‘A 9/12 story’: Response to tragedy done as a musical

No one had seen anything like it. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, 38 airplanes were diverted to the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland.

Ganderites opened their homes, cooked meals for 7,000 stranded passengers and offered music jams in the lodges and school gymnasiums where hundreds of “come from aways” slept on cots and on floors.

There were people from Africa, from Moldova. A heavy metal throatsinging band from Tuva. Dozens of nationalities, dozens of languages spoken, and everyone’s needs were met beyond expectation.

That phenomenon inspired “Come From Away,” a musical that opens Jan. 8 at the Golden Gate Theatre. Depicting the five days when Gander opened its arms and its population swelled, the show opened on Broadway in March 2017, where it won a Tony for best direction of a musical and where it still sells out each performance.

Featuring 12 actors who all play multiple parts, it’s a rousing, fast-paced celebration of resilience, community and human kindness. The New York Times called it “a big bearhug of a musical.”

“We didn’t want to write a 9/11 story,” says David Hein, who created the book, music and lyrics for “Come From Away” with his wife, Irene Sankoff. “That’s one of the reasons we call it a 9/12 story. It’s about how this little town responded to this bigger tragedy.

“We used the words ‘World Trade Center’ once and the word ‘terrorist’ once in the entire show.”

Hein, 42, and Sankoff, 43, are sitting in a