“The Lion’s Club is looking for toilet paper, if you have any extra”……. “For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion’s Club!” It’s a comic relief moment, but it gives me chills because it shows how immediate and overwhelming the outpouring of support must have been
Newfoundlander here: That sounds exactly right. We're very blunt with a sense of humor about everything. When the call goes out we all pitch in. I remember in the winter of 2020 we had a storm here in st. John's that had over 100cm of snow with hurricane force winds in less than 24 hours. The whole of metro was shut down. Many street in the downtown were completely snowed in for a couple of days. What did we do? We made bon fires and skied and snowboarded down the streets. We treated like a little neabourhood party and slowly helped eachother dig out. Stores pitched in to make sure essentials were available. It reminded us that we are very good at coming together when the need arises. While it was stressful, (well at least myself) actually have fond memories of it. We made a bad time happy, and that's just the way we are.
It is not a comic relief moment, it actually happened that way. Canadians are just funny like that. Another moment is 'Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart. Would you like to come my house for a shower.' Again actually happened. And yes there is a Walmart in Gander
My husband said there was no way he could figure that out. I said he (Garth?) was probably Baptist because I could’ve done it. We had to start memorizing the books of the Bible and verses at a young age and had “sword” drills every week. That was a verse we were required to learn and of course, we could figure out where it is by just counting through the books of the New Testament. So he’s right, if it was a Bible, it would have the same numbering system.
@@sigsin1 and more than just the numbering, with some languages, you can pick up certain words, especially proper nouns which are probably more similar in multiple languages. I don't know what language these people spoke, but I will use Swahili as an example (as that's one I'm familiar with). Wakorintho = Corinthians Wathesolinike = Thessalonians Wafilipi = Philippians Not all languages would be that easy, just showing an example of how it's possible. Worst case though, could just count books until you get to the right one.
Just before that.....where the Chad Kimball as the bus drive says "We got out our Salvation Army uniforms to greet our guests." or something close to that. The very next line is Rodney Hicks as an African passenger "There were soldiers everywhere!". Fabulous. Just beautiful. Because it got me thinking. It delivered the emotion and made me put in the work to digest and understand what I was feeling.
It's such a shame that thread didnt really carry over through the show. I know it was already about 100 minutes, but making that communication gap so prominent and then basically only using it for 2 jokes otherwise, it left me wanting more information
@@sigsin1 Former Baptist who sent her older kids to AWANA… they memorized sooo many verses with the book/chapter/verse numbers. And that verse is one of those that virtually every Christian has at least heard before. I absolutely believe that could have happened
For me, the moment that really got me that I'd never notice before (I've seen the show on Broadway) was at the end of "Prayer." When the man who'd confessed to being Jewish, after praying with the Rabbi, gets up and offers the Rabbi back the yarmulke he'd given him while they prayed. But the Rabbi refused to take it, silently saying, "You keep that." The man puts his hand on the Rabbi's shoulder in thanks before walking away. Just little moments like that in a show where so much is happening are what makes this a truly great musical. No moment is wasted.
As a Jew who was in Manhattan that day, that entire exchange was incredibly emotional including that act of kindness of the Rabbi gesturing to the older man to keep the yarmulke.
@@jayschneiderman2866 I'm not Jewish, but I have studied the Shoah in depth. Are you familiar with Irena Sendler? She smuggled over 1000 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, children who were handed over to convents and Christian families to raise as Christians. I can't imagine the agony of a mother handing over her child, knowing she would probably never see them again, and that their entire identity was to be wiped from this earth. Irena kept a list of the Hebrew names of all of the children she rescued and buried them in canning jars, unfortunately they were never found. She is buried in the Main Cemetery in Warsaw, and was named Righteous Among the Nations. As an aside, I lived in a commuter town in NJ. I had left my job in NYC two months before September 11th. The town I lived in, like many NJ commuter towns, was ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse. Too many people never came home that day.
As someone who was working in a hospital in Manhattan and who lost a family member in the towers, I had been avoiding this show despite the fact that I love Broadway theater, grew up next to an airport, and worked in aerospace (and hopefully will do again soon). The end of "Me and the Sky" always gets me, as I know who Beverly Bass was and her role in aerospace history, and that I lost my dream job in aerospace taken away from me in a sudden unexpected traumatic moment, I felt a personal connection to Beverly's loss and feeling the sudden disconnection from being in the sky. The unexpected huge emotional hit was during Prayer when the Rabbi entered and started singing Oseh Shalom. I'm Jewish and heard this song almost every week in temple, and even performed it as part of our temple's youth chorus many times, so it was immediately familiar and I knew it was a prayer for peace. What I didn't expect was the memory it brought back. I have clear memories of my actions and what I witnessed on September 11th, however the following week I have problems remembering other then I knew I made it to my parent's house in the NYC suburbs on the 12th or 13th. When I heard the opening of Oseh Shalom, I remembered something that was part of that blur. It was a clear memory of that Friday evening, in the temple I grew up in with my family for the service for the start of the sabbath. I remember it was packed so full that people had to stand, and looking around at the other people, many who I hadn't seen in years, feeling that sense of community all coping together. With that memory I just started to cry, and when I thought it was waining in came the man who was sent to Canada as a small child to avoid the Holocaust. That connection between the antisemitism of Nazi Germany and the is Islamophobia cause by 9/11 just made me start crying again. I love the show, but I always have tissues ready when I hear the soundtrack or watch the filmed performance.
For me, it's always this one moment in "Me and the Sky", when Beverley sings "And the one thing I love more than anything was used as the bomb" INSTANT CHILLS and also the fact that you know it's coming from such a professional pilot makes is even more heartbreaking... Also, the entirety of "Something's missing" in which they talk about how IT's still burning and that they were missing the Gandar people so much. There's just so many of these moments in this show + something you can only hear in the recording when the mayor explains why they couldn't make them land in a bigger city like Ottawa: "Because if something goes wrong we have a lot less people to lose" THAT hit hard D:
These are my crying moments too. The “because if something goes wrong we have less people to lose” is such an underrated line that is so unbelievably sad.
My husband is an aircraft mechanic and we both love planes and all this hits HARD and he and I were kids when this all happened. I cried and it was an emotional release I didn’t know I needed.
Especially because it interrupts the happy memories she's really rushing through. She talks about everything that got in her way, and then when she talks about her career really solidifying and her family growing up, it feels so brief. The next thing that gets a lot of detail is this one day that made everything feel uncertain again, it's like it takes over her mood when she wasn't ready for that conversation
I agree about all of these, but the moment that breaks me was one that isn't on the album. it took me by surprise when i finally watched it. it's when Kevin T is walking in downtown Gander when all of a sudden, a bell chimes and every single resident of Gander just STOPS and bows their heads. they were observing a moment of silence to honor the dead, and it blows kevin away because this wasn't their country or their people, yet they cared just as much about remembering the dead as people in ground zero did.
I love that you caught the writing of the check in Somewhere! It's such a great moment that rarely gets noticed because there is so much happening there. I was on the North American tour and here's a fun fact: in our production whenever a company member left the show, at their final performance our Claude would make the check out to them and give it to them as a farewell keepsake. Love your videos!
That's pretty awesome, I think that's a great tradition to have had for your tour. Did you end up getting one, too, or did Claude's portrayer leave before you did?
One of the parts that make me cry is the song, “The Prayer”. You have this mix of different religions in this perfect harmony; one of the scenes is when Ali is talking about how he can feel people looking at me and I think it’s Annette who tells him that the library is being used as a center for prayer or just to get some peace and quiet
The moment for me is during me and the sky, there’s a dramatic shift from the dream of being a pilot to the nightmare it had become. I cried so hard in the last verse but what really got me was when she sang the last line “suddenly there’s something in between me and the sky”. Another one is in Something’s Missing when they say the line “how do I tell him I wasn’t just okay, I was so much better”. That BROKE me
Hannah confirming her son died was just gut wrenching. As someone who never saw the show or did research before, I had the feeling he didn’t survive, but it’s that hope maybe this is the happy ending for her.
So many good moments here. I'll add mine since I don't see it in the comments: when they get back and Bob says, "My dad asks, 'Were you ok out where you were stranded?' How do I tell him I wasn't just ok, I was so much better?" I could just feel how he got a sense of safety there, and then came back feeling the difference
I got that, too. Everyone wanted to go home to what was familiar, but what they remembered so clearly was no longer there. Bob was probably tempted to hop the next plane back to where he felt safe, and didn't realize it til he arrived "home" and saw that something was missing.
The line that always hits me the hardest is from Welcome to the Rock. “Welcome to the land where we lost our loved ones and we said we will still go on.” I lost a dear friend in Tower 1 that day, we all still go on.
I've started calling the show "emotional whiplash the musical" because I'll go from laughing to crying to laughing to crying, its insane the amount of feelings the show managed to convey.
I found myself just spontaneously crying watching come from away even if I knew the show and knew the key moments where I knew I’d be crying. It’s so powerful! A moment that gets me is when Ali talks about his daughter being scared. I was a kid during 9/11 and that line always brings me back to where I was that day
I first saw the show in the West End in previews in early 2019. As my friend and I left the theater (theatre) I literally said "I never thought I'd be emotionally invested in the pregnancy of a bonobo chimpanzee." That moment kills me every time. I saw the special concert at the Lincoln Memorial last week and the line that got me was the Mayor explaining all the planes were going to Gander because "if anything happens, we have fewer people to lose."
