"Come From Away" portrays the kindness that can happen amidst tragedy

The Broadway musical "Come From Away" is playing at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. "Come From Away" tells the story of what happened in Gander, Newfoundland, when 38 international flight were forced to land there as the September 11th attacks played out in American air space. The residents of Gander and surrounding towns opened their homes and their hearts to more than 7,000 travelers who were stranded.

"If people recall where they were on 9/11, this story feeds right into that. I mention this often times for the young people who weren't alive when 9/11 happened, when they come and see the show, it brings history to life in a way that you can't get in the text of a textbook," said Chamblee Ferguson, who plays "Nick" and other characters in "Come From Away." "So I think all audience members are going  to identify with what happened on that day, but then it's really not even about what happened on 9/11. It's really about what happened after 9/11. As we're told to say, it's really a story about 9/12, and how overnight these Canadians fed and cared for, and took care of over 7,000 passengers for five days and five nights."

This is one of the many stories that happened under the umbrella of the September 11th tragedy. In 2011, a husband and wife Canadian writing team visited Gander to gather the stories  of residents and returning passengers, and a musical was born. After several years of being workshopped and tweaked , it opened on Broadway in 2017.

"There's so much heart in this story. And at the core of it, it's about how people can have intentional kindness, compassion, and generosity for each other as the Canadians did for all the come from aways. And I think that's what resonates. When we see this additional lens from which to see the terrible events of that time in our history, to see people's better angles coming out, and how we can actually choose to extend kindness to others, I think it just strikes a beautiful cord in people," said  Christine Toy Johnson, who plays "Diane" and other characters in "Come From Away."

Among the many story lines in "Come From Away", there is an unlikely romance. Two passengers on a Continental flight from London to Dallas met among the 7,000 passengers in Newfoundland, and an attraction sparked.

"We were being housed in a shelter, an SUF Society, United Fishermen. 100 people. We were separated from the rest of our flight because we needed medication when we got off the plane. And so Diane and I were about 3 people who were on our Continental flight," said Nick Marson, a real-life stranded passenger in and around Gander, Newfoundland.

Nick Marson and Diane Gray married in 2002 and honeymooned in Newfoundland. They are devoted to the musical.

"It takes us back to those happy days when we met, so we've seen the show 152 time, and it never gets old," said the real Nick Marson. "The first time we saw it, we were a little bit nervous because we weren't too sure how the playwright and his wife had portrayed us, but they kept it very, very true. Everything you see in the show really happened."

LINK: Tickets and Information for "Come From Away"

That is the magic of "Come From Away."  It plays at the Buell Theater through October 9, 2022.