Birmingham Hippodrome – until Saturday 1st June 2024
Reviewed by Nadia Dodd
5*****
A new musical to me that I had heard of but didn’t know much about, so given the opportunity for the review tonight I did some research prior to the show. Based on the true life story of 7,000 passengers whose flights were grounded in Canada in light of the 9/11 tragedy and a very small Newfoundland community who welcomed the ‘come from aways’ into their lives.
We all know where we were when we heard the news of the 9/11 disaster, no one reported internationally about the people who had flights grounded whilst the air space had to be closed in the following days.
This musical first opened in 2017 on Broadway and theatres are continuing to sell out shows and audiences are still raising to their feet in admiration of the cast following each performance, no surprise the show has until now won four Olivier Awards. Written by Canadian married writing team Irene Sankoff and David Hein.
From the very first song ‘Welcome to the Rock’ it was apparent that we were in for a very entertaining 1 hour & 40 minutes. The whole cast of 12 play a number of different roles, from the Captain of one of the aircraft, a mother of a fire fighter who she is desperate to make contact with and of course the residents of Gander, the community who welcomed the passengers and who quickly became part of their lives.
Staging was very minimal and simplistic, we were taken from inside the local bar, to on the aircraft, inside a local school and travelling on a bus, by just tables and chairs being moved precisely by the cast perfectly. The band were just out of sight but still on stage, the audience are treated to whistles, Irish flutes, electric and acoustic guitars, drums, fiddles to name a few, I loved that during a couple of scenes the band do come on stage and are also really part of the show. They also received a standing ovation after the finale which they totally deserved.
Personally, I’m pleased I didn’t know much about this show prior to tonight, mesmerised from the start with the singing and dancing and learning how so much positivity and kindness can come from an indirect tragedy. Knowing there was truth behind this restores my faith in humanity.