Steffi Didomenicantonio Performer: Janice and others

That last show was the strangest experience. I have a line in the show, “Stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion’s Club.” It usually gets a laugh, but people were going for minutes afterwards because at that point toilet paper was a hot commodity.

What’s great about this show is that if you take it into any context it still applies. The pandemic has really showed us how we need each other more than ever. Not being able to hug anybody for this amount of time? It’s wild.

The person I’ve been talking to the most is our stage manager, Lisa Humber — we have an isolation talk show, “Check In From Away.” And we have interviewed a bunch of our “Come From Away” crew and cast on it. It’s been a lifesaver for me. We have had a bunch of amazing people on, Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath,

Louise Pitre, Melissa O’Neil, Dan Chameroy, Melanie Doane, I’m name-dropping so hard.

Unknowingly I think Lisa and I were trying to find a way to keep the arts and artists in the forefront of people’s minds, how we didn’t disappear.

I think one of my biggest struggles during this time has been, if I separate myself from being a performer and an actor, who am I underneath? So much of my identity has been tied into performing. I’ve never had a moment not being creative or in a show; it’s the first time in I don’t even know how many years where I’ve actually had to sit in silence by myself in my apartment.

I think it’s like almost redundant to say I’m an extrovert because it’s so obvious, but being forced to be in an introverted situation has been interesting. I have definitely gone through ups and downs. Zoom has been great, but it’s really just not the same. I feed off the energy of people, and I love meeting new people and making new friends.

At the beginning I wasn’t leaving my house for five or six days at a time, I was really taking it to heart, but it also made me realize that I do like spending time by myself in the quiet sometimes. I’m just not used to it.

“The pandemic has really showed us how we need each other more than ever,” says Steffi Didomenicantonio, who portrays Janice and others in the show.