Broadway star returns to New Brunswick for local production of ‘Come From Away’

Hit musical Come From Away will go up on stages in Cape Breton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown in the next year.

Call it the summer of “Come From Away,” as the popular musical is taking over stages in Saint John and Saint Andrews, N.B., in August and September.

The show, which follows residents of Gander, Newfoundland, as they help thousands of passengers on diverted planes on Sept. 11, 2001, will have its first-ever New Brunswick production at the Imperial Theatre in Saint John and the KIRA Amphitheatre in Saint Andrews.

Tony LePage, a Fredericton-born actor who starred in the Apple TV+ version of the show, will reprise his role and co-director with his wife Courtney for this production.

“This is the place where I got my start,” LePage said. “I was doing local productions back the ‘90s. For me to have gone away and gotten to Broadway and bring my experiences to my home province is incredibly important to me.”

The upcoming show will be a collaborative project between Rogue Productions, the Kingsbrae International Residence for the Arts and the Saint John Theatre Company, which announced the production on Monday as part of their 35th birthday celebrations.

“We wanted to do something special,” said Stephen Tobias, artistic director of the theatre company. “The stars lined up. Tony has a real affinity for the material and we’re really anxious to share this with our community.

“It gets to be a provincewide collaboration. It’s in the spirit of the play. A project like this can bring us together and let us build partnerships.”

LePage said the play’s message of hope and kindness is something he hopes resonates with audiences.

“We could all use a reminder that helping people and being kind is something the world could use more of,” he said.

The show will run from Aug. 22 to 24 and Aug. 29 to 31 at the KIRA Amphitheatre before moving to the Imperial Theatre for Sept. 10 to 13.

Tickets will go on sale for the general public on Wednesday.

Cape Breton show

The Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, N.S., will have its own version of “Come From Away” from Aug. 25 to 30.

“It’s a show audiences have been asking about for years, and now we are finally able to do it,” said Pam Leader, executive director of the Savoy, in a news release.

Tickets will be available at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Halifax, Charlottetown shows

Neptune Theatre and the Confederation Centre for the Arts are teaming up to bring “Come From Away” to Halifax and Charlottetown next year.

The show will run in Halifax from March 31 to May 24, and in Charlottetown from July 2 to September 26, 2026.

“Since its premiere in 2015, Come From Away has been the most-requested show by Islanders and we are so excited to finally present it at the Festival. We are thrilled to be partnering with another Atlantic Canadian theatre to share a story that celebrates home and the best of humankind,” said Adam Brazier, artistic director of performing arts at Confederation Centre of the Arts, in a news release. “At a time of increasing divisiveness, this show resonates more than ever. It is a story that reminds Canadians who we are in the world and what it means to be a good neighbour.”

Tickets for the Charlottetown show will go on sale in June and the Neptune tickets will go on sale on Aug. 5.