I've seen the show over 20 times in London and for me the most underrated characters are Bob and Nick. Bob's growth from being a skeptical New Yorker to a trusting and loving honoury Newfoundlander gets me every time. As for Nick, big man should not get a laugh when he is just phoning home but it is to his work bc he doesn't have anyone to phone. He is so wholesome and his story entirely underrated.
@@forester2845 hmm I feel like Alberta is more like the Florida of Canada. They treat Newfoundlanders like they’re stupid and a joke. Not everyone, but the general theme seems to be Canadians thinking Newfs are less than.
I cried a lot during this whole thing and all the moments you listed were absolutely on the list, but the whole story line for the middle eastern man just got me... cause so many of us were a part of that culture after 9/11 even if we didn't notice it, and it's just heartbreaking to me to think about.
Thank you so much for the perfect topic of happy and sad tears. My friends think I’m nuts when I tell them how much I cry during the show. My favorite crying time is “Make me a channel of your peace.” To me, it sums up the love and beauty of the show - with all the other prayers going on at the same time!!
I found out after watching Come From Away and mentioning it to a coworker that Charles Burlingame was a friend of her family (She called him Chick). I went and looked him up and Beverley's comment now has more meaning - "A pilot will fight to the ends of the earth to save his airplane. He just will."
Can confirm that during the Seattle workshop (I don't know about La Jolla but I don't think it changed too drastically between the two workshops) Janice did say "I don't want to do this anymore." I saw it six times there and sobbed for ten minutes straight when I learned several months later it was going to go to Broadway, because I had been convinced I would never hear those songs again. Anyway, I met Captain Bass at the closing Seattle performance (in which she loaned Jenn Colella her actual pilot's jacket for the show and then let her keep it, which broke me) and she was an incredibly gracious and wonderful person who seemed genuinely shocked at how much people loved her character in the show. She signed my program and to this day it's the best celebrity encounter I've ever had. Also an interesting thing I learned while chatting with the guys running the bar after one show: the outro music on the soundtrack was in fact just supposed to be a playoff while the audience left the theatre, but without fail after every show audiences refused to leave; they would just stand there clapping. So they incorporated the final song into the show itself, gave the band their own solo moment, and included it in the OBC recording.
One of the most heart wrenching parts for me was when the chef was strip searched. That was rough. I cried a lot when the captain found out about Charles and when Hannah called about her son.
I have seen the show with a different actor playing the role of Ali/Kevin J and that scene wasn't as profound as it was with Caesar Samoya in the role. My reaction to every scene he was in as Ali was visceral. He's a rare actor who can say a million words with one look, one minor body movement.
So happy to find this, even over a year later. I am still in mourning knowing CFA is no longer on Broadway. For some reason, I feel a bit of heart has left the city! I have been in love with this show since I heard the recording in 2017. Then watching the movie MANY times. Finally when Jenn came back this summer I had to go. I flew from Oregon to NYC for one day and saw the show twice. I watched the movie yesterday at the exact same time it played it's last performance on Broadway. I always sob uncontrolably at the end because I am joyful from seeing the show and sad it is over. This time there was added saddness knowing in NYC it was the last show. Lucky you, it is still in your area! I will be seeing it on tour! I agree with your "cry".moments. Number one for me is when Hannah calls to tell Beulah, her son is gone. Number two is Bonnie talking to Unga. I have worked with primates, not bonobos like Unga but I did help raise a chimp! On a happy note, we will have the movie forever!!
I am OBSESSED with this musical! It is criminally underrated! I listen (and cry) to the soundtrack all the time and I will be seeing the play for the first time in August 2024!
Also, at the end of "Me and the Sky", Bev never finished the last lyric ("Suddenly there's something in between me and the...) because her phone rings. However, where she would have sang "sky", she instead glances up, and you can see the pain and hope in her eyes. I find this moment very beautiful.
When they're asking people about their nationality, and when Ali says "Egyptian", the Customs officer pauses for a moment and stares at Ali spitefully. It's as if you're witnessing the very beginning of the rise of Islamophobia, that still goes on to this day.
August 24, 2024 and I just viewed the show on Apple TV. I've wanted to see this show for years and it did not disappoint! The actors who portrayed half a dozen characters each were amazing! I loved the story, the music and the whole vibe of what emotions it brought back for me. I went through half a box of tissues and am rewatching with a fresh box tonight. Thanks for sharing your joy in this show.
The song that gets me always is "Costume Party" I saw the production on tour three days before I lost my home to an F3 tornado. I remember seeing it and wondering "How would hold up in circumstances like that?" Waking up the day after, the lyrics of that song ran through my heart and head and perfectly encapsulated so much of what I was feeling.
For me that hardest one is at the end when Ali says: "my daughter doesnt want to go to school anymore. Shes scared." - which always reminds me what 9/11 did to all muslims in case of prejudice and hate even kids
I've only just seen this and I loved every minute of it! What got me about the moment at 10:41 is how Hannah doesn't need to explain anything (eg who "he" is, and what exactly is "over"). She doesn't even say who she is, because she doesn't have to. Beulah knows instantly by the tone of her voice who she is and what she was calling about. It's so beautiful and heart-breaking.
I find that "Come From Away" is best watched repeatedly. That way you catch things on the 2nd and 3rd viewings that you missed the first time because you were too busy crying and laughing.
I also have a favourite moment that isn't a line but more a moment of calm. It's the instrumental section in "Something's Missing" Just after the line "But as they boarded it started to rain" Literally just that 4 bars of instrumental before "at the end of the day, after everyone left". There's something about the subtle lighting change and the stillness on stage combined with the beautiful piano and pizzicato strings that gets me every time. Loved the video BTW! :)
I was blessed to be able to see this amazing show in Melbourne with one of my closest friends just before she passed away from cancer. It was the one musical she wanted to see before she died. So then on top of that, there’s the emotions from this show! We balled our way through it! It will always be a favourite simply for how special it was to me.
When I cried (besides crying through the whole thing when I first listened to the soundtrack, then saw the musical for the first time): 1. because people just aren’t that nice IRL. 2. Hannah singing “I am Here” when she sings the line “I should be there when it’s over and done, when he comes through the door and says ‘I’m home Mom.’ 3. The song “Prayer.” 4. “Me and the Sky” because my dad was a pilot and I was supposed to be one too, but he said let the military train you…do that first. It will be the easiest way to get in. Beverley Bass was only a couple of years older than me and dad knew how difficult it was for women to be hired as commercial pilots. But I couldn’t get into the Air Force or army as a pilot because my eyesight was 20/30. Your eyes could go bad later but you had to start with 20/20 vision. So I gave up on that. Also, the sexism and when things opened up for her. As a female drummer since 1970 and computer geek since the early 80’s, I had a lot of my own shit to fight. 5. How the middle eastern man was treated. That was the hardest part to watch.
I've seen Come From Away four times (and have tickets for a fifth). I've not seen the AppleTV version for reasons too tedious to go into here. I remember that, hearing the description of the show when it was about to open in New York, my immediate reaction was, "How boring. Who would want to go see a show about that?" And then I watched the Tonys that year and as soon as I heard the drum into to "Welcome to the Rock," I knew I was hooked and that I had to see it as soon as possible. As soon as possible turned out to be the original touring company playing in San Francisco. I think that the best description of my first performance of Come From Away was experiencing PTSD for two hours. My brain was replaying my own experiences on 9/11 as I was simultaneously experiencing one of the most incredible theatrical experiences of my life. Forgive me for this digression, but I promise to connect it. On the morning of 9/11, I'd worked very late the night before and so was driving into work at about 9:15 AM Pacific Time. We hadn't had the radio or TV on at all that morning, so I was completely unaware of what had happened. I got into my car and, as always, was listening to KCBS, the all-news radio station in San Francisco. They're describing what has happened, and following some initial disbelief at what has happened, I finally come to a stoplight. I immediately pull out my cell phone and call my mother and tell her that terrorists had brought down the World Trade Center and that it was gone. (I should tell you, that we had a particularly memorable evening in New York having dinner at Windows on the World at the very top of the World Trade Center, seeing the beauty of all Manhattan along with the Statue of Liberty before going on to our Broadway show of the evening.) She refused to believe me. I'm not sure if she thought I was joking or trying to prank her (something I'd NEVER done) or was just confused. Finally, I screamed, "Jesus, turn on the goddamn TV!" at her. I NEVER EVER yelled or swore at her. Ever. That convinced her that I wasn't kidding. I'm sure by now, you've realized one of the reasons for my first moment of PTSD was that Bonnie was echoing almost exactly what had come out of my mouth on that day. By the end of the show, I wasn't just crying, I was shaking. I was reliving all the experiences I had during 9/11, including (like Hannah) several days of terror because two close friends who live in New York, one of whom worked in the World Trade Center could not be located. (It turned out that they'd been on vacation in Europe and had been stranded, just like the people in the show, and had found it difficult to reach many of the friends who were so worried about them.) The second time (or maybe it was the third time) I saw the show was in New York in 2019. I saw many members of the original cast including Jenn Colella and Q Smith, but also Jim Walton. I'd seen the original production of Merrily We Roll Along in the one week of it's post-preview Broadway run and always remembered him from that production, so I shared that unexpected moment of recognition of him with you as well. To answer your specific question, one of the moments that I remember making me cry (and there were so many) was the scene on the bus where the driver of the bus taking the non-English-speaking African travelers to the Salvation Army camp in the middle of the night used their two Bibles, one in English and one in their language to communicate and reassure them that all would be well. I take pride in the fact that I've browbeaten at least 25 people (who were as unexcited by the concept and I was initially) into seeing the show. I've yet to have anyone come back at me and tell me that it was anything less than an incredible experience.
