Farmers Alley Theatre in Kalamazoo is bringing back Come From Away one season after it became the fastest-selling show in the theater’s history. The musical opens Thursday, November 5. Five performances have been added over Thanksgiving weekend, and the first three weekends are already sold out.
Director Kathy Mulay says last season’s 27 performances still left a long waiting list, and many audience members asked to see the show again with friends and family. “This is a beautiful production. It has a fantastic message. One that all of us need a reminder of on a daily basis that there’s great humanity in the world.”
Come From Away tells the true story of Gander, Newfoundland, the small town that took in about 7,000 stranded airline passengers after the 9/11 attacks. Much of the dialogue comes almost word for word from interviews the creators did on the 10th anniversary. Mulay is clear about where the show’s focus lies: “We are not telling a 9/11 story… the care that was given to strangers is what this story is about.”
This year’s production uses a full rotating turntable, built for last season’s Misery. Twelve actors use it and 14 chairs to reshape the stage, a skill Mulay calls “chairography.” Four actors are new to the cast, including Dan Gold and Matt Miles from Chicago.
Also making his Farmers Alley debut is Andre Williams, who plays Bob and others. He learned the staging on the show’s national tour, and this is his seventh production of the musical. “It’s actually insane, the worlds that we’re creating just with 14 chairs and three tables,” he says.
Kristin Rose Kelleher, another newcomer, plays Beverley Bass, American Airlines’ first female captain. She also has a personal tie to the story. On 9/11 her father worked a few blocks from the World Trade Center, and afterward he spent months helping with restoration work at Ground Zero. Kelleher studied interviews with Bass but avoids imitating her. “They do really give us the licenses, the actors to make these characters that are real people into our own experience of them.”
Tickets are available at farmersalleytheatre.com or 269-343-2727.
Farmers Alley will also host the Michigan Celtic quartet Selkie on Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m, for an evening of traditional music from the British Isles, Canada, and the U.S.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
