# Musical: Come From Away **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [September 30, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539 "2025-09-30T20:19:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/1 "2025-09-30T20:19:17Z")
A few nights ago I saw the musical, “Come From Away”. It was outstanding. I am not a huge musical fan but this was amazing. The play is loosely (very loosely) based on real events. A small town in Newfoundland with 9,000 residents had 7,000 airplane passengers forced to land when 9/11 happened. How does such a small town cope? They rose to the challenge (in real life did). The play hits all the marks. Humor, drama, highs and lows, good musiic. It is amazing. I know this is nowhere near a new show now but it is timeless. If you get a chance to see it do so! Unless you HATE musicals! Those people should skip it. For everyone else, not to be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/2 "2025-09-30T20:50:44Z")
I heard it was really good. I’m leery of it because of the 9/11 factor though. I mean, I don’t purposely put myself through very emotional experiences in public. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/3 "2025-09-30T21:05:08Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The play is loosely (very loosely) based on real events. Everything that I looked up from the play happened pretty much the way it was depicted. Many characters were condensed, but the ones that were depicted can be looked up online and confirmed. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I heard it was really good. I’m leery of it because of the 9/11 factor though. I mean, I don’t purposely put myself through very emotional experiences in public.- It was more heartwarming than depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/4 "2025-09-30T21:09:53Z")
Early during the pandemic, a filmed production of the stage musical was available on one of the streaming services. It might have been Hulu and it might still be available there. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/5 "2025-09-30T21:21:14Z")
I don’t have allergies…You do! (I totally cried…not full-on boo-hoo but yeah, my eyes got teary a few times). Partly what is so good about this play/musical (not sure when to apply which word). It has you laughing and crying and whatever is between. Really amazing show. “Little Shop of Horrors” has been a lifelong favorite. This might surpass that for me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/6 "2025-09-30T21:31:58Z")
I saw it a couple of years ago. One of the best 21st century musicals. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/7 "2025-09-30T23:19:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Early during the pandemic, a filmed production of the stage musical was available on one of the streaming services. It might have been Hulu and it might still be available there. It was Apple TV+; it’s still available. I’m a big musical theater fan, but have been avoiding this show for the same reason as **Dung Beetle** …though I’m still pretty sensitive about 9/11 stuff even in private. Maybe I’ll check it out this weekend, though. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/8 "2025-09-30T23:27:48Z")
My BiL refused to come see it because he says he has PTSD when it comes to 9/11. The show is uplifting though. Sure, at its core 9/11 is what makes the story happen but it is about people of all sorts coming together in the most improbable way when a tragedy happens and the lovely town that welcomed all of them. Truly heartwarming in the best way. (and it all really happened…granting some fictionalization for story telling) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/9 "2025-10-01T00:12:39Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Everything that I looked up from the play happened pretty much the way it was depicted. Many characters were condensed, but the ones that were depicted can be looked up online and confirmed. That’s really cool. I had read that the person who wrote the play traveled there and then went and interviewed passengers who got stuck there. I was not aware how “real” some of the stories were (albeit obviously condensed and fictionalized for story purposes). ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/10 "2025-10-01T00:15:02Z")
I saw it in Toronto back in the spring. We were initially supposed to see it back in late March of 2020, but for some reason it was cancelled… An excellent show, highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/11 "2025-10-01T00:18:52Z")
I have a friend (who is normally a big fan of musicals) who absolutely refuses to see it because he is outraged that anyone would make a musical “about 9/11.” It is, in his mind, one of the most disgusting and evil works of art ever produced. No argument that I have tried will convince him otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/12 "2025-10-01T00:21:17Z")
Tell him it is 9/11 adjacent. It is not about 9/11. It is about things that happened because of 9/11. Maybe that will mollify him. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/13 "2025-10-01T00:22:22Z")
I have tried to explain repeatedly what it’s really about. He will not hear it. Eventually I stopped trying, because it was just upsetting both of us. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/14 "2025-10-01T00:23:15Z")
But it’s not about 9/11. It’s about international friendship. A friendship that I must say has become so strained in the past year of Trumpism that I’m not entirely convinced the same welcoming spirit would happen today. Canada-US friendship goes back a great many years and has been a model for the world, but it doesn’t take an ignorant tyrant long to tear it down. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/15 "2025-10-01T00:28:51Z")
Probably best that he never watches the UK teen drama called Skins. In either the first or second season, the sixth form college attended by the characters rehearsed “Osama: The Musical” which was explicitly about 9/11. It was an excellent show, though. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/16 "2025-10-01T00:35:25Z")
It crossed my mind, when watching the show, that MAGA and Trump in particular would benefit from watching it. In the next moment I knew the musical would not resonate with them and sadly realized how fucked we are. FWIW I apologize to Canada on behalf of the US. I am ashamed of us. If this musical can’t move someone their spirit is broken and it seems half of the US is. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/17 "2025-10-01T00:37:33Z")
Make a bet with him you know you will win. If you win he has to see the show. If you lose…??? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/18 "2025-10-01T00:45:06Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > But it’s not about 9/11. It’s about international friendship. I know that, but I’m not the one you need to convince. It’s too bad, because I think he would like it if he were to actually see it. But I don’t see any prospect of that happening. I think it’s a shame, but you can’t force someone to like something. To add, in response to **Whack-a-Mole** : I don’t really want to manipulate him into seeing a show he doesn’t want to see, either. We all have our own issues about what we want to experience in our entertainment, and it’s not my place to try to make him feel otherwise. I mentioned it mainly because I can understand your BIL’s reluctance to see it due to feelings about 9/11. It reminded me of my friend’s reaction, even though they’re not exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/19 "2025-10-01T00:50:06Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > To add, in response to **Whack-a-Mole** : I don’t really want to manipulate him into seeing a show he doesn’t want to see, either. It’s not a manipulation (which implies some subterfuge). It’s a full-on, in your face, force. I get if you do not want to wrestle your friend in to this but, I think, sometimes it is a friend’s job to push their friend a bit (two-way street). But sure, if he is adamantly opposed probably not a fight worth picking. I think he is missing out on a weird and lovely silver lining to such a dark day. I think it’d help him, his soul, in dealing with it. Just my $0.02. IANAPsychologist. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539/20 "2025-10-01T00:51:01Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I have a friend (who is normally a big fan of musicals) who absolutely refuses to see it because he is outraged that anyone would make a musical “about 9/11.” Why, one might as well write a musical about the common cat, or the king of Siam! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-come-from-away/1023539.md?page=2)