Theater Review: "Come From Away" Tour at Waterbury's Palace Theater

Review by Patch contributor Nancy Sasso Janis

WATERBURY - The national tour of “Come From Away ‘True Story. Hit Musical” makes a stop at Waterbury’s Palace Theater. This beautiful and unique musical has two remaining performances this weekend.

“Come From Away” is based on actual events that took place on September 11, 2001 and the days that followed when 38 planes were ordered to land in the small town of Gander in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. The characters in the musical are based on real Gander residents as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travelers (along with 19 animals in cargo) that they housed and fed for five days. The creators of this show have told a story that unfolded over the course of five days in a 100 minute musical using only 12 actors.

I still loved everything about this unceasingly creative performance.I once again came away feeling uplifted, despite the subject matter of the tragedy of 9/11. For the older members of the audience, the musical can dredge up painful memories of that awful time, but these somehow add to the experience of the show. There is a surprising amount of gentle humor that perfectly lightens the tone of the performance, which is presented without an intermission. A break would have broken the spell of this face-paced performance.

The action flies along at a strong clip punctuated with an inspired score, as the dozen actors (assisted by eight onstage musicians) quickly move back and forth between the stranded passengers and the Gander residents. It manages not to reach breakneck speed where it would hurt to keep up, and the actors always make it abundantly clear which character they are. While there was some actual choreography, the quick rearrangement of mismatched wooden chairs and the actors/musicians on those chairs held a special choreography of its own. It is fascinating to watch.

The lighting design by Howell Binkley can only be described as stunning, with quick-changing spotlights, colorful touches and an impressive effect of the rain that came after the “plane people” left. Sound design by Gareth Owen was almost flawless.

This truly is an ensemble cast that blended perfectly and played a host of quickly drawn characters. In the order of appearance, Kathleen Cameron (a Connecticut native and NYU Tisch grad) plays Bonnie the SPCA worker and others. Actor/musician Erich Schroeder plays Oz the police constable and others.

Actor, singer, dancer and choreographer Kaitlyn Jackson takes on the role of the trailblazing airline pilot Beverley (“Me and the Sky,”) Annette and others. Jordan Hayakawa (in their national tour debut) plays the role of the brand-new news reporter Janice and others.

Andre Williams is seen as Bob and others in his national tour debut, and Andrew Hendrick plays Clauden the mayor and other characters. Hendrick is a co-producer of the Broadway and West End musical “Be More Chill” and has performed in all 50 US states and nearly 600 performances as Lazar Wolf in the tour of “Fiddler.” Richard Chaz Gomez (“Grinch” national tour) plays one half of the Kevin couple, Garth and others. John Anker Bow (“Kinky Boots” tour) plays Nick, Doug and others.

Ryaan Farhadi (the national tour of Lincoln Center’s “My Fair Lady") takes on the other half of the Kevins, the Egyptian chef Ali and others. The actor sings the lead on “Prayer,” a blend of “Prayer of St. Francis” and other religious pieces. Hannah-Kathryn Wall, who was part of the national tour of “Buddy,” plays the mother of a New York City firefighter and others and Kristin Litzenberg (“Sister Act” tour) gets to tell the “teacher joke” that opens the show in the delightful role of Beulah and others. Tyler Olshansky-Bailon makes her national tour debut to play the role of the Texan Diana and others. Standby Nick Berke is the dance captain.

The wonderful onstage band is conducted by Music Director Sarah Pool Wilhelm, who also plays keyboard, accordion and harmonium. Logan Mitchell plays whistles, Irish flute, and Uilleann pipes. Gioia Gedicks plays fiddle and Matt Kahn plays electric and acoustic guitars. McKinley Foster covers acoustic guitar, mandolins and bouzouki. Isaiah Smith plays both acoustic and electric bass, Spencer Inch plays bodhran and percussion and Brandon Wong is the last to come out for his bow after he played drums and percussion.

As a mother to a musician, I appreciated that most of the musicians became a part of the cast for the number when the passengers are initiated as honorary Newfoundlanders at a local bar ("Heave Away / Screech In.")

Something in the middle of nowhere.
In the middle of clear blue air, you've found
your heart, and left a part of you behind. - “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere”

“Come From Away” features a book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, a Canadian married writing team. During the show’s development, Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam included the show in its Festival of New Musicals

The direction of Christopher Ashley, the artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, has been restaged by Daniel Goldstein. The minimalistic but functional scenery was designed by Beowulf Boritt. Easily changeable costumes were designed by Toni-Leslie James with hair design by David Brian Brown. The musical staging by Kelly Devine has been restaged by Richard J. Hinds. Ian Eisendrath was the music supervisor..

I highly recommend the tour of this uplifting show. The remaining performances are on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Palace Theater. $30 rush tickets are available the day of performance at the box office window. Limited quantity available.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues.