COME FROM AWAY Previews- Page 11

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:29pm

Why can't we come to a conclusion on this one? The show, while taking place on the day of and days following the tragedy of 9/11, is not ONLY about that. Period. 

Cynics will say "it's about 9/11," but really, if you have a heart... you know it's about a whole lot more than that. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:30pm

The show is currently live streaming their red carpet arrivals right now on Facebook. Get to see all the people whose stories are told on that stage.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:32pm

the show isn't about 9/11 directly but about one small community's RESPONSE to an aspect of 9/11 the displacement of the air travelers.

But you've already made up your mind, haven't you?

" lyrics like "Someone used the thing I loved most as the bomb" or something is absolutely cringey and distasteful.  "

u don't even bother to check the actual lyric while dismissing it  so how familiar w the show can u be? but judge away since it make u feel so good.

Updated On: 3/12/17 at 05:32 PM

[ajh]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:36pm

Since the cast album was streamed, and is now available digitally, I have listened to little else. I think it's an enthralling score, and Jenn Collella's "Me & The Sky" is one of the best female power-belt numbers in any Broadway musical since Wicked opened.

I haven't seen the show yet (one of my best friends in NYC has already seen it four times and is borderline obsessed with it) but it will certainly be top of my list for my next visit. Aside from the melodiousness and excitement of the music, what struck me was how unexpectedly funny and joyous so much of it is. Having said that, the serious sections are incredibly moving in their heartfelt simplicity. I absolutely love this score, and admire the way that the piece doesn't  trivialise the subject matter. Kindness and decency can be hard things to portray in works of art but this wonderful musical seems to manage it triumphantly.

What a season for new B'way musicals this is turning out to be!!

Updated On: 3/12/17 at 05:36 PM

[bk]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:36pm

So, just to be clear: If you don't like the score, the show, and the direction, you have no heart?  Right?  Kudos for marginalizing all those people who may simply not respond to or enjoy this show.  Well, they've got opinions just like you who do love it and that's what makes the horse racing.  

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:39pm

bk said: "So, just to be clear: If you don't like the score, the show, and the direction, you have no heart?  Right?  Kudos for marginalizing all those people who may simply not respond to or enjoy this show.  Well, they've got opinions just like you who do love it and that's what makes the horse racing.  

 

"

Christ almighty. I wasn't talking about liking/disliking the show. I'm talking about interpreting and discussing what the show is truly about. 

I'm holding up the white flag, folks. 

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 5:51pm

"Also, as someone who lost someone in 9/11, I have a bit of a problem with anything that involves it being musicalized.  It's just very distasteful to me."

"The show may not take place in New York as it is happening, but the show is most certainly about 9/11.  The lyrics like "Someone used the thing I loved most as the bomb" or something is absolutely cringey and distasteful."

I imagine many people on this board lost loved ones on 9/11. I certainly did. You have every right to your feelings, but understand not everyone feels the same way. Also, icecreambenjamin, you haven't seen the show, correct? How, then, can you say that "The show is about people coming together during a time of crisis and all that, but the show is still about 9/11" with such certainty? The show is NOT ABOUT 9/11. If you'd seen it, you would understand that.I'm not suggesting you should see it, given your objections to the material, but you can't really have an opinion on a show you haven't seen, based merely on the music.

The lyric you [mis]quoted " 'Flight 846, there's been a terrorist action', and the thing that I loved more than anything in the world was used as the bomb" is a nearly direct quote from Captain Beverly Bass, one  of the pilots who had to land her plane in Gander that day. It is the first time she drops her professional mask and truly expresses emotion. It's a powerful moment and my bet is that it will garner Jen Colella a Tony nomination.

I guess that my point is that most of the people in this show are real people (or composites in a couple cases). The show is their stories, 9/11 is the reason they came together, but it isn't really even a backdrop for the show. Again, I'm not trying to change your mind about seeing it, but I will say that you're not seeing it for the wrong reasons. 

 

 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 6:15pm

ghostlight2 said: ""Also, as someone who lost someone in 9/11, I have a bit of a problem with anything that involves it being musicalized.  It's just very distasteful to me."

"The show may not take place in New York as it is happening, but the show is most certainly about 9/11.  The lyrics like "Someone used the thing I loved most as the bomb" or something is absolutely cringey and distasteful."

I imagine many people on this board lost loved ones on 9/11. I certainly did. You have every right to your feelings, but understand not everyone feels the same way. Also, icecreambenjamin, you haven't seen the show, correct? How, then, can you say that "The show is about people coming together during a time of crisis and all that, but the show is still about 9/11" with such certainty? The show is NOT ABOUT 9/11. If you'd seen it, you would understand that.I'm not suggesting you should see it, given your objections to the material, but you can't really have an opinion on a show you haven't seen, based merely on the music.

The lyric you [mis]quoted " 'Flight 846, there's been a terrorist action', and the thing that I loved more than anything in the world was used as the bomb" is a nearly direct quote from Captain Beverly Bass, one  of the pilots who had to land her plane in Gander that day. It is the first time she drops her professional mask and truly expresses emotion. It's a powerful moment and my bet is that it will garner Jen Colella a Tony nomination.

I guess that my point is that most of the people in this show are real people (or composites in a couple cases). The show is their stories, 9/11 is the reason they came together, but it isn't really even a backdrop for the show. Again, I'm not trying to change your mind about seeing it, but I will say that you're not seeing it for the wrong reasons. 

 

 

 

"

100%. 

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 6:46pm

I have a long history with this show, seeing it in Seattle and Toronto. More personally, my father was a "plane person," on an American Airlines flight from Heathrow to JFK. He was returning home from a multi week work trip that had taken him to Shanghai, Moscow, and Birmingham. Last night, I saw the final preview. My parents are at the official opening tonight.