This is a wonderful comment. One of the reasons I think the show works so well is that anyone can find at least one relatable character and with so many diverging story lines, it's like a "build your own adventure" musical. Need a heartbreaking drama, here's Hannah. Need some comic relief, here's Annette. Need a feminist hero, have you met Captain Bass? Into indie films, then there's the story of the Kevins, etc.
I just saw the show on Broadway two days ago, and I hadn't watched any of it or even listened to the cast recording beforehand - the only song I knew was Me and the Sky. I work in the TV news industry, so I started crying when the Gander reporter said it was her first day on the job, and then I cried every 5-10 minutes throughout the whole rest of the show. What a brilliant piece of art!
I somehow missed that the proshot was out, despite wanting to watch this show for years. Watched it today and sobbed through like half or more of it! What a musical, so touching. Made even more so when you look at videos of the real people who inspired the characters interacting with the actors, the show going to Gander, just... all of it. Wow.
I didn’t legitimately cry at all but there were three moments that almost got me: The final “I’m fine, Tom”, Nick and Dianne realizing they have to leave each other, and Kevin and Kevin breaking up.
I just saw the show yesterday, I went in only knowing the plot and one of the songs. Watching it was astounding with how hilarious and yet tragic it was. I knew it was going to be sad however I had no idea how hard it would hit. Definitely worth the watch!
Coming here fresh off seeing the show with Broadway Across Canada. So I was just sobbing this whole video and the whole show. Just everything. But, "Prayer" always makes me cry because it's just so beautiful. I also love how even though this show covers such a heavy topic, there's some absolutely hilarious one liners. Like the "That there's a moose. She'll move when she's good and ready" and watching the characters react to that. Also anything involving the Mayor of Appleton cracks me up.
Teh last one "commemorating what we have lost, but also what we have found" always gets me, whether I see it on stage, youtube, on the movie or in the soundtrack; I just tear up!
In addition to the parts you mention, the part that got to me was when the reporter says "For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion's Club!" That line was written years ago, but I didn't see the show until after the toilet paper hoarding in 2020.
I was overwhelmed with so many emotions during this show. I've only seen it once on tour, and because of the rollercoaster of emotions, I couldn't really emote too much because the next emotion would already be there. I did cry once, though. Right at the end of the show during the final number & curtain call, I was downright sobbing. Even after the show ended and the curtains fell, I was still sobbing. People were looking at me weirdly 😥
I watched this recording on repeat in the days that my dad was dying and right after he died is I pretty much cried the whole time but there is something so comforting about this show.
I saw it a few weeks ago for my birthday and was hooked from beginning to end. I was in row D of the stalls so I was very close. The first moment that properly got me was when they first saw what had happened, not just because it was such an awful and emotional thing that I was witnessing, but because the actor playing Tommy (?) held my eye contact for the entire time. ‘Me and the Sky’ was the first proper tear and then the whole scene when they’re searching Ali. The one line that gets me that I can’t quite explain is ‘Kevin talk to me, please’
If you want a journalistic look into the story behind this, may I suggest " Operation Yellow Ribbon " by American journalist Tom Brokaw and documentary " Gander, the Ripple Effect" which was the interview process to make this musical. Both are worth the watch!
I’ve seen it 10 times now, OBC, replacement Broadway cast, west end, and US tour. There have been a few changes over the years from the original cast album. The Spanish speaking gym teacher’s costume used to be very over the top….maracas, sombrero, now it’s toned down. Nick used to say “I went to get her 2 more beers” now it’s “I went and got us to more beers”, less creepy and taking advantage of Diane. The Janice line you mentioned.
Hi there!! I used to work at the Columbus Zoo where Unga used to live (I believe she recently died) Gander live now! Gander is a cheeky little trouble maker and I think the Gander folks would just love him. His mama was always large and in-charge and ruling the roost! Come From Away actually just did a performance at Columbus Zoo and (I hope) got to meet the bonobos!
I love this show, and a lot of moments have brought me to tears, but the part rhat gets me every single time is (happy tears) Jenn singing "Welcome back to the U. S. OF A!"
The moment that makes me cry is actually really close to one of your moments! The part that makes me absolutely ugly cry is when Claude says in the Finale "on the northeast tip of North America, on an island called Newfoundland, there's an airport. And next to it, is a town called Gander" and then the immediate transition to You are here, UGH. my emotions just take control.
At the end of “I am here” when Hannah says “you are there” it sounds like she is trying to convince herself that her son is there waiting for her. Chills! Every time!
One subtle moment that always gets me is during ‘lead us out of the night’ I think, where they’re all watching the news for the first time - there’s a pause in the song, and everyone collectively winces, implying that that’s the moment they first saw the plane hit. It absolutely wrecked me the first time I noticed it.
Also - my girlfriend is mixed race and has a very obviously Arabic name, she was about five when 9/11 happened and has grown up living with the consequent racism and islamophobia. When I watched the pro shot with her, she picked up on the fact that Ali doesn’t come back to Gander at the end, and I think there’s something about that in its own way that’s very telling and kind of heartbreaking. Like, everyone else got the memories of it as a positive experience, which I don’t doubt that he did - but he spent the subsequent ten years having to live with the aftermath and has just had to try and move on without thinking about it. His storyline is so well done, especially since it’s left kind of unresolved - talking about the events of that day is a point of pain for the vast majority of Middle Eastern people, and no amount of individual kindness in the immediate aftermath is going to take away the hardships that people have faced as a result since.
I just about tear up every time the "you are here" comes in during Welcome to the Rock right after "And I turned on the radio" because you know what's just occurred. I'm going to see Come From Away on Broadway this April (provided covid doesn't cancel my trip) and I honestly don't know if I'll be able to hold myself together.
I just saw the show in Reno, Nevada, and I was crying about every 5 minutes! I loved the show so much that I bought tickets to see it in San Francisco in a couple of days. I'm bringing 2 boxes of tissues with me next time!
"I'm in my car, the library, the staff room and I turn the radio on". On my way to work in air operations for UPS that morning, I almost never turned on the radio preferring the quiet. For some reason, I turned the radio on. The first plane had hit and it was still a bizarre accident. Within moments of turning on the radio the second plane hit and it was an instant gut punch. As for the amount of crying through the show, my soaked mask was falling apart by the end but my ribs also hurt from laughing.
this is one of my favorite shows. i do get upset when i realize that Dear Evan Hansen beat it by winning the Tony for best musical. come from away is a much more superior show.
Looking back at at the 2017 Tony Awards five years on, it's all the more baffling that Come From Away and Great Comet didn't clean up the big awards that year. Especially after the film version of Dear Evan Hansen made the show's flaws readily apparent.
I was at a Tony watchparty with my local theatre group. My friend was mad that Great Comet didn't get anything and I was upset that Come From Away got next to nothing. I think if they were both in separate seasons, they both would've had a clear chance at best musical. Is DEH a good show? Yeah. But I'm not as much as a fan as I used to be. Do I think it deserved best musical over GC and CFA? No. It's something I'm still bitter about to this day. GC got absolutely robbed and CFA did not get the recognition it deserved.
I alternate between crying, tearing up, and uncontrollably sobbing throughout the entire show. There’s something about Beverly that gets me going, every time. No matter what line she sings, there’s tears in my eyes. "Welcome back to the U.S. of A!", "thank you for flying American. Hugging them, hugging my crew ‘cause we’re home again.", "show them the map that we used to put pins in for each destination that we flew together.", "1986, the first female American captain in history."
David Hein was my drama student. He did his very first musical at my studio where he wrote his very first scenes to act in. A lot of very successful artists and writers came out of our studio. I could not be more proud of his success.
Saw this on November 6th. I knew the premise of the play because a friend of mine was a flight attendant for United and should have been on Flight 93. I laughed and cried through this production. My heart broke when Ali was strip-searched. It was playing at another local theater on Nov 21. I couldn't go see it because I have listened to the soundtrack and still crying through it. I love this show.
The final "I'm fine Tom, I'm fine" is the waterworks moment for me. I've seen it in Toronto 13 times, B'way 6 times and once in the West End and it always happens, even when I'm listening to the soundtrack. Don't know why, just does.
