Review: MAD Theatre of Tampa's COME FROM AWAY at the Shimberg Playhouse

It’s sad that it took such an unfathomable horrific act to bring our country—and the world--together.  Before September 11, 2001, we were still reeling over the too-close-to-call Presidential election. The summer before was known as the Summer of the Shark, due to so many media-covered shark attacks,  and aside from Aailyah’s untimely death in August and the disappearance of Chandra Levy and her ties to politician Gary Condit, there was nothing in the news worth remembering.  But that would all change at 8:46 on the morning of September 11.

I recall the moments directly before the horrors: turning on the TV that morning around 8:00 a.m., and the top story of the day was Michael Jordan’s second NBA comeback.  Boring, I thought, and I turned the TV off and headed to work in Sarasota.  I remember the moment about 45 minutes later, driving over train tracks less than a mile from where President Bush was reading “My Pet Goat” to a roomful of school children, when a radio DJ announced, “We have breaking news.  And this really is breaking news.”    He told us that an airplane had rammed into the side of  one of the World Trade Center towers.  When I entered work a few minutes later, I announced that everyone needs to go to CNN online because I had just heard the news of a plane flying into the World Trade Center.  Must be an accident, we all thought.  But then, at 9:03 a.m., we knew the truth when a second plane flew into the South tower. 

There’s no way to adequately describe our feelings that day.  We instantly knew this was one of those seminal events in history—like JFK’s assassination or Pearl Harbor.  Where everyone would come together for the greater good and nothing would be the same afterwards.  And right after that dreadful day, nothing was the same.  We had all come together; the whole red state/blue state, Democrat versus Republican divide had instantaneously dissolved.  We were all Americans.  There was a chance we could stay unified, but politics and bad global decisions eventually got in the way and made that impossible; now, a quarter of a century later, we are as divided as ever.

But for a brief moment, just 25 years ago, we weren’t.  And nothing showcases this post-9/11 togetherness, this spark of the human spirit, better than the top-tier musical, Come From Away, which finishes its sold out run with MAD Theatre’s production this weekend. (MAD is the first community theatre in Florida to mount a production of this show.)

I worried when I first heard that MAD was tackling this essential piece of theatre in the black box of the microscopic Shimberg Playhouse in the Straz Center.  How could such a big musical with so many characters succeed in the sardine-can-sized confines of the Shimberg?  Earlier this year, MAD’s Guys and Dolls, a big show whittled down to an intimate one, certainly suffered in these limited surroundings; would the same fate befall Come From Away?

I needn’t have worried, because Come From Away explodes stunningly in this Shimberg setting; it becomes a quasi-immersive experience, and the intimacy works in its favor. It’s quite a tight ride, and it goes by so quickly but never too fast, beautifully staged and finely performed. It’s a beast of production, like playing a game of chess and Risk simultaneously on 25 cans of Red Bull, and the gang at MAD Theatre have come up with a production that is all aces.

The story, despite its ties to 9/11, is heartwarming. Come From Away (music, lyrics and book by Irene Sankoff and David Hein) centers on the days following the 9/11 attacks when all American flights were immediately ordered to be grounded.  This meant that many planes flying in from Europe had to land in the Newfoundland town of Gander.  38 planes carrying roughly 7,000 passengers suddenly swamped the Canadian small town.  It is here, in this moment, when the best of mankind reared its head, when the Gander folk took in the 7,000 strangers, including 90 Make-A-Wish kids and a myriad of pets, nearly doubling the size of the town.  They made sure the out-of-towners, stranded there for several days, would be fed and housed and taken care of.

If only everyone in the world of 2026 could see what both the Canadian and American citizens of 2001 actually did.  The heartfelt giving, the inner goodness of citizenship and fellowship.  Times were certainly bleak, and not only did these individuals make the most of a bad situation, they shined and showcased such joy and love for strangers that it makes your heart sing just thinking about it. 

The power of the musical is that it is based on the true stories of actual people, when the worst of mankind (the attacks on 9/11) made way for the best of mankind (the various incidents spotlighted in the brilliantly staged Come From Away).  It’s surprising that the musical did not win the Tony Award for Best Musical until you realize that the mega-popular Dear Evan Hansen was also released that same year and took home most of the awards-season accolades (though Come From Away did win the Tony for Best Director that year).   

