Three Canadians cast in Come From Away’s premiere
Story of passengers stranded in Newfoundland after 9/11 written by married writers
Three Canadians will be in the cast when a musical written by two Torontonians about a city in Newfoundland gets its professional premiere at a California theatre. Come From Away was written by the husband-and-wife team of Irene Sankoff and David Hein, best known for their joyous Fringe Festival hit, My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, which Mirvish Productions later picked up for a successful commercial run.
Their new show will begin previews at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, Calif., on May 29 for a run extending through July 5, before going on to a run at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
The three Canadians in its cast of 12 are Newfoundlander Petrina Bromley, who was seen in Oil and Water at Factory Theatre; Astrid Van Wieren, who has numerous hits to her credit, including Mamma Mia! and the recent Montreal smash production of Belles Soeurs: The Musical; and Lee MacDougall, a veteran of Canadian musical theatre for decades, including the memorable Canadian premiere of Urinetown.
Come from Away tells the story of what happened in Gander, N.L., in the aftermath of Sept. 11, when 38 planes were obliged to touch down there because of airport lockdowns around the world.
Sankoff and Hein explore the interaction of stranded passengers from around the world with Newfoundland’s unique sensibility as they find away through the greater world tragedy by personal connection.
Michael Rubinoff first developed the work with the Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College through two years of student workshops and then it went on to further development at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.
It came to the attention of director Christopher Ashley, best known for the Tony Award-winning Memphis, who is also the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, one of America’s most highly regarded regional theatres and the cradle of such Broadway hits as Jersey Boys and 700 Sundays.