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Attendees of all ages shed tears in the audience of “Come From Away” at the Landmark Theatre on Tuesday. The musical keeps the memory of the tragedy of 9/11 alive all year, not just on the anniversary of the attacks.

“When I first saw (the show), it was very emotional for me,” Anne Grandel said. “It was as if it had just happened again.”

Syracuse is the latest stop on the show’s tour. “Come From Away” will be here until Sunday. The Tony award winning-show premiered in San Diego in 2015, hit Broadway in 2017 and is now on its first national tour.

The plot of the show follows the small town of Gander in Newfoundland that was forced to take in over 6,000 plane passengers from redirected planes on 9/11 that were not allowed to land in New York City. It is a story of human compassion and resilience.

The show resonated with both audience members and the show’s staff. Grandel, a merchandise manager for the production, was 25 years old living in Boston when 9/11 happened and lost two friends in the disaster. Her picture is in the 9/11 memorial museum, in an image of one of her friends who died.

The show holds a lot of personal significance for her, and she described it as “kismet” that she is able to work on the show with her husband, who does sound, after losing two close friends.

Gandel added that the show helps people remember the event every day, not just on the anniversary. Despite her personal connection to the event, she didn’t know what had happened in Gander, so she’s glad its story is being told. Fellow merchandise manager Caleb Grisset agreed that it’s an important narrative to share with the world.

“(The show) helps people remember it in a good way,” Gandel said. “It was a horrible situation, but I don’t think a lot of people know that this happened in Gander.”

Audience member Garth Johnson recalled his memories of the moment he found out about the attacks. He was familiar with the story of Gander and followed the story when it happened, he said.

“I didn’t realize I had so many unresolved issues around 9/11,” Johnson said. “There were so many times I found myself tearing up and thinking about that day, and I didn’t come in expecting that.”

Johnson sees Gander’s story as a microcosm of how the whole country behaved after the tragedy.

The musical also helped audience members remember specific details about the day, from Grandel remembering exactly what she wore to audience member Julie Steele recalling how bizarre the day felt.

“It made me reflect back to that day, immediately,” Steele said. “Everybody I know that’s seen (the musical) that was alive when (9/11) happened had that same experience.”

She added that the scenes where passengers found goodness in the people of Gander were especially meaningful. People came together all over the U.S. after the attacks, Steele said.

Besides shedding light on the kindness that happened after the tragedy, the show also educated those who weren’t alive for 9/11. Ada Wennstrom and Angeline Rachiele, theater majors at SU, felt that the show was touching and educational.

Rachiele said that she cried for the majority of the musical. Sitting next to older adults who had lived through the tragedy helped her find a connection, she said.

“It can be really easy to feel separated from something when you just learn the basic facts about it in school, but hearing individual stories and the emotions surrounding them was fascinating,” Rachiele said.

Audience member Damien Steele said that the show emphasizes how people all over the world were in different places on 9/11, but the tragedy brought out a lot of opportunities for compassion and togetherness.

“It’s one of the last things in the show. They say, ‘To honor what was lost, but also to commemorate what we found,’” Grissett said.

Published on February 15, 2023 at 12:46 am