ST. JOHN’S – “On the northeast tip of North America, on an island called Newfoundland, there’s an airport.” So begins Come From Away, the hit musical based on the town of Gander, its people and how the community responded when 38 passenger planes were diverted here on Sept. 11, 2001. “We were embraced as family and they took care of us,” says Julia Lopez, one of the roughly 6,500 “plane people” who was taken in by the community. This is the first time she has returned to Gander, stopping by the church where she slept, the school where she showered and attending a local performance of Come From Away. “I’ve seen it four times now,” she says. “It just reminds me of my time here.” Kindness, compassion are at the heart of Come From Away, which has helped catapult the town of Gander to international fame, with the musical now performed in countries around the world. Throughout town, signs pay tribute to the people and places immortalized on stage including the airport, town hall, the Canadian Legion and the SPCA. “I’ve said this so many times to so many people, this really should not be a big deal,” says Bonnie Harris, who works at the SPCA and is one of the characters portrayed in the musical. When the planes began to land, she started calling around to find out if there were any animals on board. Initially she was told no, but that answer soon changed: nine dogs, ten cats, and two endangered bonobo apes. “I think there was probably 10, 11 planes that had animals,” Bonnie recalled. “So, they would take us out to each one. We had packed up whatever we thought we would need... cat food, dog food, water, cleaner, paper towel.” For five days, Bonnie visited the animals in the airport hangar, feeding them, taking them for walks and making sure they were OK. Years later, Unga, one of the apes, gave birth to a baby which the zoo named “Gander.” Thousands of Newfoundlanders pitched in that week, the magic of the community shining through in the story and music of Come From Away. “We wanted to do the musical because we wanted to honour what happened here,” said Irene Sankoff, who created the show with her husband, David Hein. The couple was living in New York City during 9/11 and wanted to showcase some of the good that came out of such an awful day. “There were people who were showing the best of humanity at the time we were also seeing the worst,” she said. Sankoff says she initially envisioned telling the story of Gander as a play, but her husband had a different idea. “Wait ‘til you hear the music, you’ll change your mind,’” she recalls him saying. “And I did. Because it’s a part of the lifeblood of this island.” Sankoff says she’s proud of the care they took in telling this story, making sure they got details accurate and ensuring no-one would be retraumatized. “It’s the people who lost people that day or who escaped … who seem to be our biggest fans,” she says, adding, “It gives them something else to think about” on the anniversary. The musical is now performed around the world, ensuring the story of Gander, and the kindness shown here, will carry on. “It’s a kind of bravery that’s not celebrated enough,” Sankoff said. And while 25 years have passed, Bonnie Harris says she’d do it all again in a heartbeat. “It’s something we’d do again tomorrow if it came up,” she said.
