New production of ‘Come From Away’ to play Gander in 2023

“Come From Away,” the moving Canadian musical about a small town that supported thousands of stranded air travelers following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will return to the Newfoundland community that inspired the show.

The Tony Award-winning musical, which recently concluded its five-year Broadway run, will perform at Gander next summer, marking the first fully staged production of « Come From Away » in Newfoundland and Labrador. Labrador. The show will run from July 7 to September 3 at the Joseph R Smallwood Arts and Culture Center, with an official opening on July 22 after two weeks of preview performances.

« It means the world will bring a local production of our show back to Gander, at the Arts and Culture Center where we first listened to interviews in 2011, » said Irene Sankoff, who co-wrote the comedy. music with her husband, David Hein. , during an announcement Friday morning. « So when we sing ‘You are here’, it’ll be the only ‘Come From Away’ production in the world where that’s true. »

The revamped version will be directed by Newfoundland and Labrador director Jillian Keiley, who recently completed her term as Artistic Director of the National Arts Center’s English Theater Division.

The new production is the first non-replica iteration of the musical in North America. The original Broadway production, which opened in 2017, was directed by Christopher Ashley. Replicas of this production continue to tour North America and Australia. The musical’s West End tour is set to wrap up in January.

A concert version of « Come From Away » toured Gander twice: in 2016, before the musical hit Broadway, and again in September with members of the Toronto, Broadway and Australian companies.

Michael Rubinoff, the original producer of ‘Come From Away’ and executive producer of the upcoming Newfoundland production, said there was « always a desire » to bring in a fully staged production. in Gander.

“As the show stopped at certain locations after historic tours, there was a demand caused by schools and professional theater companies interested in producing the show,” Rubinoff said. « But what was important to David, Irene and myself was the only place a new production needed to be launched was in Gander: the community where the story took place. »

The cast for the upcoming production has yet to be announced, but Rubinoff told The Star that Keiley’s vision is to have a « strong presence » of Newfoundland artists.

A press release on Friday touted next year’s production as a « inaugural run » for the redesigned version. Pressed further, Rubinoff said it was a « first try » and that the team had « big dreams for the future ».

Tickets for Gander’s production of « Come From Away » go on sale Monday at noon.

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