I was there tonight too and I LOVED it. Just tremendous work being done all around. The book, score, direction, choreography, musicians, orchestrations and a completely knockout cast all had me cheering and very moved throughout.
When Come From Away was first announced I thought, well here's a chapter for Not Since Carrie 2: Don't Write Musicals About 9/11. Surely a producer would have to be crazy to bring this to NYC, even if it ends up being "tastefully" done. Thank goodness some producers did a chance and brought this in because I think its humanity and beauty is just what we need right now.
I was pleased to find so much humor in the book considering what a somber topic the creators chose to musicalize; another nice surprise was how upbeat most of the music was. It was like a less depressing sounding Last Ship.
Each and every actor gave several fully realized performances, but it's Jenn Colella who gets the biggest solo (almost every other number is an ensemble piece and all the actors remain on stage for the entire show) and will be forced to be reckoned with on Tony night.
The most remarkable thing about the piece is the restraint the creators showed when developing the emotional tone of the piece. What could easily be maudlin or manipulative never goes done those paths and all the more moving because of it. Tears pricked my eyes in the overly joyous moments over the serious ones. These Canadians welcomed 7000 people into their village without batting an eye and without asking or expecting anything in return. It sounds cheesy, but to see the worst humanity can dole out be met with a force of goodness and kindness 100x stronger than the bad is nothing short of inspiring.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!