‘Come From Away’: When Gander Welcomed the World

How a small Newfoundland town fed, housed, comforted, and embraced 7,000 stranded travelers

‘Come From Away,’ playing at the Majestic Theater through May, is one of the most inspiring and needed musicals that the company could have chosen. It was such a perfect pick in today’s climate of animosity and tariffs separating Canada and the U.S. I asked producing director Danny Eaton why it took so long to bring this wonderful show to their stage, and he said it just became available.  We left the theater inspired by the true events in Gander, Newfoundland, on which the show was based, singing their songs and feeling the warmth they provided to the strangers stuck in their town.

I last saw Chelsea Nectow in the Majestic’s production of ‘The Ladyslipper’ in 2024. She’s a first-rate equity actor who, in this show, belts out numbers like ‘Me and the Sky.’ This was her strongest song as pilot Beverley, telling her life story — her childhood dream of flying, the sexism she fought through, and the devastation of 9/11.

The musical was performed with a cast of twelve, who played both the passengers and the locals, and everyone had a double role. They rearranged the chairs to create airline, bus, and local cafe seats. Characters popped out with facts about the remarkable story of putting up 7,000 strangers for four nights. When a moment of silence was declared across the U.S., each of the passengers in Gander stood still for the duration.

They all used 2001-era tiny cellphones to add verisimilitude. What a memorable event–who doesn’t look back on 9/11 with anxiousness–and this little slice of kindness struck millions after the story was revealed when the skies reopened.

The live seven-piece band on stage added musical depth; the violin set the stage for poignant dialogue about loss, about fear, and about what the heck was happening back home while everyone was stranded here. The character of Claude (Will McGarrahan) was one of the strongest in the show, playing the mayor fighting with the bus driver union boss about stopping their strike, and later as the mayor of a neighboring town who plies the passengers with local whisky. His grim-faced assessments and mannerisms really looked mayoral…and decisive. Nobody knew what to do; somebody had to decide, right?

David Webber also stood out in his roles as the only Arab passenger on the plane who faces prejudice, and as the lightweight ‘sexytary’ for his boyfriend, who is also named Kevin.  Every character in the musical was based on a real person, and we see their photos at the very end, as the violinist and guitarist come on stage for the finale.  Part of the true appeal of ‘Come From Away’ is the reality behind the songs.

What the citizens of Gander did over those five days was inspiring, not make-believe, and it got real when Bob (Martinez Napoleon) was instructed to go out and steal people’s gas grills, and the locals ended up helping him.  “I’d get shot if I did that back home,” he says.  Those five days were golden, never to be repeated, and all of the characters reflect deeply when they return home on what they had experienced. Some kept in touch, some coupled up. “You’d have done the same,” was the humble retort when so many passengers tried to give the locals money. They wouldn’t take it.

It was clear when the last airliner was finally able to take off from Gander on September 16, 2001, that the formation of relationships and Gander’s effect on both the locals and the passengers lasted far beyond the five days spent on the Rock.

Come From Away, Majestic Theater. Tickets are $35-$38 and can be purchased online at majestictheater.com or by calling (413) 747-7797. Tickets