I have not seen the film but have seen the show 10 times, all productions from the pre-run in Ford's theater to March 8, 2020 in Melbourne and am booked again on Broadway June 30. First, a few of the things that have changed. You have mentioned Janice's comment after speaking to Hannah changing from "I don't think I can do this any more" to something like "I'm not sure...." Beulah is primarily a composite of 2 people, one from the Legion and another from the Gander Academy. I believe Hannah was at the Legion but Beulah is portrayed as at the Academy. In "I am Here" Hanna in early shows sings, "Yes that's the Legion in Gander" which I think is true, but in later shows sings "Yes, that's the Grade School in Gander", more consistent with Beulaha's portrayal. One last; in the Finale is in early shows Janice says "Gander is the only place outside the USA where we share world trade center steel" but in later shows it's one of only a few places. I cry at times throughout the show but especially in :Something Missing". It starts with Calude's "I hadn't let myself cry the whole time". I recover briefly but then there's a triple whammy at the end of the piece. Bob's last comment "My dad asks if I was ok the time I was stranded. How do I tell him I wasn't just ok; I was so much better"., followed by Beverly's airport story and of course Hanna's call to Beulah which sets me to balling. A total emotional roller coaster that has me uplifted every time I see it.
god SO many moments make me cry in this show - the "i don't want to do this anymore" always gets me, during "darkness and trees (reprise)" when they go "and that's how we started speaking the same language" and then the music HITS OUGH. oh God one of the moments that gets me the most is when kevin t. is getting coffee and the u.s. is having the moment of silence and everyone is doing it and he's like "i don't think this would've happened back home... but it happened here". a few others that get me is like... every single time they sing "somewhere in the middle of nowhere" in "38 planes reprise/somewhere in the middle of nowhere". oh and bev's final, "no i'm fine, tom, i'm fine..". obviously all of "something's missing" gets me, but like other than hannah's part, specifically when diane says: "the only reason we met was because this terrible thing happened" and when bob says: "my dad asks 'were you okay out where you were stranded?' how do i tell him that i wasn't just okay, i was so much better?". and ofc in the finale when janice says: "newfoundland is the only place outside the united states where we share the steel from the world trade center" and then joel just goes "on the north east type of north america..." and the "we also commemorate what we found" and then they go into "you are here at the start of a moment, etc...". i actually have the words "you are here at the start of a moment" on my classroom door, haha! ... in conclusion, the whole show makes me want to cry. i think that i've cried over every single song at least once over the years. even like heave away and such, haha! LOVE this show!
The scene where I am in absolute shambles every single time is during "Prayer" when the man who had been born in Poland to a Jewish family and sent away before the war, having his entire identity stripped from him meets with the Rabbi because he wants to make sure someone knew his story. The juxtaposition of the heartbreak of both war and terrorism on all people as the prayer for peace by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus reaches a crescendo is profound.
During the part at the very beginning when they're all recounting where they were and just listing places off. It doesn't matter how many times I listen to the cast album or how many times I see it. I'm crying every time whether I want to or not.
My favorite part of Come From Away is that every single song has the potential to make me cry. (And I have cried listening to every song.) Honestly, it's a show I really want to see live. I have seen snippets here and there. Yes, even fully well knowing I'll be in tears by the end.
My favourite silent moments are the Nick and Diane one's: towards the end, in one performance the actors kept their hands held after their kiss on the plane throughout, with another cast the two were cuddling in the background during the Finale when they weren't being interviewed. With each cast I've noticed Nick holds Diane's hand as she steps down from the chairs after Stop the World - heartwarming 💓
My unexpected tears are during 38 Planes (reprise)/Somewhere, when Kevin says the line "Kevin, talk to me, please." The entire song is so hopeful and joyful, everyone is excited to go back home, but there's this moment when you realize that, for the Kevins, things will never be the same, and they will never be able to fix what was broken between them.
I've seen roughly 60 Broadway musicals and Come From Away is in the top three. Such perfect story telling is extremely rare. Certainly the events surrounding the story add to it's power. However, it would have been so easy to muddy the waters with events both extraneous and gratuitous thus diminishing the raw emotion, humor, kindness and love of the story. The best song writers can convey the essence of someone's or something's life and or history in 4 to 6 minutes while leaving little or nothing to be desired. Come From Away is the stage equivalent of such a perfectly written song. Come From Away will probably be most compelling for those old enough to clearly remember 9/11. However, in the realm of truly complete musicals without waste or want this is a master class in writing. It is also a collection of wonderful songs and true stories that tell a previously unknown side of an historic event.
I don’t necessarily have ugly tears watching stuff, I have no idea why, but I do have so many moments where I have to take a deep breath watching this show. There’s so many moments, like when Bob talks about talking to his dad, and saying he wasn’t just good, “he was so much better” in gander, because he was no longer afraid of everything around him.
I saw the pre-broadway production in Seattle and at the end of Stop the World in the pause before Nick and Diane sing "stop the world, please' each of them had a line. Nick sang 'of her' followed by Diane 'of me' and it was cut before broadway which made me so sad because the moment was so sweet
. "And honestly, I just thought he missed, so I ..." --- In the midst of all that is going on, these two people's hearts find a culminating moment just in time before they have to go their separate ways. It begins their being together forever.
When I saw Come From Away on tour I started bawling at the first notes of the Bodhran on "Welcome To The Rock". They absolutely changed Janice's line. Also, Hannah in the OBCR sang "at the LEGION I'll be right here" because that's where real life Hannah had been. In the show they changed it to the "Grade School" because that's where Hannah was in the show. They also took out Kevin J's line telling Kevin T. to "go take a walk in the woods" The shot of them from behind watching on TV--I took a photo of the TV and it's in my FB Cover photo rotation--it's so beautiful.
I know I cried more than ten but I (I haven't seen the filmed version) but I saw the US National tour and the moments that got me were: 1. When they finally find out what happened, and, I was expecting to hear like an actual news report of what happened, but instead it's just silent, which I thought was perfect because the show isn't about reliving the event, there's not one person watching Come From Away that doesn't have a vivid picture in there mind of what the characters are hearing 2. Something's Missing, it just breaks my heart because it's our reminder they are stepping into the horror, and it's not happy at all. 3. "I'm fine Tom, I'm fine"
i listened to the album a while back and loved it but thank god for this proshot because its sooo good and so heart wrenching! I loved the way they use the chairs as the sets so good. Happy cry moment was the "stealing" the grills and the guy being so worried and how we have to deal with such fear. The beginings of muslim/islamaphobia too was so sad. the way the play encapsulates all the hurt and the love of humanity. Its awfully sincere and the music is beautiful its definitely added onto my favorites easily.
Ive watched the recording twice. I love the cfa soundtrack but never been able to see it. It was better than I thought it would be. Wish they would record more musicals.
Listen. I have been watching musicals since I was 10 years old, I'm 34 now. It's been a lot of years and a lot of shows, and I don't easily cry in a theatre, at most I'll shed a tear or two. But this movie reduced me to a complete emotional wreck. It is an absolute masterpiece - I've seen it twice in London and once on Apple now and all three times I basically cried for two hours straight with only short intermissions when something funny happens (that freaking pilot lmao). Did y'all see the video from when they came back to Broadway? That alone had me sobbing, "tonight we honour what was lost, but we also commemorate what we found", and you can tell how much Joel Hatch absolutely MEANS it.
one moment that really gets me is when beverly sings that they’re back in the usa and the other cast members’ faces. like esp bc this was filmed during covid, it feels symbolic that things are returning to normal but it’s all clearly a different and more somber vibe
see i'm a baby and "welcome to the rock" makes me cry but the specific line that gets me is "To the ones who've left you're never truly gone; A candle's in the window and the kettle's always on" like it's SO NOT A SAD LINE but knowing what all is coming in this show and knowing what happened irl that line hits so damn hard
“The Lion’s Club is looking for toilet paper, if you have any extra”……. “For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion’s Club!”
It’s a comic relief moment, but it gives me chills because it shows how immediate and overwhelming the outpouring of support must have been
its also real. that actually happend, which makes it more emotional.
I have never thought about that way but you're so right ❤
That line became more poignant for me after the early days of COVID when Americans were literally hoarding toilet paper
Newfoundlander here: That sounds exactly right. We're very blunt with a sense of humor about everything. When the call goes out we all pitch in.
I remember in the winter of 2020 we had a storm here in st. John's that had over 100cm of snow with hurricane force winds in less than 24 hours. The whole of metro was shut down. Many street in the downtown were completely snowed in for a couple of days. What did we do? We made bon fires and skied and snowboarded down the streets. We treated like a little neabourhood party and slowly helped eachother dig out. Stores pitched in to make sure essentials were available. It reminded us that we are very good at coming together when the need arises. While it was stressful, (well at least myself) actually have fond memories of it. We made a bad time happy, and that's just the way we are.
It is not a comic relief moment, it actually happened that way. Canadians are just funny like that.
Another moment is 'Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart. Would you like to come my house for a shower.' Again actually happened. And yes there is a Walmart in Gander
“That’s when we started speaking the same language” always gets me
My husband said there was no way he could figure that out. I said he (Garth?) was probably Baptist because I could’ve done it. We had to start memorizing the books of the Bible and verses at a young age and had “sword” drills every week. That was a verse we were required to learn and of course, we could figure out where it is by just counting through the books of the New Testament. So he’s right, if it was a Bible, it would have the same numbering system.
@@sigsin1 and more than just the numbering, with some languages, you can pick up certain words, especially proper nouns which are probably more similar in multiple languages. I don't know what language these people spoke, but I will use Swahili as an example (as that's one I'm familiar with).
Wakorintho = Corinthians
Wathesolinike = Thessalonians
Wafilipi = Philippians
Not all languages would be that easy, just showing an example of how it's possible.
Worst case though, could just count books until you get to the right one.