The MAD cast is superlative, with not a weak link in the bunch.  The best thing is that each of their various characters—each performer plays a plethora of souls—is individualized, nuanced, and we know who they are from their accents and physical movements.  There are rightfully only a few props and costume pieces to show the differences; the rest of the change is up to the actors, and they all do marvelously... 

There’s Janice, the overwhelmed Canadian TV reporter sensationally played by Joanne Donovan.  Claude, the tireless mayor of Gander, is strongly brought to life by Marcus Blake.  There’s Doug Buffaloe’s unforgettable turn as Bob, a passenger distrusting and fearful that he would be robbed or shot, but a man whose outlook slowly changes throughout the plot. 

Melissa Doell becomes one of the audience favorites (as well as one of mine) as Gander’s SPCA manager, Bonnie, whose job it is to save all the various pets that have been stranded. Luis Graham is wonderful as a Gander police officer.  The tough as nails Beulah, breathed to life by the marvelous Francesca Guanciale Jay, leads the volunteer efforts, making sure these thousands of strangers get housed and fed.    

We understand the plight of Hannah (played by the incredible Kali Russ), whose son was a firefighter in NYC and she waits to hear word on whether or not he survived.  The miraculous Miranda Harrison-Quillin stands out as Beverly, American Airlines’ first female pilot (what a voice!).   

There are the two Kevins (well-played by Bernard McNicol and Bradley Roberts), whose relationship gets tested and strained the longer they stay in Canada.  On the opposite end of the love spectrum, we have the recently divorced Texan, Diane (Amanda LeFloch), who meets the Britisher Nick (Rob Smithers); the two falling in love over the course of the show is incredibly emotional and their relationship is the heartbeat of the production (both LeFloch and Smithers are so good and make us root for their sudden love story to last).

With the help of ensemble members Jo Chandler and Mathew Perez, these performers inhabit not just the aforementioned roles but several other roles as well.  And not once was I or the audience ever confused as to who is whom.  The set is appropriately simple (usually just moveable chairs representing the airplane). The story and the staging are the real stars of this show, and my hat goes off to this incredible group of performers.

The vocals are quite nice, with beautifully blending harmonies.  As for the music, aside from the opening “Welcome to the Rock,” there’s not a hummable individual tune; there is a sameness to the numbers, but that works well in a show like this, where no individual really stands out and no song stands out, all of them in conjunction, working together, to tell this heartfelt story. The Mayor says it best (in a video welcome by the actual Mayor of Appleton, a coup by MAD Theatre): “It reminds us of what people are capable of when they choose kindness.”

The band, upstage the whole time and led by music director Nathan Daugherty in a Canadian headband, is superb, including Alex Pasul on bass, Aaron Bray on drums, Mark Warren on the mandolin, Chelsea Smith on the fiddle, Dan Mockenstrum on guitar, and Kevin Paneque and Mr. Daugherty on the keyboards. The pre-show music by them, like an ultra-cool bar band,  got us in the mood instantly. 

The success of this production must rest at the feet of director/choreographer Jessica Berger Vitalo.  This is an insane show to put together, but Ms. Vitalo and her top-notch cast step up and create one of the more can’t-miss nights of theatre. 

When the show was over, we didn’t want it—the kindness, the empathy of those characters—to ever end.  We didn’t want to walk out into the real world of 2026, where kindness and empathy are mere afterthoughts at best. 

I have seen Mad Theatre’s productions for well over two decades (I even appeared in one of them—as the Ol’ Cap’n in Purlie—a full 23 years ago). The organization has always prided itself on being a cut above other community theatres, both in risk-taking and in quality.  Some of their finest productions—Assassins, Cabaret, Spring Awakening—stand with the very best that our community has produced.  You can add Come From Away to this illustrious list; it ranks up there as one of MAD’s all-time very best productions.

MAD Theatre’s COME FROM AWAY ends its run on June 28th (and its final weekend is sold out), but other local theatres will be producing it in the near future, so make sure not to miss it wherever it plays.   

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