Kiss the Cod for Charity: Come From Away Arrives to Glens Falls, New York
Last Saturday, Michael and I headed to the Charles Wood Theater to see the Adirondack Theater Festival production of the hit musical, Come From Away. We saw it on stage last year at the Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady, New York. It is a truly magnificent musical that delicately balances the traumatic events of the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks with a heartwarming message of a community coming together to help thousands of strangers.
Walking to the auditorium and taking our seats in front, we were aghast at the incredible stage construction. I learned from someone near me that one of the actresses in this production was in the Philadelphia rendition where Trevor Strader traveled during his bus mishap. In fact, the cast detailed in the playbill were all incredibly performers over the years. We knew that this production will be incredible.
As the lighted dimmed, artistic director Martha Banta and managing director Tracey Sullivan introduced the musical to a captivated audience. They announced that a mysterious benefactor offered a donation challenge. All donations made until the final show on August 7th will be matched up to $25,000. Be sure to donate on their website or at their booth during the remaining shows. As they exited the stage, all twelve performers walked onto the stage with musicians beginning to play the first song.
This true story takes place in the town of Gander, Newfoundland during a couple days after American airspace was shut down from the terrorist attacks in New York City. Written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, it liberally tells the story of local residents as well as some air travel passengers navigating the abrupt change in plans and international chaos.
The story begins, as the opening song attests, on the island of Newfoundland at a small town called Gander. The Gander International Airport, at the time of September 11th, 2001, was seen to be on the decline. It was built in 1936 and was strategically used in World War II. More than 20,000 North American-built fighters and heavy bombers would travel across the Atlantic during the Battle of Britain. Between 1942-1945, the Newfoundland government handed over control to the Canadian government. They used it as a military airfield, but Newfoundland regained operations after the war, leading to a new $3 million terminal, handling 3,000 aircraft annually and a quarter million passengers, according to the Gander International Airport website. But the arrival of the jet age and bigger aircraft carriers made it possible for traveling across the Atlantic without fuel stops.
The conversations and realizations from the residents of Gander in the opening act were surreal, as the audience knows what they are about to experience. Everyone has a story about where they were when they heard the news of the terrorist attacks. For myself, I was in elementary school in St. Charles Borromeo, a small, Catholic school situated about a hundred miles from each of the three incidents that occurred that day: the Pentagon crash, the destruction of the Twin Towers, and the tragic United 93 fall in Pennsylvania. My husband, Michael, lived in the suburbs of New York City with a clear view of the skyline.
As the residents of Gander turned on their radios or televisions, it slowly dawned on them that the world had changed. With news spreading about the FAA’s update to divert planes out of United States airspace, the town began to mobilize with the impending increase in travelers. The song, Blankets and Bedding, details a rather humorous look at the situation. Each character on stage finds ways to help, whether heading to a local grocery store, making trays of sandwiches, or converting a school into a makeshift hotel. The outpouring of generosity and service after the terrorist attacks would be seen across the world.
After the initial chaos of air traffic controllers frantically diverting thousands of planes throughout country and nearby airports, thirty-eight planes landed at Gander International Airport totaling 7,000 people. Given the confusion, it took nearly twenty-eight hours for all the passengers to exit the planes while the town waited for FAA instructions to resume air travel. The musical does a fantastic job exploring and explaining the sheer boredom and unease for all the passengers stuck on the tarmac. For those too young to remember, the world had fewer options for information. Cellphones were either too expensive or too limited. The Internet was just starting to accelerate in use, but data connections were limited to dial-up connections on desktop or bulky laptop computers. Wireless internet was just invented in 1997 but not widely used yet.
Rumors and heresy were rampant, as the hours dwindled, especially since the airlines also had limited information. It was rather humorous when they detailed the limited movies onboard, from Doctor Doolittle 2 to Titanic, with one of the passengers reciting an iconic line from Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. Alcoholic beverages that were divvied out on the plane, as one of the lyrics illustrated, “soon everyone got friendlier.”
Once the hundreds of buses appeared at the airport, the passengers descended out of the planes and headed into various directions for sleeping arrangements. The lyrics from “Darkness and Trees”, as well as the broad range of passengers depicted, detail the uncertainty, foreboding, and anxiety of moving over 7,000 passengers from all over the world to makeshift hotels. The language and culture barriers were especially apparent, given the limited information and rumors surrounding the terrorist attacks. One of the interactions between an African couple and a bus driver was powerfully uplifting. The bus driver used the couple’s Bible, though written in a different language, to showcase a passage that illustrated his words and intentions. It was Philippians 4:6, which reads, “Be anxious for nothing.” And that’s how they started speaking the same language.
Religious beliefs, while differing in languages and customs, share a common truth. During a scene inside a church, it leads to a euphony of prayers from different religions, from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Hindi. It was beautifully performed and a great message to instill kindness just by respecting each other’s beliefs.
The desire to learn and understand new things is something all of us should strive for in life. And that is exactly why one of the songs, Me and the Sky, is incredibly poignant. It is sung through the character and experiences of Beverley Bass, the first female captain of an American Airlines commercial plane. She was the pilot onboard a flight heading to Dallas, TX before being diverted to Gander. Through an emotionally powerful song, we learn the struggles and triumphs of her life as she constantly pushed the gender-norm boundaries of airline pilots. Gender-norms are not set in stone, from male nurses to female engineers. We should all strive to break boundaries and make the world a better place for all.
There were moments of fun and human camaraderie among the locals and the guests, whether karaoke, dancing, or a ceremonial "screech-in”. A “screech-in” is a real ceremony by Newfoundlander’s where they invite mainlanders, or those that “come from away”, to drink a shot of Screech Rum and kiss a codfish to become honorary residents. The strange, drunken ceremony imbues a sense of absurdity and community that embodies those that have chosen to remain in Newfoundland. The opening song detailed some of the extraordinary challenges for Newfoundlanders, like harsh winters and destructive hurricanes. Even with the tumultuous weather conditions, those that call Newfoundland home remain, creating a community through adversity.
Unfortunately, though the passengers received good news that they were disembarking after five days, America was still in the throes of a crisis. Terrorist attacks from the three incidents left a hollow feeling of loss, distrust, and anxiety. As the song “Something’s Missing” alludes, the country that some of the passengers traveled to was not the same; something was missing. One of the characters ruminates on the horrible possibility that a terrorist could drive down I-95 and shoot a grenade launcher at incoming airplanes heading to Newark Airport. Another character divulges the terrible, daily experiences of being a Middle Eastern, driving her daughter to school.
Sparks of hope started to push through fear as the ten-year anniversary of the attacked neared and a reunion was being planned at Gander. Almost all the passengers that were diverted to Gander on that fateful day were invited back to mourn what was lost but celebrate what was found: a sense of community, shared human connections, and an outpouring of generosity. The story of Gander on September 11th should be remembered not just as a day of tragedy but a celebration of the power of community service.
After the show ended, there was a makeshift bar manned by volunteers accepting donations to the theater organizations with a photo opportunity to “kiss the cod”. There was a line of attendees excited to join in on a Newfoundland tradition, as shown in the musical. There are a few more showings of Adirondack Theater Festival’s Come From Away this weekend. I highly recommend snagging a seat before it ends. You will be thumping your legs and kissing a codfish before you know it.