Just before that.....where the Chad Kimball as the bus drive says "We got out our Salvation Army uniforms to greet our guests." or something close to that. The very next line is Rodney Hicks as an African passenger "There were soldiers everywhere!". Fabulous. Just beautiful. Because it got me thinking. It delivered the emotion and made me put in the work to digest and understand what I was feeling.
It's such a shame that thread didnt really carry over through the show. I know it was already about 100 minutes, but making that communication gap so prominent and then basically only using it for 2 jokes otherwise, it left me wanting more information
@@sigsin1 Former Baptist who sent her older kids to AWANA… they memorized sooo many verses with the book/chapter/verse numbers. And that verse is one of those that virtually every Christian has at least heard before. I absolutely believe that could have happened
For me, the moment that really got me that I'd never notice before (I've seen the show on Broadway) was at the end of "Prayer." When the man who'd confessed to being Jewish, after praying with the Rabbi, gets up and offers the Rabbi back the yarmulke he'd given him while they prayed. But the Rabbi refused to take it, silently saying, "You keep that." The man puts his hand on the Rabbi's shoulder in thanks before walking away. Just little moments like that in a show where so much is happening are what makes this a truly great musical. No moment is wasted.
I was about to comment about this!
As a Jew who was in Manhattan that day, that entire exchange was incredibly emotional including that act of kindness of the Rabbi gesturing to the older man to keep the yarmulke.
@@jayschneiderman2866 I'm not Jewish, but I have studied the Shoah in depth. Are you familiar with Irena Sendler? She smuggled over 1000 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, children who were handed over to convents and Christian families to raise as Christians. I can't imagine the agony of a mother handing over her child, knowing she would probably never see them again, and that their entire identity was to be wiped from this earth. Irena kept a list of the Hebrew names of all of the children she rescued and buried them in canning jars, unfortunately they were never found. She is buried in the Main Cemetery in Warsaw, and was named Righteous Among the Nations.
As an aside, I lived in a commuter town in NJ. I had left my job in NYC two months before September 11th. The town I lived in, like many NJ commuter towns, was ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse. Too many people never came home that day.
This one ALWAYS gets me!!
As someone who was working in a hospital in Manhattan and who lost a family member in the towers, I had been avoiding this show despite the fact that I love Broadway theater, grew up next to an airport, and worked in aerospace (and hopefully will do again soon).
The end of "Me and the Sky" always gets me, as I know who Beverly Bass was and her role in aerospace history, and that I lost my dream job in aerospace taken away from me in a sudden unexpected traumatic moment, I felt a personal connection to Beverly's loss and feeling the sudden disconnection from being in the sky.
The unexpected huge emotional hit was during Prayer when the Rabbi entered and started singing Oseh Shalom. I'm Jewish and heard this song almost every week in temple, and even performed it as part of our temple's youth chorus many times, so it was immediately familiar and I knew it was a prayer for peace. What I didn't expect was the memory it brought back.
I have clear memories of my actions and what I witnessed on September 11th, however the following week I have problems remembering other then I knew I made it to my parent's house in the NYC suburbs on the 12th or 13th. When I heard the opening of Oseh Shalom, I remembered something that was part of that blur. It was a clear memory of that Friday evening, in the temple I grew up in with my family for the service for the start of the sabbath. I remember it was packed so full that people had to stand, and looking around at the other people, many who I hadn't seen in years, feeling that sense of community all coping together. With that memory I just started to cry, and when I thought it was waining in came the man who was sent to Canada as a small child to avoid the Holocaust. That connection between the antisemitism of Nazi Germany and the is Islamophobia cause by 9/11 just made me start crying again.
I love the show, but I always have tissues ready when I hear the soundtrack or watch the filmed performance.
For me, it's always this one moment in "Me and the Sky", when Beverley sings "And the one thing I love more than anything was used as the bomb" INSTANT CHILLS and also the fact that you know it's coming from such a professional pilot makes is even more heartbreaking... Also, the entirety of "Something's missing" in which they talk about how IT's still burning and that they were missing the Gandar people so much. There's just so many of these moments in this show + something you can only hear in the recording when the mayor explains why they couldn't make them land in a bigger city like Ottawa: "Because if something goes wrong we have a lot less people to lose" THAT hit hard D:
The entire song “me and the sky” makes me cry! So good!!
These are my crying moments too. The “because if something goes wrong we have less people to lose” is such an underrated line that is so unbelievably sad.
My husband is an aircraft mechanic and we both love planes and all this hits HARD and he and I were kids when this all happened. I cried and it was an emotional release I didn’t know I needed.
You and every airline pilot and/or employee! Most folks in this industry are passionate about it and this event really hurt - in so many ways.
Especially because it interrupts the happy memories she's really rushing through. She talks about everything that got in her way, and then when she talks about her career really solidifying and her family growing up, it feels so brief. The next thing that gets a lot of detail is this one day that made everything feel uncertain again, it's like it takes over her mood when she wasn't ready for that conversation
I agree about all of these, but the moment that breaks me was one that isn't on the album. it took me by surprise when i finally watched it. it's when Kevin T is walking in downtown Gander when all of a sudden, a bell chimes and every single resident of Gander just STOPS and bows their heads. they were observing a moment of silence to honor the dead, and it blows kevin away because this wasn't their country or their people, yet they cared just as much about remembering the dead as people in ground zero did.
I love that you caught the writing of the check in Somewhere! It's such a great moment that rarely gets noticed because there is so much happening there. I was on the North American tour and here's a fun fact: in our production whenever a company member left the show, at their final performance our Claude would make the check out to them and give it to them as a farewell keepsake. Love your videos!
That's pretty awesome, I think that's a great tradition to have had for your tour. Did you end up getting one, too, or did Claude's portrayer leave before you did?
One of the parts that make me cry is the song, “The Prayer”. You have this mix of different religions in this perfect harmony; one of the scenes is when Ali is talking about how he can feel people looking at me and I think it’s Annette who tells him that the library is being used as a center for prayer or just to get some peace and quiet
Was about to say the same!
"5 days, 19 animals, and 7000 strays" gets me every single time.
The moment for me is during me and the sky, there’s a dramatic shift from the dream of being a pilot to the nightmare it had become. I cried so hard in the last verse but what really got me was when she sang the last line “suddenly there’s something in between me and the sky”.
Another one is in Something’s Missing when they say the line “how do I tell him I wasn’t just okay, I was so much better”. That BROKE me
Hannah confirming her son died was just gut wrenching. As someone who never saw the show or did research before, I had the feeling he didn’t survive, but it’s that hope maybe this is the happy ending for her.
Beuhla, who looked after Hannah and her husband lost her own firefighter son to cancer a year later 😞
when she goes "im so sorry... im so sorry" the show is so insanely raw and human it just gets me everytime
So many good moments here. I'll add mine since I don't see it in the comments: when they get back and Bob says, "My dad asks, 'Were you ok out where you were stranded?' How do I tell him I wasn't just ok, I was so much better?" I could just feel how he got a sense of safety there, and then came back feeling the difference
I got that, too. Everyone wanted to go home to what was familiar, but what they remembered so clearly was no longer there. Bob was probably tempted to hop the next plane back to where he felt safe, and didn't realize it til he arrived "home" and saw that something was missing.
The line that always hits me the hardest is from Welcome to the Rock. “Welcome to the land where we lost our loved ones and we said we will still go on.” I lost a dear friend in Tower 1 that day, we all still go on.
I've started calling the show "emotional whiplash the musical" because I'll go from laughing to crying to laughing to crying, its insane the amount of feelings the show managed to convey.
Agreed. I saw it last night and there were points where I was crying/laughing at the same time. What even?!
I found myself just spontaneously crying watching come from away even if I knew the show and knew the key moments where I knew I’d be crying. It’s so powerful! A moment that gets me is when Ali talks about his daughter being scared. I was a kid during 9/11 and that line always brings me back to where I was that day
As a newfoundlander i am so proud and i cry everytime i watch the documentary.
I first saw the show in the West End in previews in early 2019. As my friend and I left the theater (theatre) I literally said "I never thought I'd be emotionally invested in the pregnancy of a bonobo chimpanzee." That moment kills me every time. I saw the special concert at the Lincoln Memorial last week and the line that got me was the Mayor explaining all the planes were going to Gander because "if anything happens, we have fewer people to lose."
I've seen the show over 20 times in London and for me the most underrated characters are Bob and Nick. Bob's growth from being a skeptical New Yorker to a trusting and loving honoury Newfoundlander gets me every time.
As for Nick, big man should not get a laugh when he is just phoning home but it is to his work bc he doesn't have anyone to phone. He is so wholesome and his story entirely underrated.
As a Canadian I would like to say I'm glad this play made so many people so happy.
Why as a Canadian?
@@lc1371 The story took place in Canada, and the people who wrote this musical is also from Canada.
@@forester2845 the story took place in Newfoundland, Canada. Majority of the time Canadians shit all over Newfoundlanders.
@@lc1371 Ah, I didn't know that before, thanks for telling me. I wonder why tho, is it like the America/Florida type of thing?
@@forester2845 hmm I feel like Alberta is more like the Florida of Canada. They treat Newfoundlanders like they’re stupid and a joke. Not everyone, but the general theme seems to be Canadians thinking Newfs are less than.
