‘Come From Away’ coming to PPAC
PROVIDENCE – “Come From Away” is coming back to the Providence Performing Arts Center – and so is actor Kevin Carolan.
Carolan portrays Claude Elliott, mayor of Gander, Newfoundland, the small town where nearly 7,000 passengers were stranded when the 9/11 terrorist attacks abruptly grounded all flights in U.S. airspace.
Thirty-eight planes, including jumbo jets, landed at the Gander airport, which literally came up on the radar as the first point of contact with North America for flights from Europe.
Nobody knew how long the passengers, pilots and crew – who roughly doubled the population of the town -- would be staying, but Mayor Elliott led the town-wide effort to house, feed and make folks from disparate countries, cultures and opinions, feel welcome.
Ten years after the event, the husband-and-wife writing team of Irene Sankoff and David Hein traveled to Gander to speak with townspeople and passengers who had gathered to mark the anniversary. They took notes, made recordings and ultimately turned the true story into a Broadway musical that has been winning hearts, minds and awards ever since.
Like the Carolan/Elliott pairing, the characters are based on real people: townspeople who generously opened their homes to the stranded visitors, and the people from the planes, including a woman worried about her son, a New York City firefighter, and a pilot, the first female captain for American Airlines.
Individual stories are told in the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning score and as characters recount their experiences.
“We step out of some scenes and tell the story using direct address to the audience,” Carolan explained.
Carolan’s Mayor Elliott is a central character and one he has been playing since the national tour began in 2018 and landed at PPAC in late 2019. When the pandemic shut down just about everything in March 2020, the break gave Carolan the
opportunity for bariatric surgery, and when the tour resumed in October 2021 he was more than 100 pounds slimmer than in his original iteration.
Going from stout to slim hasn’t changed his portrayal or his admiration for Mayor Elliott. He, like many members of the cast, met his real-life counterpart, who he describes as a “wonderful, wonderful man.”
Another thing that hasn’t changed is how heart-warming and uplifting this show is without going overboard into sentimentality.
“That was something considered during development (of the show) and one of the things we are directed toward: Presenting the story in and of itself without added embellishment,” Carolan said during a telephone interview this month.
“There is a scene where we all are watching television monitors showing what happened in New York City that could tread into that overly sentimental feeling,” he said.
“But our director, Chris Ashley, says we are the vessels for audience members who remember the event. We, essentially, are just there. We let the audience do the (emotional) heavy lifting,” drawing on personal recollections and feelings.
Just 100 intermission-less minutes long, “Come From Away” is filled with generosity, unexpected joy and lots of music, much of it Celtic inspired and lively.
“We finish with a nice little jam with our band,” Carolan said.
“Come From Away” is on stage Feb. 21-26 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St. Tickets are $38$80 at the box office in the theater, online at ppacri.org, and by phone at (401) 421ARTS (2787). On Family Night, Feb. 22, buy one full-priced ticket and get one of equal value for free for a child up to age 18. Quantities are limited, available only at the box office or by phone on a first-come, first-served basis.