"Come From Away"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This is a musical that I've been waiting to see for quite a while. I love the soundtrack, so couldn't wait to see the combined soundtrack and story on stage. Being part Irish myself I couldn't keep my feet still at the sound of a fiddle and a bodhran, both instruments included in the magnificent live band on stage as well.

This show shares the real-life story of the 7,000 air passengers from all over the world who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9/11, and the small Newfoundland town of Gander community that invited these "come from aways" into their lives with open hearts.

The comedy is so gentle and in abundance, balancing well with the obvious confusion and terror from the passengers who had no idea what was happening and the reason for their flights' diversions. There's emergency panic from the townsfolk who had no idea as to how many people to expect and where they were going to put them up, or how to feed them.

The feeling of comradery though becomes infectious with even Walmart staff offering them to come home with them for a shower!! Can you imagine that being offered by an Asda employee? (other supermarkets are available of course).

Strangers become friends, and friends become lifelong friends, some even staying in the town, and some become even closer friends. But of course, there's those who lost family and friends because of what happened on September 11 2001, and they are also remembered.

Many of the stories related were not known about until this musical, let's face it the pregnant Bonobo monkey or the cat who was on tablets didn't make front page news, but is equally as interesting to hear about, as well as Bonnie Harris who realised that there would have been animals on the planes and, as she worked in an animal shelter, made it her job to go looking for them, and caring for them.

The stories of the local news reporter, who had just started working for the TV company, the Mayor Claude Elliott, the Police Officer, the female flight staff, as well as the passengers, some of which didn't speak English and had specific dietary needs, the party of children who were travelling over as part of the "Make A Wish" foundation, so many different people of different ages and religions, all scared and unaware of the horrors that were unfolding on that day.

It also depicts how in a situation like this, people can also become very wary of some people and treat them very differently, especially if they are Middle Eastern, the horror and embarrassment of a strip search before they let him on the plane told in such a way that you almost feel ashamed for what he had been put through, just because of his religion.

There's also the story of the gay couple, Kevin and Kevin, who didn't want to reveal their relationship for fear of a backlash, and the Jewish man who discovered that one of the Gander residents was also Jewish, but had never revealed that fact.

There are so many wonderful human stories that are woven into this wonderful comfort blanket of life happenings, all bought about by such a sad turn of events by such evil forces. The resilience and love though won through.

This show is truly an ensemble piece of theatre that was non stop; there was only a couple of places that the audience could actually manage to interject with applause, but did we make up for it at the end of the show!

The cast are made up of Natasha J Barnes, Daniel Crowder, Mark Dugdale, Rosie Glossop, Amanda Henderson, Kirsty Hoiles, Oliver Jacobson, Dale Mathurin, Nicholas Pound, Nottingham's very own Sara Poyzer, Bree Smith, Jamal Zulfiquar, Angeline Bell, Holly Ann Butler, Daniel Cane, Ashleigh Harvey, Alyn Hawke, Kathryn Pemberton and Kevin Yates.

Directed by Christopher Ashley.

Choreographed by Richard J Hinds with Musical Staging by Kelly Devine.

The music and lyrics are by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and as I said earlier, I have the soundtrack, but when you see that soundtrack actually performed live, everything takes on a whole new and wonderful meaning. There are musical intricacies of the like of Sondheim's "Into the Woods" and beautiful narration, the sort you'd find in a Jason Robert Brown musical.

Ian Eisendrath's arrangements are just gorgeous and, as I mentioned previously, I love Irish music and these arrangements are incredibly beautiful as well as foot tapping. Most of the musical numbers are ensemble pieces, but there are a few that are sung by single or groups of actors, breaking up the colossal sound of the voices and adding intimacy and emotion into the soundtrack. 

Bree Smith, as Hannah, sings a really beautiful song called "I Am Here", and another highlight for me was Sara's "Me And The Sky", accompanied by the female section of the cast. But just listen to "Something's Missing" and the opening number "Welcome To The Rock" for lessons on just how good a group song can sound, and the timing of everything, not just the songs, is immaculate.

Musical Supervisor is Alan Berry and the band were superb. At the end of the show, when the cast had left the stage, the band stayed on for another jig, and boy did that get everyone who were already on their feet dancing and clapping in the aisles and all the way to the doors. What a fantastic ending to an amazing show,

The set is designed by Zoe Hurwitz, which is very simple but very effective. The design containing trees with a wooden back drop that also allowed entrance and exit points for the cast. The cast move the props, mainly tables and chairs, on and off stage as if it were built into the choreography, such is the smoothness of execution.

This was my first time seeing this incredible award-winning musical, but I know that it won't be my last because it's now one of my favourite musicals. I had heard so many excellent reviews about "Come From Away", and I can say, hand on heart, that everything I heard, read or was told, was true. 

Musical theatre fans, if you've not seen this show before, you need to get yourself a ticket. Fans of great theatre and story telling, you also need to get yourself a ticket because this is great theatre and a masterclass of story telling. There's no interval and the show runs at about 100 minutes, but you will be so engrossed in this story that you won't want it to end; and besides there would be no where to insert an interval anyway, who would want to stem the flow of this story with a break? 

The show also supports a collection of clothing for Emmanuel House in Nottingham.

"Come From Away" is at the Nottingham theatre Royal until Saturday 5 October.