The long-established Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company (SMTC) return to the town’s Theatre Severn this month to present Come From Away - a touching and uplifting show set in a small Canadian town in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. An emotional ensemble production celebrating kindness, generosity and community, the musical provides its performers with plenty of opportunity to shine. What’s On spoke to SMTC’s producer, Jo Young, and its musical director, Sarah Browne, to find out more…

This month, Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company (SMTC) present Come From Away. Telling a heartwrenching but inspiring true story, the show celebrates community spirit in the face of a global tragedy - the events of September the 11th 2001, when two planes were hijacked and crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre.

The 2017 Broadway musical, written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, shifts focus from New York City to the small Canadian town of Gander, whose residents’ lives were affected in unexpected ways.

“It’s based on one of the worst catastrophes and terrorist activities on the planet,” producer Jo Young told What’s On. “Out of that comes this heartwarming, uplifting story of an aspect of that time that we just didn’t consider. Our thoughts were with those on those planes, all of that activity, but unbeknown to a lot of us, it was causing utter chaos in air space. Flights were having to be diverted and landed elsewhere, and this is where our story takes place.

“Thirty-eight planes had to land at Gander Airport in Newfoundland. Gander is a very small place, ill-equipped to deal with all of these aircraft landing. It’s a story of resilience, of humanity, of friendship - where the Newfoundlanders open their hearts and their homes to terrified, anxious passengers from all over the world. It’s a story of what happened in those days after the 9/11 terrorist attack.”

There is a tragic connection between these heartbreaking events and the Shrewsbury community. A young Shrewsbury man, Graham Berkeley, was a passenger on one of the planes which hit the World Trade Centre. Jo had attended sixth-form college with him. 

“I knew him; not especially well, but I knew him. I knew he was an accomplished musician. He played in the orchestra with a couple of my very good friends… Knowing that somebody from our town, and somebody who I actually knew, was on that plane was absolutely horrifying.”

Sarah Browne, who is the show’s musical director, also works as head of Shropshire Music Service, which includes conducting Shropshire Youth Orchestra - an orchestra in which Graham played - every Monday evening. After becoming involved with the musical, she experienced an extraordinary coincidence following a discovery in a local attic. 

“It was a commemorative Colbrookdale plate that had ‘The Graham Berkeley Memorial Prize’ etched around it,” explains Sarah. “It appears that members of Shropshire Youth Orchestra who played alongside Graham had a reunion, talked about Graham quite a lot, and decided to get this plate commissioned. They had it made, had it engraved, and then wanted to present it to an outstanding member of Shropshire Youth Orchestra thereafter.”

Before her move to Shropshire Music Service, Sarah’s academic career included writing a thesis on musical theatre - and specifically the 1967 musical Hair, which, she maintains, shares an essential similarity with Come From Away. 

“I like to think of these musicals as ‘community musicals’, where it’s all about the ensemble. All the cast have to play at least three characters - there’s one who plays seven different characters. It’s 100 minutes, straight through, of solid music. It’s a big ask of the vocalists on stage, and an even bigger ask of the band - a lot of the songs we have to memorise, because we’re actually in the action on stage. There’s a point where they say, ‘A couple of fellas get up on the accordion…’ So I’ve had to learn the accordion! The music itself, if you take just the music out of it, tells the story of 9/11, but without explicitly telling the story of 9/11. The musical switches from moments of deep, deep sadness - fear, frustration, anger - instantly to joy, kindness and heart. The composers, a husband & wife team, spent a lot of time in Gander, capturing that Canadian folk sound.”

Sarah had the good fortune to see the Broadway production of Come From Away within the first few months of it opening, and also worked with the Broadway cast.

“It was strange. Some Broadway performers can be a little bit aloof, a little bit self-important. This musical had changed the cast members. They had Gander in their thinking. They were so kind to the 60 students I took along, and they were really collaborative in the way they worked with me. I’ve loved it since then.”

Come From Away is a musical which seems to be as transformative for its performers as its audience, and Jo explains that the show offers a fantastic opportunity for the SMTC cast: “The actors are on stage virtually continuously for 100 minutes. They have to multi-role, they have to be in complete control of the set changes, of the props -  everything. As an acting exercise, as an exercise in musical theatre, it’s a unique experience for our performers. We have an absolutely incredible cast who are absolutely nailing it. I think if Shropshire audiences want something unique and uplifting - even those who aren’t particularly fans of musical theatre - I think everybody will find it an incredible piece of work.”

Sarah and Jo sing the praises of the show’s impactful opening and closing numbers, and in a production which is full of moving music, they both have individual songs which are particularly close to their hearts. 

“The one that got me on Broadway was Prayer,” says Sarah. “I was absolutely moved by how they’ve managed to weave so many authentic heritages into that number. That’s the one that really got me.”

“On a personal note, I love Beverley’s song,” adds Jo. “Captain Beverley, a female captain, singing Me In The Sky. Absolutely beautiful, full of passion. I used to be an air stewardess, and that passion for flying, and the fact that a woman achieved what she did in her career, in what was essentially a man’s world - and still is, up to a point… It’s a show that speaks to us on so many levels.”

The production will be the Shropshire premiere of Come From Away - and the timing is particularly poignant, given how close it is to the 25th anniversary of the tragic event. For Sarah, the play also represents the importance of live music - she hopes that productions and extraordinary stories like this will continue to inspire positive change: “Put an instrument in a child’s hands, it will change their life forever. That’s with my two hats on, as musical director and head of service. It will change lives. It’s the power of music that does that. And just be kind - be more Gander.”

Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company’s production of Come From Away shows at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, from Thursday 15 to Saturday 17 October.