It isn't until you see one that you realize how much it means to be at a musical set in Canada.
That was the collective experience Tuesday night at the Southern Alberta Jubilee, for the opening of Come From Away, the little musical that could that tells the uplifting story of what happened when the world landed in Gander, Nfld. on 9/11.
That was the stunning Tuesday 21 years ago when all air traffic was shut down in North America, forcing 19 flights, many of them international, to divert to Gander, an outpost of 9,000 people.
What happened when 7,000 frustrated air travellers, children, pets and a pair of bonobo apes showed up is a great story – one that is well-told and exceptionally staged in Broadway Across Canada's joyous production of Come From Away.
There was never a day like 9/11 before or since, but two decades of reading and writing and reflecting on its impact sort of dulled our appreciation of that fact, which is driven home in the opening scenes, when the skies suddenly shut down and air passengers – possibly the last ones on the planet to be let in on the news – discover their flights have been diverted to Newfoundland because of "something that happened in New York."
There are passengers from the U.S., others from Germany, an orthodox rabbi, an Egyptian named Ali who works as a chef in Dallas, a British man attending a conference in the U.S., a divorced woman from Dallas - in other words, the usual collection of bums in seats that any given flight on any given day flying from here to there is composed of.
That collection of misfit toys find themselves stuck on a tarmac in Gander, while airlines attempt to grasp the inconceivable events of the day, when four planes were turned into bombs that flew into buildings.
It all is brought to life through stories related through the book and songs of the husband and wife team of David Hein and Irene Sankoff, the creators of Come From Away, who cut and paste an assortment of voices to patch together a kind of eyewitness retelling of how folks in Gander responded to the unimaginable events of that day.
I don't think it would require a spoiler alert to say that the folks of Gander and its neighbouring communities responded with open arms, and a generosity of spirit that's worthy of a Broadway show!
The touring production features standout performances by a cast of a dozen who double up, playing passengers and locals such as Kirsten Peace, who plays Bonnie, from the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), who crawls into the undercarriages of all the planes and administers to the pets on board, including an epileptic cat (with a prescription).
Or the mayor of Gander and three other rural Newfoundland communities, all of whom are played by Kevin Carolan wearing a witty variety of accents and hats; or Nick Duckart as Ali, Christine Toy Johnson, James Earl Jones II; or Danielle K. Thomas as a New York city fireman's mom who keeps getting voicemail when she tries to check up on him.
The musical score is a tribute to Newfoundland roots music, and lots of echoes of the Nova Scotia kitchen party in boot stompers like "Welcome to the Rock."
And it's all anchored by the local Tim Horton's, which is where cub reporter Janice (Julia Knitel), whose first day at the local TV station turns out to be 9/11, heads to grab local reaction to a global story.
Little does she know that global story is about to land right on Gander's doorstep.
Come From Away was developed by a musical theatre program run by Michael Rubinoff at Sheridan College in southern Ontario, which has taken upon itself the task of nurturing new Canadian musicals into existence.
(Its followup on Broadway, The Prom, got rave reviews but didn't click with audiences.)
If Come From Away is exhibit A, Sheridan College needs to keep them coming.
