Broadway Backstory

Welcome to The Rock! This week, we're tackling the 2017 smash hit Come From Away! When American airspace was shut down on September 11, 2011, 38 planes carrying nearly 7,000 passengers were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland. For five days, the residents of the town took care of these strangers, Come From Aways as they were called. 10 years later, writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein went to Gander to meet the real-life people behind this now famous act of human kindness, and what resulted was this heartwarming musical.  For this episode, we too talk to some of the real-life people including Claude Elilott, the Mayor of Gander then and now, and Captain Beverley Bass, whose pioneering life story is told in the show-stopping song "Me and the Sky." We also chat with Sankoff and Hein, Tony-winning director Christopher Ashley, actors Jenn Colella and Caesar Samayoa, the producers, scenic designer and more as we chart the musical's journey from a Canadian college workshop to Tony-nominated hit.