I cried a lot during this whole thing and all the moments you listed were absolutely on the list, but the whole story line for the middle eastern man just got me... cause so many of us were a part of that culture after 9/11 even if we didn't notice it, and it's just heartbreaking to me to think about.
Thank you so much for the perfect topic of happy and sad tears. My friends think I’m nuts when I tell them how much I cry during the show. My favorite crying time is “Make me a channel of your peace.” To me, it sums up the love and beauty of the show - with all the other prayers going on at the same time!!
I've only seen the show once live (in Melbourne) - I only cried once.... I started about 5 minutes into the show and went all the way to the end.
I found out after watching Come From Away and mentioning it to a coworker that Charles Burlingame was a friend of her family (She called him Chick). I went and looked him up and Beverley's comment now has more meaning - "A pilot will fight to the ends of the earth to save his airplane. He just will."
Can confirm that during the Seattle workshop (I don't know about La Jolla but I don't think it changed too drastically between the two workshops) Janice did say "I don't want to do this anymore." I saw it six times there and sobbed for ten minutes straight when I learned several months later it was going to go to Broadway, because I had been convinced I would never hear those songs again.
Anyway, I met Captain Bass at the closing Seattle performance (in which she loaned Jenn Colella her actual pilot's jacket for the show and then let her keep it, which broke me) and she was an incredibly gracious and wonderful person who seemed genuinely shocked at how much people loved her character in the show. She signed my program and to this day it's the best celebrity encounter I've ever had.
Also an interesting thing I learned while chatting with the guys running the bar after one show: the outro music on the soundtrack was in fact just supposed to be a playoff while the audience left the theatre, but without fail after every show audiences refused to leave; they would just stand there clapping. So they incorporated the final song into the show itself, gave the band their own solo moment, and included it in the OBC recording.
I just saw this and exactly 0 people left until the outro was over. So that still happens.
One of the most heart wrenching parts for me was when the chef was strip searched. That was rough. I cried a lot when the captain found out about Charles and when Hannah called about her son.
Ali breaks my heart, man. it's a painful and blunt reminder of what america became for muslims, how that fear and hatred still exists.
That one Hurt so much
I have seen the show with a different actor playing the role of Ali/Kevin J and that scene wasn't as profound as it was with Caesar Samoya in the role. My reaction to every scene he was in as Ali was visceral. He's a rare actor who can say a million words with one look, one minor body movement.
So happy to find this, even over a year later. I am still in mourning knowing CFA is no longer on Broadway. For some reason, I feel a bit of heart has left the city! I have been in love with this show since I heard the recording in 2017. Then watching the movie MANY times. Finally when Jenn came back this summer I had to go. I flew from Oregon to NYC for one day and saw the show twice. I watched the movie yesterday at the exact same time it played it's last performance on Broadway. I always sob uncontrolably at the end because I am joyful from seeing the show and sad it is over. This time there was added saddness knowing in NYC it was the last show. Lucky you, it is still in your area! I will be seeing it on tour! I agree with your "cry".moments. Number one for me is when Hannah calls to tell Beulah, her son is gone. Number two is Bonnie talking to Unga. I have worked with primates, not bonobos like Unga but I did help raise a chimp! On a happy note, we will have the movie forever!!
I am OBSESSED with this musical! It is criminally underrated! I listen (and cry) to the soundtrack all the time and I will be seeing the play for the first time in August 2024!
Also, at the end of "Me and the Sky", Bev never finished the last lyric ("Suddenly there's something in between me and the...) because her phone rings. However, where she would have sang "sky", she instead glances up, and you can see the pain and hope in her eyes. I find this moment very beautiful.
When they're asking people about their nationality, and when Ali says "Egyptian", the Customs officer pauses for a moment and stares at Ali spitefully. It's as if you're witnessing the very beginning of the rise of Islamophobia, that still goes on to this day.
As does Islamic terrorism against the west.
Thank you for this beautiful video! We all loved it (and we are now fans of YOURS). 💙💛💙💛
Oh my gosh, thank you so much! So lovely to hear you enjoyed it, thank you to you and the whole cast for the beautiful performance of the show 💙💛
It was a beautiful show Sharon, as Mickey says pass on our thanks for the amazing production.
August 24, 2024 and I just viewed the show on Apple TV. I've wanted to see this show for years and it did not disappoint! The actors who portrayed half a dozen characters each were amazing! I loved the story, the music and the whole vibe of what emotions it brought back for me. I went through half a box of tissues and am rewatching with a fresh box tonight. Thanks for sharing your joy in this show.
The song that gets me always is "Costume Party"
I saw the production on tour three days before I lost my home to an F3 tornado. I remember seeing it and wondering "How would hold up in circumstances like that?" Waking up the day after, the lyrics of that song ran through my heart and head and perfectly encapsulated so much of what I was feeling.
For me that hardest one is at the end when Ali says: "my daughter doesnt want to go to school anymore. Shes scared." - which always reminds me what 9/11 did to all muslims in case of prejudice and hate even kids
I've only just seen this and I loved every minute of it! What got me about the moment at 10:41 is how Hannah doesn't need to explain anything (eg who "he" is, and what exactly is "over"). She doesn't even say who she is, because she doesn't have to. Beulah knows instantly by the tone of her voice who she is and what she was calling about. It's so beautiful and heart-breaking.
I find that "Come From Away" is best watched repeatedly.
That way you catch things on the 2nd and 3rd viewings that you missed the first time because you were too busy crying and laughing.
Yes, it moves so fast its easy to miss things.
Bonnie is played by Petrina Bromley, a Newfoundland actress! Great review! Loved Broadway show and Im a proud Newfoundlander.
I also have a favourite moment that isn't a line but more a moment of calm. It's the instrumental section in "Something's Missing" Just after the line "But as they boarded it started to rain" Literally just that 4 bars of instrumental before "at the end of the day, after everyone left". There's something about the subtle lighting change and the stillness on stage combined with the beautiful piano and pizzicato strings that gets me every time.
Loved the video BTW! :)
I was blessed to be able to see this amazing show in Melbourne with one of my closest friends just before she passed away from cancer. It was the one musical she wanted to see before she died. So then on top of that, there’s the emotions from this show! We balled our way through it! It will always be a favourite simply for how special it was to me.
When I cried (besides crying through the whole thing when I first listened to the soundtrack, then saw the musical for the first time):
1. because people just aren’t that nice IRL.
2. Hannah singing “I am Here” when she sings the line “I should be there when it’s over and done, when he comes through the door and says ‘I’m home Mom.’
3. The song “Prayer.”
4. “Me and the Sky” because my dad was a pilot and I was supposed to be one too, but he said let the military train you…do that first. It will be the easiest way to get in. Beverley Bass was only a couple of years older than me and dad knew how difficult it was for women to be hired as commercial pilots. But I couldn’t get into the Air Force or army as a pilot because my eyesight was 20/30. Your eyes could go bad later but you had to start with 20/20 vision. So I gave up on that. Also, the sexism and when things opened up for her. As a female drummer since 1970 and computer geek since the early 80’s, I had a lot of my own shit to fight.
5. How the middle eastern man was treated. That was the hardest part to watch.
I've seen Come From Away four times (and have tickets for a fifth). I've not seen the AppleTV version for reasons too tedious to go into here. I remember that, hearing the description of the show when it was about to open in New York, my immediate reaction was, "How boring. Who would want to go see a show about that?" And then I watched the Tonys that year and as soon as I heard the drum into to "Welcome to the Rock," I knew I was hooked and that I had to see it as soon as possible.
As soon as possible turned out to be the original touring company playing in San Francisco. I think that the best description of my first performance of Come From Away was experiencing PTSD for two hours. My brain was replaying my own experiences on 9/11 as I was simultaneously experiencing one of the most incredible theatrical experiences of my life.
Forgive me for this digression, but I promise to connect it. On the morning of 9/11, I'd worked very late the night before and so was driving into work at about 9:15 AM Pacific Time. We hadn't had the radio or TV on at all that morning, so I was completely unaware of what had happened. I got into my car and, as always, was listening to KCBS, the all-news radio station in San Francisco. They're describing what has happened, and following some initial disbelief at what has happened, I finally come to a stoplight. I immediately pull out my cell phone and call my mother and tell her that terrorists had brought down the World Trade Center and that it was gone.
(I should tell you, that we had a particularly memorable evening in New York having dinner at Windows on the World at the very top of the World Trade Center, seeing the beauty of all Manhattan along with the Statue of Liberty before going on to our Broadway show of the evening.)
She refused to believe me. I'm not sure if she thought I was joking or trying to prank her (something I'd NEVER done) or was just confused. Finally, I screamed, "Jesus, turn on the goddamn TV!" at her. I NEVER EVER yelled or swore at her. Ever. That convinced her that I wasn't kidding. I'm sure by now, you've realized one of the reasons for my first moment of PTSD was that Bonnie was echoing almost exactly what had come out of my mouth on that day.
By the end of the show, I wasn't just crying, I was shaking. I was reliving all the experiences I had during 9/11, including (like Hannah) several days of terror because two close friends who live in New York, one of whom worked in the World Trade Center could not be located. (It turned out that they'd been on vacation in Europe and had been stranded, just like the people in the show, and had found it difficult to reach many of the friends who were so worried about them.)
