It’s hard to overestimate how powerfully a musical set in Gander, Canada, connected with a Chicago audience Wednesday night. It had something to do with the potency of our collective memory of Sept. 11, 2001, but surely just as much with the isolation we all feel a consequence of the pandemic. And the fear and dislocation from watching Russian tanks roll down highways toward Ukraine.
Simply put, “Come From Away” is a musical that celebrates human kindness, our collective capacity to drop everything and help a fellow traveler in need. When I first reviewed this show, it felt like a piece about a specific set of circumstances: an accidental fleet of 38 jumbo jets was diverted to Newfoundland after the closing of U.S. airspace on the morning of Sept. 11, swelling the population of a tiny town by several thousand scared and ill-prepared citizens of the world. This is the story of the hospitality they received and how that act of communal generosity changed everyone’s lives for good.
But “Come From Away” (which was penned by Irene Sankoff and David Hein) doesn’t feel about just that anymore. It’s become more of a musical portrait of possibility, of what the world could be, of peace rather than war, of tolerance rather than accusation, of aid given rather than fault critiqued. When I’ve reviewed this relentlessly good-humored show before, I’ve dropped in a few caveats about limitations of form or looseness of structure. Not this time. A theater critic has to listen to what the audience is saying, or, in this case, how little they stirred and how much they were demonstrably moved.
All theater is time-bound. There are shows you should see and this is one. And there are shows you should see right now, for the benefit of your own spirit, and this is one of those, too.
My eyes were moist all night. And I’ve seen it four times.
The reality of tours is that they typically worsen over time as budgets fall, assistants take over from directors and actors move on to fresher work. As directed by Christopher Ashley in the best overall work of his career, this Equity cast remains excellent in all of the usual ways you judge actors: the troupe even includes two much-loved Chicago players in James Earl Jones II and Harter Clingman.
And fans who have seen this show before will enjoy a particular revelation courtesy of an actress named Julia Knitel, playing a local TV reporter. Media figures in musicals are always caricatures but Knitel makes this role wholly credible and all her characters (everyone plays several roles) profoundly vulnerable and empathetic. It’s fascinating to watch how one actor can transform a smallish role into the emotional heartbeat of the show. That is what Knitel achieves here with the help of Kevin Carolan, Danielle K. Thomas and others.
Knitel does this most beautifully in how she delivers one funny line that crystallizes this truly wonderful night: “Thank you for shopping at Walmart. Would you like to come back to my home for a shower?”
You have two weeks. I don’t think this show ever will be as a good or as necessary again, but then I suppose that depends on how the world spins.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “Come From Away”
When: Through March 6
Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.
Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Tickets: $31.50-$111.50 at 312-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com
