A 9/11 Musical Sets Sights On Broadway For Next Spring

Come From Away, a new musical set in tiny Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001, hopes to arrive on Broadway next spring following runs in Washington D.C and Toronto. Lead producer Junkyard Dog Productions (Tony winner Memphis and megaflop Doctor Zhivago) announced today that the show, seen earlier at Southern California’s La Jolla Playhouse and at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, will continue development at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre in the early fall and at a Mirvish theater in Toronto from November 15 through next New Year’s Day.

The subject is the morning of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when 38 planes carrying 6,579 passengers were diverted to Gander, doubling the population of one small town on the edge of the world. The show is described as “a new original musical with a propulsive score by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and direction by Christopher Ashley,” artistic director of the La Jolla nonprofit and director of Memphis. The creative team includes choreographer Kelly Devine (Rocky), sets by Beowulf Boritt (Act One), costumes by Toni-Leslie James (Jelly’s Last Jam), lighting by Howell Binkley (Jersey Boys), sound by Gareth Owen (End of the Rainbow) and music supervision by Ian Eisendrath (A Christmas Story).

Casting, theater and other details will be announced later.

Prior to La Jolla and Seattle, Come From Away was developed at the Canadian Music Theatre Project in Oakville, Ontario, Canada and was further developed at Goodspeed Musicals’ Festival of New Artists, in East Haddam, CT. The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council and The Fifth Avenue Theatre, Seattle also provided development support.