The cast of the award winning musical Come From Away were surprised by the real people that the musical was based on at The Lowry in Salford earlier this week.
The show has been playing across UK theatres throughout the whole year and has finally landed at the last stop of the UK tour at The Lowry Theatre, where it will play over the Christmas period from 3rd December until 5th January.
The producers brought across the people from Gander and the “Come From Away” whose stories are depicted in the play to surprise the UK cast.
This was the first time many of them had meet their real character and many described it as a very emotional situation.
The original residents of the small Newfoundland town Gander and the people known as the ‘Come From Away’ those who were on the planes that were diverted into Gander surprised the cast at The Lowry and were treated to a performance of the show.
Bonnie Harris, Manager of the Gander Animal Hospital, SPCA, is a Gander resident who saved 19 animals from the planes that landed in Gander on September 11, 2001.
Rosie Glossop plays Bonnie Harris, who she officially met this week after playing her in the musical for over a year, praised the Salford audiences saying: “The Salford audiences are awesome, I’ve been to The Lowry once before and it’s a beautiful theatre. To do this show over Christmas at Salford is lovely and it’s so beautiful over here at Christmas, it’s the best place to finish the show.”
Bonnie herself, spoke on her first experience with the animals once the panes landed in Gander, saying: “I was told there were no animals on the plane, but I had a contact at the airport who promised me there were.
“We had to check the hold of all 10/12 planes and we had to dig through the luggage to find the animals.
“They had 19 animals, there were cats, dogs and two bonobos’, when I went to take into the cats and dogs there were two large crates with a man standing guard, I tried to speak but there was a language barrier and he showed me the apes.”
She spoke on the emotions she felt watching the musical and seeing her story be represented on stage, she said:
“It has been crazy, never in our wildest dreams did we think that what we did, which is so normal for us, would reach these levels and sometimes I think it’s sad that its such a big show because people don’t see this as being normal and not a big deal.”
Oswald Fudge was the police constable in Gander at the time and was in charge of the town once the planes landed. He praised the people of Gander for not panicking and just handling the situation.
He said: “That’s what the message of the show is- that helping people is not a chore. The world needs this show, people may not think it but the world needs this show.”
Oliver Jacobson plays Oz in the musical and he spoke on the pressure of ensuring he tells Oz’s story in the right way.
He said: “These people are real, they are not characters or made up stories so you want to give them justice, but don’t want to just copy them, you want to bring yourself to it.
“These are everyday people and when they are in watching, you have a sense of duty and pride telling their important story and you strive to show this people and make them want to take something away from the play.”
He spoke on the importance of the show touring the UK after many of the planes diverted in Gander were from England, including some from Manchester Airport.
He said: “After the show were at a local pub and people have come up to us and say they’ve seen the show and their family members were were there stranded in Gander, so it puts the show into perspective when you meet these real people.”
Tom Mckeon was one of the Come from Away’s who was on the plane to Gander, he spoke about the surprise meeting of the play’s cast in Salford, saying:
“When we asked why we were going to Salford, the response we got was that the UK cast has been travelling, and they want to honor them with this great surprise. They worked a double surprise on us, they didn’t tell us we were meeting the cast or that they were meeting us, and we surprised each other by showing up. It was nice to see the end of this chapter in the Come From Away story. “
Come from Away is showing at The Lowry until January 5 and tickets can be found here.
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