Student Blog: Watching Come From Away for the First Time

I don't know if you already knew, but Come From Away, the Broadway musical, is now available on Apple TV Plus. I watched it for the first time and I wanted to write about it because, even though I didn't watch it in a theatre on Broadway, it was worth every minute.

Come From Away is a musical about the 7000 people that arrived in Gander, a small town in Canada on September 11, 2001. The show depicts the very special way the kindness, braveness and humanity of the ones that were on those planes and the ones that did everything to make them feel welcomed before the terrible event that shocked everyone around the world. At first I didn't know what to expect, but that was a good thing because I started watching it with my mind open and at the end I wanted to become a newfoundlander and had my heart full of happiness.

I really liked the way they told the other side of this story in a way that you can see the tragedy from another perspective and can even learn something from these characters that are not just characters, they were real people whose lives changed in one day and had to keep going because they were alive. For example, Diane and Nick were afraid of sharing their feelings with one another and eventually got together because they choose to try no matter what; Bonnie never gave up and even being in the situation that she was in, she decided to do the right thing and fight for those who didn't have voice: the animals that were on those planes or Beulah that found friendship because she was emphatic with Hannah, for me that was a reminder that we all have been one of these people and that we don't have to be afraid to follow our hearts and instincts because who knows if we'll end up making a change in our lives or in the world.

This musical made me feel the actual magic of musicals and theatre because of how with chairs and tables, they made us feel in a restaurant, a school, a church and even a plane; director and choreographer, Christopher Ashley and Kelly Devine's work was amazing and we can see it in every detail, when everybody's on the plane or just with how every actor and actress plays at least two characters.

And talking about characters, my favorite was Beverly for sure, played by Jenn Colella, you have no idea how inspiring and beautiful was the part where she sang "Me and the Sky" which was obviously my favorite song from the musical. The lyrics tell her story perfectly and the moment we hear "And the one thing that I loved more than anything was used as the bomb" I froze, I can't imagine how the real Beverly felt at that moment because suddenly what she loved could be able to destroy her and that's something I hate about humanity, the ability some have to twist things without thinking the consequences.

Anyways, it's wonderful how this musical showed me that there are good people that can change the world and how we're all humans and no matter our religion, country or skin color, we can find friendship, love, help and comfort in one another if we just stop judging and if we keep our mind and heart open to others.

Finally I have to say that I loved it and if you want to watch something about September 11, 2001, give this musical a try because it'll show you a part of the story that many people don't know.