The second time (or maybe it was the third time) I saw the show was in New York in 2019. I saw many members of the original cast including Jenn Colella and Q Smith, but also Jim Walton. I'd seen the original production of Merrily We Roll Along in the one week of it's post-preview Broadway run and always remembered him from that production, so I shared that unexpected moment of recognition of him with you as well.
To answer your specific question, one of the moments that I remember making me cry (and there were so many) was the scene on the bus where the driver of the bus taking the non-English-speaking African travelers to the Salvation Army camp in the middle of the night used their two Bibles, one in English and one in their language to communicate and reassure them that all would be well.
I take pride in the fact that I've browbeaten at least 25 people (who were as unexcited by the concept and I was initially) into seeing the show. I've yet to have anyone come back at me and tell me that it was anything less than an incredible experience.
This is a wonderful comment. One of the reasons I think the show works so well is that anyone can find at least one relatable character and with so many diverging story lines, it's like a "build your own adventure" musical. Need a heartbreaking drama, here's Hannah. Need some comic relief, here's Annette. Need a feminist hero, have you met Captain Bass? Into indie films, then there's the story of the Kevins, etc.
“Turn on the damn radio” is pretty much the first tears for me just listening to the cast album.
I just saw the show on Broadway two days ago, and I hadn't watched any of it or even listened to the cast recording beforehand - the only song I knew was Me and the Sky. I work in the TV news industry, so I started crying when the Gander reporter said it was her first day on the job, and then I cried every 5-10 minutes throughout the whole rest of the show. What a brilliant piece of art!
I somehow missed that the proshot was out, despite wanting to watch this show for years. Watched it today and sobbed through like half or more of it! What a musical, so touching. Made even more so when you look at videos of the real people who inspired the characters interacting with the actors, the show going to Gander, just... all of it. Wow.
I started crying at the opening number, where they sing: You are here.. and I sob like a baby😭😭
I didn’t legitimately cry at all but there were three moments that almost got me: The final “I’m fine, Tom”, Nick and Dianne realizing they have to leave each other, and Kevin and Kevin breaking up.
I just saw the show yesterday, I went in only knowing the plot and one of the songs. Watching it was astounding with how hilarious and yet tragic it was. I knew it was going to be sad however I had no idea how hard it would hit. Definitely worth the watch!
Coming here fresh off seeing the show with Broadway Across Canada. So I was just sobbing this whole video and the whole show. Just everything. But, "Prayer" always makes me cry because it's just so beautiful. I also love how even though this show covers such a heavy topic, there's some absolutely hilarious one liners. Like the "That there's a moose. She'll move when she's good and ready" and watching the characters react to that. Also anything involving the Mayor of Appleton cracks me up.
Teh last one "commemorating what we have lost, but also what we have found" always gets me, whether I see it on stage, youtube, on the movie or in the soundtrack; I just tear up!
In addition to the parts you mention, the part that got to me was when the reporter says "For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion's Club!" That line was written years ago, but I didn't see the show until after the toilet paper hoarding in 2020.
I was overwhelmed with so many emotions during this show. I've only seen it once on tour, and because of the rollercoaster of emotions, I couldn't really emote too much because the next emotion would already be there. I did cry once, though. Right at the end of the show during the final number & curtain call, I was downright sobbing. Even after the show ended and the curtains fell, I was still sobbing. People were looking at me weirdly 😥
I watched this recording on repeat in the days that my dad was dying and right after he died is I pretty much cried the whole time but there is something so comforting about this show.
“For five days the weather had been so nice, but as they boarded it started to rain” never fails to choke me up
I saw it a few weeks ago for my birthday and was hooked from beginning to end. I was in row D of the stalls so I was very close. The first moment that properly got me was when they first saw what had happened, not just because it was such an awful and emotional thing that I was witnessing, but because the actor playing Tommy (?) held my eye contact for the entire time. ‘Me and the Sky’ was the first proper tear and then the whole scene when they’re searching Ali. The one line that gets me that I can’t quite explain is ‘Kevin talk to me, please’
If you want a journalistic look into the story behind this, may I suggest " Operation Yellow Ribbon " by American journalist Tom Brokaw and documentary " Gander, the Ripple Effect" which was the interview process to make this musical. Both are worth the watch!
if I cried through the whole show without stopping does that mean it only made me cry once?
I’ve seen it 10 times now, OBC, replacement Broadway cast, west end, and US tour.
There have been a few changes over the years from the original cast album.
The Spanish speaking gym teacher’s costume used to be very over the top….maracas, sombrero, now it’s toned down.
Nick used to say “I went to get her 2 more beers” now it’s “I went and got us to more beers”, less creepy and taking advantage of Diane.
The Janice line you mentioned.
Hi there!! I used to work at the Columbus Zoo where Unga used to live (I believe she recently died) Gander live now! Gander is a cheeky little trouble maker and I think the Gander folks would just love him. His mama was always large and in-charge and ruling the roost! Come From Away actually just did a performance at Columbus Zoo and (I hope) got to meet the bonobos!
I love this show, and a lot of moments have brought me to tears, but the part rhat gets me every single time is (happy tears) Jenn singing "Welcome back to the U. S. OF A!"
The moment that makes me cry is actually really close to one of your moments! The part that makes me absolutely ugly cry is when Claude says in the Finale "on the northeast tip of North America, on an island called Newfoundland, there's an airport. And next to it, is a town called Gander" and then the immediate transition to You are here, UGH. my emotions just take control.
At the end of “I am here” when Hannah says “you are there” it sounds like she is trying to convince herself that her son is there waiting for her. Chills! Every time!
Bonnie was great. Such a minor character, but so important to show.
I can not explain it fully.
How do you spot the Newfoundlanders in Heaven?
They’ll be the ones that are homesick.
One subtle moment that always gets me is during ‘lead us out of the night’ I think, where they’re all watching the news for the first time - there’s a pause in the song, and everyone collectively winces, implying that that’s the moment they first saw the plane hit. It absolutely wrecked me the first time I noticed it.
Also - my girlfriend is mixed race and has a very obviously Arabic name, she was about five when 9/11 happened and has grown up living with the consequent racism and islamophobia. When I watched the pro shot with her, she picked up on the fact that Ali doesn’t come back to Gander at the end, and I think there’s something about that in its own way that’s very telling and kind of heartbreaking. Like, everyone else got the memories of it as a positive experience, which I don’t doubt that he did - but he spent the subsequent ten years having to live with the aftermath and has just had to try and move on without thinking about it. His storyline is so well done, especially since it’s left kind of unresolved - talking about the events of that day is a point of pain for the vast majority of Middle Eastern people, and no amount of individual kindness in the immediate aftermath is going to take away the hardships that people have faced as a result since.
The line “We have a lot less people to loose” was the first time I cried in the recording
I just about tear up every time the "you are here" comes in during Welcome to the Rock right after "And I turned on the radio" because you know what's just occurred. I'm going to see Come From Away on Broadway this April (provided covid doesn't cancel my trip) and I honestly don't know if I'll be able to hold myself together.
You will love it! It is so amazing in person.
Amanda: Finally saw the show on Broadway earlier in November. It's a truly extraordinary experience. Enjoy!
I just saw the show in Reno, Nevada, and I was crying about every 5 minutes! I loved the show so much that I bought tickets to see it in San Francisco in a couple of days. I'm bringing 2 boxes of tissues with me next time!
Just finished watching it.. seeing it live hits hard.. but all the close ups in the proshot was something else.
"I'm in my car, the library, the staff room and I turn the radio on".
On my way to work in air operations for UPS that morning, I almost never turned on the radio preferring the quiet. For some reason, I turned the radio on. The first plane had hit and it was still a bizarre accident. Within moments of turning on the radio the second plane hit and it was an instant gut punch. As for the amount of crying through the show, my soaked mask was falling apart by the end but my ribs also hurt from laughing.
this is one of my favorite shows. i do get upset when i realize that Dear Evan Hansen beat it by winning the Tony for best musical. come from away is a much more superior show.
It absolutely is!
Looking back at at the 2017 Tony Awards five years on, it's all the more baffling that Come From Away and Great Comet didn't clean up the big awards that year. Especially after the film version of Dear Evan Hansen made the show's flaws readily apparent.
@@AuraHero
I was at a Tony watchparty with my local theatre group. My friend was mad that Great Comet didn't get anything and I was upset that Come From Away got next to nothing. I think if they were both in separate seasons, they both would've had a clear chance at best musical.
Is DEH a good show? Yeah. But I'm not as much as a fan as I used to be.
Do I think it deserved best musical over GC and CFA? No. It's something I'm still bitter about to this day. GC got absolutely robbed and CFA did not get the recognition it deserved.
I alternate between crying, tearing up, and uncontrollably sobbing throughout the entire show. There’s something about Beverly that gets me going, every time. No matter what line she sings, there’s tears in my eyes. "Welcome back to the U.S. of A!", "thank you for flying American. Hugging them, hugging my crew ‘cause we’re home again.", "show them the map that we used to put pins in for each destination that we flew together.", "1986, the first female American captain in history."
David Hein was my drama student. He did his very first musical at my studio where he wrote his very first scenes to act in. A lot of very successful artists and writers came out of our studio. I could not be more proud of his success.
