Screech meets white hats: Broadway hit Come From Away stops in Calgary

When non-theatre people say Come From Away is the best live show they have ever seen, you tend to pay attention.

The catchiness of the show is a draw for both audiences and performers alike, so says actress Kristin Litzenberg, who plays the role of Beulah Davis.

Before Litzenberg saw the show, she listened to the original Broadway cast recording.

“I remember sitting in my hotel room listening to it, and I was like ‘This is completely different than anything I have ever heard before in musical theatre,'” she recalled. “And just being so captured by the sounds of the band and the instruments they were using and how just, direct and entertaining the story line was.”

Litzenberg says when she finally got the opportunity to see the show, it was life changing and performing it is a dream come true.

Come From Away is set in Gander, Nfld. in the days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

Normally a quiet town with a population of less than 10,000, Gander became the landing pad for redirected international flights. About 7,000 passengers were suddenly grounded in Gander, and townsfolk famously mobilized to keep those passengers fed, housed and somewhat entertained.  

Come From Away first premiered in 2013, 11 years after the events of 9/11. As time goes on, the context and the events behind the story becomes more historical.

For cast members, that means some of them don’t even remember that point.

Litzenberg says the good part of the story is focusing on the positive of how people came together, regardless of the age of the audience or the performers.

“I was in fifth grade when it happened and it feels like it was both yesterday and a long time ago,” she said. “Every generation I think has its own major world crisis and I think unfortunately we all have something we can connect with that we can remember where we were that day and how the world responded.”

Litzenberg says wherever the show plays the reaction is similar, but Canadian performances are a little different.

“Overall the reaction is always powerful and by the end of the show, people are standing and cheering and screaming and crying because that is how the story has moved them,” she explains. “Just because the story is about basic human kindness and I think people are craving that right now.

“But, when we are in Canada we know we are in Canada because they get the little jokes, they get the specificity that has been written in about Canadian people.”

Litzenberg is from Pennsylvania, but despite the distance, she speaks with a natural regional lilt to her voice that is almost reminiscent of a Newfoundlander. She has not yet made the pilgrimage herself to visit Gander, but most definitely intends to.

“I have met half of my character — my character is Beulah Davis and she is a combination of two different women — Beulah Cooper and Diane Davis,” the actress said. “Diane was able to come see our show in Halifax. So, of course we have been plotting and scheming for me to get up there.”

She says both of the real women on which her character is based have offered to host them at their home.

“That is so different than any experience you would have going to visit a place that was in a story that you’ve heard,” she said.

But it isn’t just the east coast — Litzenberg also speaks singingly about the hospitality and helpfulness of people all across Canada.

“In my experience with Canadians in general are always like ‘Can I help you with something?'” she said.

In an east meets west moment, Broadway Across Canada paid tribute to Calgary’s stewards of hospitality traditions — the White Hat Volunteers who generally work at Calgary International Airport to welcome and help direct travelers.

On Tuesday morning, the White Hatters met with cast members to extend the ceremonial Smithbilt chapeau. In return, the volunteers were made to swear an oath, kiss a cod, and take a shot of Newfoundland Screech. A tradition known as being ‘screeched in.’ The volunteers were also all given complimentary tickets to opening night.

Come From Away plays through to Sunday, Sept. 22 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium before the tour continues in Edmonton.