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# MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW: Come From Away @Phoenix Theatre, London
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/review-come-from-away-phoenix-theatre-london/
- Published: 2019-02-26T17:03:36.000Z
- Updated: 2019-04-14T13:49:04.000Z
- Description: Among our indelible memories of 9/11 are undoubtedly the fall of the Twin Towers, the heroism of the NYC firefighters and the resilient spirit of the city’s residents and visitors.
- Author: Brian Butler

## Among our indelible memories of 9/11 are undoubtedly the fall of the Twin Towers, the heroism of the NYC firefighters and the resilient spirit of the city’s residents and visitors.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-600-2-16.jpg)

**BUT in far-off Gander,** Newfoundland, there was a different manifestation of the goodness of the human spirit. That day when the US airspace was closed, some 200 planes were diverted to a little known airport “on a rock in the sea” in Canada.

***Come from Away*** is a staggeringly beautiful , resonant and life-enhancing musical based on real-life testimony of both stranded passengers and crew and the residents of Gander , whose population grew from 9,000 to 16,000 in just one fateful day.

From its high energy opening number *Welcome to the Rock*, the hit Broadway show, written by **Irene Sankoff** and **David Hein**, makes us laugh and cry in equal measure but is never for one second sentimental or blindly optimistic.

With songs and dances in a punchy, bouncy Gaelic rock style, it takes us into the lives of ordinary and yet extraordinary people .

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-600-79.jpg)

It’s an ensemble piece but there are stand-out performances from **Clive Carter** as Gander’s beleaguered mayor, and **Rachel Tucker** as Beverley Blass, America’s first female airplane captain.

Carter is jovial, firm, harassed, compassionate and down to earth. Tucker is resilient, determined and yet shattered by her 9/11 experiences. Her song *Me and the Sky* is a high point in this 100 minutes of inventive, lively and thought-provoking entertainment.

And it’s no straightforward biopic or rosy view of humanity. There is fear, anger, mistrust and misinformation – just like everywhere else in life.

But what the cast of 12 pulls off is something quite magical. We meet Catholic, Muslim, Jew and non-believers rubbing on alongside each other – the local cop, bartender, college principal and rooky TV reporter on her first assignment – and we grasp that real drama can be found in the most mundane places.

Director **Christopher Ashley** keeps the cast at a frighteningly high-speed momentum and MD **Alan Berry** gets a variety of sounds and moods from his fellow 7 musicians. Our toes are tapping throughout.

Musicals based on real-life events tend to have a short shelf life, fading with the passing memories of the audience.

9/11 is clearly not in that mould, and I’m guessing that in 20 years, somewhere they’ll still be singing *Welcome to the Rock*.

**Come from Away** is at the Phoenix Theatre, London, booking through till September.

**Review by Brian Butler**