Saw this on November 6th. I knew the premise of the play because a friend of mine was a flight attendant for United and should have been on Flight 93. I laughed and cried through this production. My heart broke when Ali was strip-searched. It was playing at another local theater on Nov 21. I couldn't go see it because I have listened to the soundtrack and still crying through it. I love this show.
Thank you for this! Had no idea this was filmed, went to watch it immediately once you talked about it! Absolutely loved it
The final "I'm fine Tom, I'm fine" is the waterworks moment for me. I've seen it in Toronto 13 times, B'way 6 times and once in the West End and it always happens, even when I'm listening to the soundtrack. Don't know why, just does.
Yup. The last one especially, but all of them get me. The having to be ok when you’re not is just so relatable.
Not crying, but the line "Turn on the radio" always gives me chills.
I have not seen the film but have seen the show 10 times, all productions from the pre-run in Ford's theater to March 8, 2020 in Melbourne and am booked again on Broadway June 30. First, a few of the things that have changed. You have mentioned Janice's comment after speaking to Hannah changing from "I don't think I can do this any more" to something like "I'm not sure...." Beulah is primarily a composite of 2 people, one from the Legion and another from the Gander Academy. I believe Hannah was at the Legion but Beulah is portrayed as at the Academy. In "I am Here" Hanna in early shows sings, "Yes that's the Legion in Gander" which I think is true, but in later shows sings "Yes, that's the Grade School in Gander", more consistent with Beulaha's portrayal. One last; in the Finale is in early shows Janice says "Gander is the only place outside the USA where we share world trade center steel" but in later shows it's one of only a few places.
I cry at times throughout the show but especially in :Something Missing". It starts with Calude's "I hadn't let myself cry the whole time". I recover briefly but then there's a triple whammy at the end of the piece. Bob's last comment "My dad asks if I was ok the time I was stranded. How do I tell him I wasn't just ok; I was so much better"., followed by Beverly's airport story and of course Hanna's call to Beulah which sets me to balling.
A total emotional roller coaster that has me uplifted every time I see it.
god SO many moments make me cry in this show - the "i don't want to do this anymore" always gets me, during "darkness and trees (reprise)" when they go "and that's how we started speaking the same language" and then the music HITS OUGH. oh God one of the moments that gets me the most is when kevin t. is getting coffee and the u.s. is having the moment of silence and everyone is doing it and he's like "i don't think this would've happened back home... but it happened here".
a few others that get me is like... every single time they sing "somewhere in the middle of nowhere" in "38 planes reprise/somewhere in the middle of nowhere". oh and bev's final, "no i'm fine, tom, i'm fine..". obviously all of "something's missing" gets me, but like other than hannah's part, specifically when diane says: "the only reason we met was because this terrible thing happened" and when bob says: "my dad asks 'were you okay out where you were stranded?' how do i tell him that i wasn't just okay, i was so much better?". and ofc in the finale when janice says: "newfoundland is the only place outside the united states where we share the steel from the world trade center" and then joel just goes "on the north east type of north america..." and the "we also commemorate what we found" and then they go into "you are here at the start of a moment, etc...". i actually have the words "you are here at the start of a moment" on my classroom door, haha!
... in conclusion, the whole show makes me want to cry. i think that i've cried over every single song at least once over the years. even like heave away and such, haha! LOVE this show!
The scene where I am in absolute shambles every single time is during "Prayer" when the man who had been born in Poland to a Jewish family and sent away before the war, having his entire identity stripped from him meets with the Rabbi because he wants to make sure someone knew his story. The juxtaposition of the heartbreak of both war and terrorism on all people as the prayer for peace by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus reaches a crescendo is profound.
This is such an amazing musical 🎶. Absolutely loved it. Such a stellar ensemble!
During the part at the very beginning when they're all recounting where they were and just listing places off. It doesn't matter how many times I listen to the cast album or how many times I see it. I'm crying every time whether I want to or not.
My favorite part of Come From Away is that every single song has the potential to make me cry. (And I have cried listening to every song.)
Honestly, it's a show I really want to see live. I have seen snippets here and there. Yes, even fully well knowing I'll be in tears by the end.
My favourite silent moments are the Nick and Diane one's: towards the end, in one performance the actors kept their hands held after their kiss on the plane throughout, with another cast the two were cuddling in the background during the Finale when they weren't being interviewed. With each cast I've noticed Nick holds Diane's hand as she steps down from the chairs after Stop the World - heartwarming 💓
My unexpected tears are during 38 Planes (reprise)/Somewhere, when Kevin says the line "Kevin, talk to me, please." The entire song is so hopeful and joyful, everyone is excited to go back home, but there's this moment when you realize that, for the Kevins, things will never be the same, and they will never be able to fix what was broken between them.
I've seen roughly 60 Broadway musicals and Come From Away is in the top three. Such perfect story telling is extremely rare. Certainly the events surrounding the story add to it's power. However, it would have been so easy to muddy the waters with events both extraneous and gratuitous thus diminishing the raw emotion, humor, kindness and love of the story. The best song writers can convey the essence of someone's or something's life and or history in 4 to 6 minutes while leaving little or nothing to be desired. Come From Away is the stage equivalent of such a perfectly written song. Come From Away will probably be most compelling for those old enough to clearly remember 9/11. However, in the realm of truly complete musicals without waste or want this is a master class in writing. It is also a collection of wonderful songs and true stories that tell a previously unknown side of an historic event.
one line that gets me every single time "I'm sorry you lost your baby." You can hear the audience audibly gasp, and its heartbreaking
I don’t necessarily have ugly tears watching stuff, I have no idea why, but I do have so many moments where I have to take a deep breath watching this show. There’s so many moments, like when Bob talks about talking to his dad, and saying he wasn’t just good, “he was so much better” in gander, because he was no longer afraid of everything around him.
I saw the pre-broadway production in Seattle and at the end of Stop the World in the pause before Nick and Diane sing "stop the world, please' each of them had a line. Nick sang 'of her' followed by Diane 'of me' and it was cut before broadway which made me so sad because the moment was so sweet
. "And honestly, I just thought he missed, so I ..." --- In the midst of all that is going on, these two people's hearts find a culminating moment just in time before they have to go their separate ways. It begins their being together forever.
When I saw Come From Away on tour I started bawling at the first notes of the Bodhran on "Welcome To The Rock".
They absolutely changed Janice's line. Also, Hannah in the OBCR sang "at the LEGION I'll be right here" because that's where real life Hannah had been. In the show they changed it to the "Grade School" because that's where Hannah was in the show. They also took out Kevin J's line telling Kevin T. to "go take a walk in the woods"
The shot of them from behind watching on TV--I took a photo of the TV and it's in my FB Cover photo rotation--it's so beautiful.
I know I cried more than ten but I (I haven't seen the filmed version) but I saw the US National tour and the moments that got me were:
1. When they finally find out what happened, and, I was expecting to hear like an actual news report of what happened, but instead it's just silent, which I thought was perfect because the show isn't about reliving the event, there's not one person watching Come From Away that doesn't have a vivid picture in there mind of what the characters are hearing
2. Something's Missing, it just breaks my heart because it's our reminder they are stepping into the horror, and it's not happy at all.
3. "I'm fine Tom, I'm fine"
During “I Am Here” when Hannah sings “I should be there when it’s over and done, when he comes through the door and says ‘I’m home Mom.” 😭😭😭
I cried watching your video just remembering all the devastating parts. I love this show so much.
i listened to the album a while back and loved it but thank god for this proshot because its sooo good and so heart wrenching! I loved the way they use the chairs as the sets so good. Happy cry moment was the "stealing" the grills and the guy being so worried and how we have to deal with such fear. The beginings of muslim/islamaphobia too was so sad. the way the play encapsulates all the hurt and the love of humanity. Its awfully sincere and the music is beautiful its definitely added onto my favorites easily.
Ive watched the recording twice. I love the cfa soundtrack but never been able to see it. It was better than I thought it would be. Wish they would record more musicals.
That scene when she asks about Charles gets me EVERY time. Whether I watch it or listen to the soundtrack, I just picture her face and I break down.
one summer i did a musical camp and we did come from away and i was literally backstage after going off actively crying lol. favorite musical
Listen. I have been watching musicals since I was 10 years old, I'm 34 now. It's been a lot of years and a lot of shows, and I don't easily cry in a theatre, at most I'll shed a tear or two. But this movie reduced me to a complete emotional wreck. It is an absolute masterpiece - I've seen it twice in London and once on Apple now and all three times I basically cried for two hours straight with only short intermissions when something funny happens (that freaking pilot lmao). Did y'all see the video from when they came back to Broadway? That alone had me sobbing, "tonight we honour what was lost, but we also commemorate what we found", and you can tell how much Joel Hatch absolutely MEANS it.
one moment that really gets me is when beverly sings that they’re back in the usa and the other cast members’ faces. like esp bc this was filmed during covid, it feels symbolic that things are returning to normal but it’s all clearly a different and more somber vibe
For me it’s when Ali asked for the fish and cheese recipe lol
see i'm a baby and "welcome to the rock" makes me cry but the specific line that gets me is "To the ones who've left you're never truly gone; A candle's in the window and the kettle's always on" like it's SO NOT A SAD LINE but knowing what all is coming in this show and knowing what happened irl that line hits so damn hard
Top 10 Come From Away moments that make me SOB:
1. Prayer
2. Everything else