Come From Away has always been a paradox. It’s a huge blockbuster about intimate connection and community resilience. It’s a Broadway and Mirvish juggernaut built from kitchen chairs and Newfoundland hospitality. And it’s a metronome-like marvel that, once it starts, uses a spinning stage and slick choreography to make us laugh, then cry, then laugh, then cry at individual stories and collective experiences.
Now available for regional licensing for the very first time, the Tony and Governor General’s Award-winning musical has come to Port Hope, in an intimate venue that both suits … and changes it.
So is this a big show or a small show? Director Rob Kempson’s production at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre understands that it has always been both, and chooses to shrink the frame and adjust the contrast, to suit the setting and amplify the feeling.
Still big:
– The scale of the events depicted: 38 commercial flights with almost 7,000 passengers, who were diverted to Gander after US airspace closed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
– The anthems (“Welcome to the Rock,” “Screech In,” “Me and the Sky,” “I Am Here”).
– The emotions. I teared up repeatedly. Again.
Small:
– Brandon Kleiman’s earthy kitchen set, where the community members gather as the show opens. Here, they will recall the events after 9/11, grabbing household objects to tell their story. It’s a key change that literally grounds the production.
– Six versatile cast members play instruments throughout, handing guitars and bodhráns around with practical grace—among them Annika Tupper’s wide-eyed newscaster Janice, Beau Dixon’s steady police chief Oz, Brendan Wall’s Mayor Claude, Scott Carmichael’s Nick, and Melissa Payne’s Bonnie. Music Directors Jeff Newberry (at the piano) and Haneul Yi (guitar frequently in hand) keep the backing sound energetic and full-hearted, supported by Tom Leighton and David Schotzko.
– Choreographer Genny Sermonia’s uncluttered and joyous movement enables mid-kitchen plane sequences, bar scenes, instrument handoffs, and endless transitions—all without a moment’s confusion.
Still big:
– Julie Lumsden’s Beverley, who powers “Me and the Sky” to standing-ovation territory. She’s too young for the role’s stated 51 years—but her charisma and that voice fill the room, and in this looser, downhome setting, we don’t bat an eye.
– Tat Austrie’s Hannah, mournful and desperate for news of her firefighter son, supported by Monique Lund’s warm Beulah.
– “Prayer,” which uses music and movement to weave together cultural difference and unexpected connection. It lands with special force here.
Small:
– Some of the broader jokes. Designed for houses of thousands, they don’t land with the same precision in a crowd of hundreds. The intimacy of the setting makes us feel too close, and there’s no relentless metronome teeing them up.
– The individual and quirky moments of humour, which shine: Charlie Clark’s wild-eyed and untrusting Bob; Donna Garner’s Diane, fumbling toward romance; and Kyle Blair’s Kevin T and Kyle Golemba’s Kevin J, a real-life couple playing a couple initially afraid to be fully themselves. All earn both laughs and tenderness.
Small—until it isn’t:
– One curious choice. That kitchen setting, so gorgeously and deliberately “small,” disappears for the finale, as we trade homey intimacy for a theatrical “big” finish. It works as spectacle. But when the production has invested so deeply in its Port Hope–like cosiness, shedding it feels thematically odd.
No matter. This smaller, quirkier and more intimate Come From Away is stirring, sweet and satisfying summer theatre. By trading Broadway spectacle for living-room warmth, Kempson and his team have produced a sincere and inspiring show made in Port Hope, for Port Hope—which, after all, has more in common with Gander than Toronto or New York ever did.
Come From Away runs at the Capitol Theatre through August 9, 2026. Tickets at capitoltheatre.com.
© Scott Sneddon, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2026