The days following 9-11 were scary and confusing, but my dad made it very clear that the people of Gander and Lewisporte were taking care of him. Come from Away tells that story. It's a story about the human spirit, overcoming the odds, and having faith in humanity. It will undoubtedly be called a "9/11 musical," but as others have stated in the many reviews, it's not. It's a mix of stories of unlikely strangers who survived because of the hospitality of strangers.

The cast is small, but mighty. While Jenn Colella is getting the most notice in the show, it truly is an ensemble piece. The cast plays so many parts, but it's always clear who they're supposed to be and what story they're telling. "Me and the Sky" is a true high point, but I loved the finale as well. It shows the lasting impact of the experience.

Many, many good things have already been said about the show and I can only echo them. The show is moving without being trite or cheesy. It's not preachy...it's just telling a story about a light in the dark.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 6:48pm

Well I will be seeing the show this week, so I'll let you know how I feel after watching it.  Also, I was aware that I was probably misquoting that lyric and that's why I said "or something."  I don't have the libretto open infront of me as we speak.  I'm just saying that after listening to the cast album, I'm getting the impression that perhaps this is the wrong medium to tell this story.  Song and dance may not be the way in which to tell a story that surrounds the earth shattering event that 9/11 was and is.  I will report back later this week to let you know if I feel any different after I see it. 

[cam5y]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 6:56pm

Many musicals deal with difficult subjects. Cabaret and the Sound of Music surround the rise of the Nazis. The Scottsboro Boys involves an egregious miscarriage of justice. I haven't seen any reports from people who have actually seen Come From Away who consider that the elements relating to 9/11 were inappropriately handled.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 7:01pm

 "Also, I was aware that I was probably misquoting that lyric and that's why I said "or something."  I don't have the libretto open infront of me as we speak."

I don't have a libretto in front of me, either. I went to NPR to listen before posting. It's a little odd to me for someone to criticize something that they are misquoting and have no context for.

"  I'm just saying that after listening to the cast album, I'm getting the impression that perhaps this is the wrong medium to tell this story.  Song and dance may not be the way in which to tell a story that surrounds the earth shattering event that 9/11 was and is."

There is very little dance (as in, next to none). In your case, given your emotions, I think you may have done yourself a disservice by listening to the music beforehand. I'll be interested in hearing your opinion after you've seen the show, but given your seemingly firmly held preconceptions, I don't know if it will change.

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 7:09pm

thank you, ghostlight!

 

I'm telling people to wait to listed to the cast recording until you see the show. "Something's Missing" & "The Finale" would definitely spoil a lot.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 10:07pm

 The only comps during previews were for the creative team in the last row of the orchestra.  

Well... I attended on a comp and I am neither a critic, nor am I on the show's creative team. So this is not accurate. 

Updated On: 3/12/17 at 10:07 PM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 10:18pm

ghostlight2 said: " "Also, I was aware that I was probably misquoting that lyric and that's why I said "or something."  I don't have the libretto open infront of me as we speak."

I don't have a libretto in front of me, either. I went to NPR to listen before posting. It's a little odd to me for someone to criticize something that they are misquoting and have no context for.

"  I'm just saying that after listening to the cast album, I'm getting the impression that perhaps this is the wrong medium to tell this story.  Song and dance may not be the way in which to tell a story that surrounds the earth shattering event that 9/11 was and is."

There is very little dance (as in, next to none). In your case, given your emotions, I think you may have done yourself a disservice by listening to the music beforehand. I'll be interested in hearing your opinion after you've seen the show, but given your seemingly firmly held preconceptions, I don't know if it will change.

 

 

"

Ghostlight, your posts today on this topic have really held true to my feeling on the show, so thank you for putting into words what I couldn't. 

 

On a separate note: This is what happens when the board humors the opinion on a show one hasn't seen. 

[Neusimone]

Posted: 3/13/17 at 12:20am

Is it well written. Or manipulates you with such a heartwarming story?

[Ragged Tear]

Posted: 3/13/17 at 12:41am

Neusimone said: "Is it well written. Or manipulates you with such a heartwarming story?"

I find it to be pretty well-written. It does a nice job of threading together a somewhat vast narrative from a collection of different characters' stories. 

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 6/2/17 at 1:27pm

Loved the show and, like many, I read  Jim Defede's book, "The Day the World Came to Town," which has been mentioned several times in this thread, afterwards.

I'm curious: Have the creators ever mentioned that they were inspired by that book? Obviously, I get that both "Come From Away" and "Day the World" are based on the same true stories that happened in a specific way and order. But, out of the thousands of people who were diverted to Gander,  I was surprised by how many of the people "Come From Away" focuses on whom Defede had chosen to focus on first (obviously, editing out quite a few, such as a Hugo Boss executive, and adding a few of its own who are not in the book, such as the gay couple). Specific characters, dialogue and even structural elements in "Come From Away" come straight from "The Day the World Came to Town," in a way that seems to require some sort of acknowledgment.

[kuhset]

Posted: 6/4/17 at 10:14am

I don't know if Sankoff & Hein have acknowledged it themselves, but I know that the Seattle Rep posted that on their reading list: http://www.seattlerep.org/Plays/1516/CA/DeeperLook/Reading

 

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 6/4/17 at 11:00pm

I'm seeing the show on Tuesday, I CANNOT WAIT.

 

I'm debating on whether or not to visit the stage door afterwards. I'm not a gratuitous person when it comes to meeting people, and I have a lot of feelings about this show and how it's re-invigorated my love for theatre/acting/writing. So if I do, I have NO idea what I would say.

[SharksVsJets]

Posted: 6/5/17 at 12:01am

BroomstickBoy just say what you said here, I'm sure they'd be happy to hear it.