Come From Away Australian Tour

Musical Theatre Review - Brisbane 2021 Season

After almost a year of venues either being shut down fully or at some type of reduced capacity, musical theatre has finally been able to commence touring Australia again. While not the first musical to grace QPAC’s Lyric Theatre stage since the venue reopened, it was the first to be 100% produced by an external producer and the first to avoid the COVID-19 opening night curse. What is this curse I speak of? It is where due to COVID-19 cases, an opening night has to be either cancelled or postponed. This occurred last year with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and earlier this year with Shrek the Musical’s relaunch. Although attending ultimately required me to stay at home from a sudden lockdown the day afterwards, I will begin by saying it was worth it!

Doing any musical based around 9/11 is a tricky scenario for any creative. How do you not appear to be capitalising on one of the 2000s worst tragedies, and furthermore, how do you create something that appeals to a broader audience without being dull or too depressive? The answer came to creatives Irene Sankoff and David Hein through the uplifting and emotional stories shared by the residents of Gander, Newfoundland and the thousands of “come from aways”, which called their town home following the terrorist attacks in New York City. These people’s real stories were adapted into a story that, while not shying away from harsh reality and truth of the time, is also so uplifting and heartwarming throughout.

Several elements make Come From Away stand out from the other musicals on the market today. The most prominent is that the casting is very diverse, featuring actors of various nationalities, body shapes and ages. It can sometimes feel like musicals can cast actors of the same build, so the sheer diversity of casting is welcome. Furthermore, although each actor typically has their own “main” role, which contributes equally to the story, they seamlessly fill the roles of many other one or twice-off characters through simple outfit changes, changes in accent/personality or even the addition of an accessory. When you start seeing this happen on-stage, the first thought that might pop into your mind is “How am I supposed to keep track of this?”. Fortunately, it is so seamless that it is easy to follow and makes the cast of 12 seem like a much larger cast.

Another thing about Come From Away, which is seamless, is the set. Unlike some of the high-budget musicals where the magic is just as much in the set as it is through the acting, the show features a static set where the transitions involve moving the 14 varied chairs on-stage around. With those chairs, the environment can shift from a table in a bar to a plane’s interior in mere seconds. Viewers are required to have some degree of imagination, but it works so well.

The music is not your standard range of pop, rap and rock songs you would typically find in many musicals nowadays. When you have a band that makes use of a harmonium, accordion, mandolin, bouzouki, Irish Flute and Uilleann Pipes, among others – you can expect something different. Attendees are treated to many songs that contrast the more “modern” come from aways with Newfoundland’s more traditional music stylings. Of particular note to me was the song 28 Hours / Wherever We Are, which was not only a song deserving of a standing ovation in itself but aptly delivered narrative while fusing the two music styles together. The show was full of highlights, though, without a bad song around. Some highlights to look out for are the fantastic opening number “Welcome to the Rock” and the bar song “Screech In”, an absolute riot to listen to. Oh, and be sure not to leave the theatre too quickly, as the surprise encore number is worth listening to as everyone claps and thumps their feet to the ground.

Technically, I was impressed with Come From Away. While I could speak about the effective use of lighting or how they brought the band out multiple times to become “actors” themselves, the real shining feature is much simpler… understandability. The audio levels and performers had both the proper levels and were pitch-perfect – so each cast member was understandable 100% of the time without being drowned out by music or being too quiet. I find this problematic with a lot of shows, most recently the Disney+ recording of Hamilton the Musical, so it was music to my ears when I had no issues understanding anything! Either that or perhaps after a year, my ears have recovered from over-exposure to some of the louder musicals…

Come From Away Australian Tour 1

Come From Away ticks all the right boxes for me, and it is nice that the experience is refined enough that it can be fit into 100 minutes, rather than the usual 2½-3 hour musicals we come to expect. What is a little bit harder to swallow, despite them not adding much filler content into the mix, is the relatively high prices for better seats, from $155.00 – $175.00 excluding QTIX Booking Fees. This is just me with no knowledge of the costs required to bring Come from Away to the stage, but I feel prices in the lower $100s would be more reasonable – and would presumably fill more seats as some performances have many seats remaining.

But despite that one issue, I think Come From Away is a virtually flawless theatrical production that highlights a level of selflessness and community spirit that should inspire us as we enter the final stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic. Behind my facemask, I can confirm that a big grin was hidden behind it, and tears of both happiness and genuine emotion flowed on more than one occasion. If you are comfortable going to the Lyric Theatre, willing to wear a face mask (Like, you should) and are after something a bit out of the ordinary – then Come From Away is Australia’s perfect “Welcome Back!” to live performance.

Also, kudos to the QPAC Front-of-House Staff for being meticulous about patrons wearing their mask not only when entering the theatre but also during the show.

10

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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