come From Away, but I will start by saying that it’s a musical that every Canadian should see. This is an uplifting (though sometimes upsetting) story about how the town of Gander, Newfoundland and the surrounding communities took in 7000 passengers from flights that had to be diverted from American airspace during 9/11. We follow both the townsfolk and the passengers through a beautiful retelling of the individual stories and emotions of that difficult time.

The ensemble cast does an incredible and seamless job of all playing multiple characters. In fact, it’s so well done that it took me a while to realize that some of them were doubling up. As actors jumped from character to character, they totally transformed, creating a massive cast of characters out of a small ensemble.

In addition to seamless and virtually flawless acting that immersed you in the story non-stop, the cast could sing! That certainly should be a given, since this is a Broadway show, however when I say they could sing, I really mean it! Some of the songs were wildly complex and all were either fun, haunting, or a mix of the two. With a stellar band on stage and an amazing cast, music could have taken over to be the star of the show if everything else wasn’t so top-notch as well!

Overall, I could not have thought of a better way to spend an evening. Come From Away was a great date night, to be sure, but would also make an amazing educational experience for families with children of all ages. And guess what - our experiment was successful! We have definitely determined that the Broadway Across Canada shows are well worth it and we’re already looking towards their next show in Ottawa - Aladdin - for the whole family!