By Holly Tishfield<\/p>\n
There were more than a few tears and discreetly passed tissues going around the audience as Alhambra Theatre & Dining brought the heart-wrenching story of \u201cCome From Away\u201d to life at its opening gala on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome From Away\u201d tells the true story of a group of 7,000 passengers aboard 38 planes that diverted into the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n
On that day in September, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down the United States airspace, which caused thousands of planes to divert from their planned paths and make emergency landings elsewhere. That\u2019s how the 10,000-person town of Gander ended up welcoming thousands of strangers (which they dubbed \u201cPlane People\u201d) with open arms and open hearts.<\/p>\n
The musical sheds light on the poignant stories of dozens of passengers who lost loved ones during the attacks, while also highlighting the warmth of humanity in its darkest hours.<\/p>\n
Set against a modest backdrop with a live band bringing the musical to the next level, \u201cCome From Away\u201d actors and actresses used set pieces and variations in costuming to not only make the audience believe in location changes, but character changes, as well.<\/p>\n
Actress Jennifer Medure took on dual roles, portraying American Airlines pilot Beverley Bass as well as a Gander resident swept off her feet by one of the dashing airline captains who landed in her town, switching back and forth between a pilot\u2019s uniform and standard everyday wear.<\/p>\n
Lisa Booth and Millicent (Penny) Sylvester thoughtfully portrayed the meaningful relationship between Hannah and Beulah, a \u201cPlane Person\u201d and a resident of Gander who navigates the emotional turmoil of waiting for a call from a missing loved one.<\/p>\n
Maureen McCluskey and Steven Amburgey played out the budding love story between two stranded \u201cPlane People\u201d forced to land in Gander with the rest of their flight, while Christopher Michael Milligan and Anthony Llerandi captured the tension of a young couple with opposing attitudes toward their situation.<\/p>\n
Cast members rarely left the stage, quickly transitioning from one scene and one musical number to the next with the assistance of lighting and prop changes. With a nearly two-hour runtime and a 15-song setlist, the cast carried a demanding and emotionally heavy performance with ease.<\/p>\n
The performance ended with a 10-year time jump into 2011, where the \u201cPlane People\u201d returned to Gander to commemorate the kindness and kinship of the town\u2019s residents, ending with a powerful finale ballad delivered by the entire cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome From Away\u201d will be shown at the Alhambra through Oct. 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Holly Tishfield There were more than a few tears and discreetly passed tissues going around the audience…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":204379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-204378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115156113549439652","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}