COME FROM AWAY Previews

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 9:49am

Previews for the new musical, Come from Away, by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, begin TOMORROW NIGHT (Saurday, February 18, 2017) at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Landing on Broadway after tremendous reception during their runs in Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Toronto, Come from Away boasts an ensemble of 12 actors, including Chad Kimball, Jenn Colella, Kendra Kassebaum, and Rodney Hicks. Come from Away is set to officially open on March 12, 2017, scheduled for an open run.

Who's going?!

Updated On: 2/17/17 at 09:49 AM

[steven22]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 10:22am

I'll be there Sunday night. Very excited to finally see this! Jenn Colella belongs back on Broadway! 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 10:24am

I keep forgetting about this show, and that's just inexcusable for me as Jenn Colella treated me so well during her BroadwayCon masterclass.

[bloomerific]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 10:40am

I'll be there on Sunday as well, then again on March 11th and hoping to get into opening night on the 12th. 

[SeattleTraveler]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 4:44pm

I'm flying in to see the final preview and keeping an eye out for opening night tickets. I'm also flying out a few weeks after it opens to see it again (along with DEH, Great Comet, and Groundhog Day). Really can't wait to hear what the Broadway audience thinks! That final preview will be my 14th time seeing it and my 4th city. You could say I'm just a wee bit obsessed with the show. 

[sppunk]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 5:15pm

Everyone, go see this show. It is special. 

I saw it last October in DC and still have songs and scenes in my head 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 1:16am

I mean y'all are selling me on this show. It seems very cheesy - not my thing, but with all this love I guess I need to check it out. 

[Scott19]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 10:40am

@rippedman. I felt the same way before going to see it. Went along as a favour to a friend of mine and was absolutely blown away. It is, hands down, my favourite musical of the year. (Yes, i include DEH and The Great Comet here.)

I really hope folks in NYC embrace COME FROM AWAY. It's a very special production.

 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 10:43am

My favorite show of the year. It truly is something special. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 12:32pm

I loved this show when I saw it in D.C., but was indeed worried about its appeal in New York. I just looked at Telecharge, though, and tonight's performance is completely sold out. Tomorrow's two performances each have maybe four or five seats left at each. I'll be very interested to see how its box office numbers ultimately pan out!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 12:58pm

Having the $38 rush tickets for (some) of these previous have helped fill the theater for the next week & a half. Should greatly get word-of-mouth out. Hoping nothing but the best for this show.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 1:00pm

For those who have seen this, is it in the same vein as Once? That's kind of the vibe I am getting from the promo videos. I HATED Once, and I am unsure about this one.

[Tag]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 1:04pm

^Not at all.  Non of that pretentious Once stuff 

[eponine88]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 2:34pm

I had the privilege of seeing the first dress rehearsal on Thursday night, as the production offered a limited number of tickets to 9/11 family members who wanted to see the production outside of a regular, paying audience.  I was extremely grateful for this generous move- particularly as from a financial standpoint, I imagine most productions would want to pull people with such personal ties to the material in as paying customers.  

From a personal standpoint, I'm truly grateful that I went.  For all the good things I heard about the show out of town, I wasn't sure I was going to wind up buying a ticket- sometimes it is hard to spend money on something you know will leave you a weeping mess.  So having the opportunity to see the show in a setting where I wouldn't feel self conscious about my potential reaction to it was a true gift.  And I loved it.  In spite of the inherently heavy subject matter, it didn't feel at all like the show was hitting you over the head saying "This is a serious subject!", nor did it feel like it was exploiting the sensitivity of the source material (which is how some artistic pieces spawned from 9/11 have come across to me).  Unsurprisingly, I was teary through much of the show, and given the number of FDNY folks in the audience, it was clear that the audience was responding strongly to the story of Hannah, the woman whose firefighter son was killed in the attacks.  The experiences of the Muslim passenger, Ali (I think?), seemed such a relevant story to highlight in our current society, and I personally found the number that wove together the prayers of different religious groups to be particularly powerful as well.   But there were some wonderfully light and funny moments as well, and I found the entire piece to be a story told with great dignity. 

From the viewpoint of a frequent theatre-goer, the show was a delight.  In spite of the director cautioning us that new script pages had been added that afternoon, the show seemed to move along seamlessly.  The only slight snafu was that Jenn Colella's mic briefly cut at out two different points, but apart from that, they seemed more than ready for New York audiences.  Sadly, I can't comment too much on specific cast members or songs as they did not yet have Playbills ready, but I can say that the cast as a whole was excellent.  It is always a treat to see an ensemble piece with a group that works together as seamlessly as this one.  I've been a fan of Jenn Colella for a while now, and she definitely owns her solo number as Beverly Bass (which I'm going to take an educated guess is called Me and the Sky).  I loved the musical style (I'm a huge fan of anything with a Gaelic musical influence), I'm still humming several of the songs, and I look forward to purchasing the cast recording as soon as it becomes available.  I wish I could offer you guys more specifics, but I'm afraid that the show required so much emotional processing on my part that some of the details blurred together for me by the next morning.  That being said, having seen the show once and being allowed to have my "crying jag", I'm actually very much looking forward to returning to the show as a paying customer to appreciate it for the lovely piece of theatre that it is! 

Updated On: 2/18/17 at 02:34 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 2:34pm

Is there a daily rush or lotto for this?

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 2:41pm

I'm going on March 14th and wanted to see this after reading about the show last year.  Seeing that cute little boy in the bowtie give his YouTube review also helped sealed the deal!  LOL!  I chose the will call option and went to pick up my tickets the other night and they were rehearsing a song.  In those few minutes at the box office window, I liked what I was hearing.  Happy to have stepped back in the Schoenfeld since American Psycho.

[canadian fan]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 5:19pm

eponine88, thank you for the thoughtful and wonderful review.  Looking forward to seeing this production in May. 

[kristinj1]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 5:43pm

I am eager to see how NYC audiences respond to this show.  We loved it when we saw it, and hear that it's gotten even better in the intervening months.  In case anyone missed Ian's review (mentioned above) it is worth a listen.  https://youtu.be/6fhFk--I8VA

[sabrelady]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 9:23pm

Yes thank you eponine88- I can't imagine filtering the show from your POV. Glad you found it a good tribute and enjoyed the performers.

One question, for any one who sees the show.- How did you find the Newfoundland accent? Was it difficult to follow? This has always  bee a bit of a concern for me, that the accent would be a bit  difficult  For" dos what are naught used to it."

see the above for an extreme example

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 10:36pm

Any reviews coming out of tonight?

[KitKatBoy24]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 11:24pm

I didn't see it tonight. However, a few of my friends did and they loved it. Jenn received thunderous applause for her solo and the crowd was giving a standing ovation before the closing number was even over. The show ran about 2 hours with no intermission 

I'm seeing it on Thursday and I can't wait!!

Updated On: 2/18/17 at 11:24 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 11:36pm

I saw a pretty negative review on a popular FB group which kind of surprised me, but at the same time the guy hates Hamilton. So I probably shouldn't be shocked. He's probably in the wrong again. 

Updated On: 2/18/17 at 11:36 PM

[perfectliar]

Posted: 2/18/17 at 11:46pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I saw a pretty negative review on a popular FB group which kind of surprised me, but at the same time the guy hates Hamilton. So I probably shouldn't be shocked. He's probably in the wrong again. "

Differing opinions aren't "wrong."

[Tag]

Posted: 2/19/17 at 12:05am

Jenn received thunderous applause for her solo

I'm curious how this happened?  The way her solo song ends doesn't lend itself to an applause break.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/19/17 at 12:45am

Seeing it on Thursday.