Obviously these videos can’t be monetized! The reaction without any edits can be found on Patreon if you want to support the channel. Although, this version on RUclips turned out pretty well I’ll admit.
Hi ok the accent is unique to our province and is made of English, Irish and Scottish with some French all according to where you were born, like for example the Irish is stronger in St. John's the capital, our province have many different dialects and saying and it is because our ancestors came from England, Scotland and Ireland, that is why you hear that accent is the way we say things. The Newfoundland accent is not easy to replicate, lol
“For the love of God, stop bringing tp to the Lions Club!” I love this line. Clearly it’s an item of comic relief-but it also illustrates how immediate and large this outpouring of support was
I live in St. John's (the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador). We had some planes here, but had enough hotel rooms. 2 hours after the planes landed, the city council asked people to stop calling and dropping off supplies because there was more than enough.
Actually happened. I've heard an interview with the reporter that Janice's character was based on. It was actually Gander Academy and not the lions club, but they had filled a whole classroom with individual rolls of donated toilet paper!
If you’ve ever done theater you can appreciate the technical skill this show takes. It is amazing how props move on and off stage, costumes change, etc.
You asked "why Gander"? On September 11 when U.S. airspace was shut down every plane in the air heading west over the Atlantic had to land somewhere. The first large airport they would get to is Gander. For such a small town they have a very large airport. Before long-distance flight was possible, every trans-atlantic flight would land in Gander for refuelling.
Also, all flights outside of US airspace were no longer allowed to land in the US. So any flight intended to approach the US either had to turn around where they came from (if they were close) or land in another country. So Canada. And again, Gander had a large empty airport … room to put a bunch of planes.
I saw the touring production a few years ago. I didn't know what to expect, and was amazed at what a great show it is. You wouldn't think you could make a great show, let alone a musical, about people stuck in Newfoundland on 9/11, but they did it. I’ve actually been (many, many years ago) on a trans-Atlantic flight that was diverted to Gander for refueling. As people have said, it's one of the first places in North America you can land a trans-Atlantic flight, and as they explained, it used to be common for planes to have to refuel there, thus the large airport in such a small place. There's also a Canadian Air Force Base there, as the location makes it strategically important. Apparently it's still a major refueling stop for smaller, private jets, too.
A favorite fact about Come From Away: they sourced real trees for the set, you can see them along the side of the stage. With so many stage lights in the theater the trees were exposed to lots of light. Well one of them started sprouting leaves. It didn’t know it had been cut down. It’s a perfect metaphor for the strength of spirit even when faced with hardship and pain - just like the people in Gander and the come-from-aways.
Why Gander? They sort of touch on why briefly in a few lines sprinkled through the play but they don't dwell on it so if you aren't looking for it you miss it. Used to be the longest runway airport in the world. It was built by a joint effort of the UK and Canada as the last refueling stop for airplanes that were built in factories across the US and Canada on their way to the UK for the war. Gander is a bit inland in Newfoundland when most other towns are coastal. The location was chosen because they needed an airport not next to the coast (too foggy much of the time on the coast). The town was created specifically because of the airport. All those military people living on base eventually created a need for a town. Because it was built to be the last refueling stop before you head out over the Atlantic Ocean, it was still useful in civilian form after WW2 to support the airline business. Until airplanes got enough range not to need refeuling to get across the ocean anymore. Then Gander's business withered away. It became a weird anomaly - an enormous set of runways serving a little town of less than 10,000 people and just handling a few teeny commuter flights a day. But the Air Traffic Control station there is still super important, as it runs all the transatlantic air traffic going overhead. Many airline pilots have spoken over the radio to people who live in Gander and work the air traffic control, without ever having landed there. The airport runways are kept in good condition by the Canadian government even though they're not needed for any local reason, because the runways still serve as an important emergency landing place for transatlantic traffic, being the easternmost spot on the continent you can land. (This is the reason for the line where the flight attendant says "everyone in the business knows that if you're landing at Gander, it's an emergency.") All that led up to the fact that when those transatlantic flights had to be immediately grounded on 9/11, many of them had to go to Newfoundland as the closest place, and weirdly the little town of Gander had the biggest airport, bigger than the one that serves the biggest Newfoundland city of St Johns, so many of the jumbo jets had to go to Gander even though the town wasn't really big enough to deal with all those people, and that's how this story happened.
Thank you for keeping your passengers safe. I have flied with my family including young kids and we really depend on you getting us from where we are headed go to where we are going. I cannot imagine how horrifying that was for the pilots, flight crews and the passengers on the planes. Bonnie was a hero looking after the animals on board. Canadians are awesome. The best friends of the US. The sheltered so many when we needed it.
Most Canadians will riot over Gander being closed entirely. It’s the last hope for a lot of Atlantic flights in trouble, the alternate of where the Space Shuttle touches down, and one of the longest runways. Even before 9/11, most of Canada would have objected to its closure.
11:27 - I'm not from Newfoundland, but I am Canadian, and these lines make me emotional every time: "Welcome to the land where the winters tried to kill us and we said, "we will not be killed". Welcome to the land where the waters tried to drown us and we said, "we will not be drowned". Welcome to the land where we lost our loved ones and we said, "we will still go on". Welcome to the land where the winds tried to blow, and we said "no!""
When you have finished watching 'Come From Away' I highly recommend you watch 'Gander's Ripple Effect: How a Small Town's Kindness Opened on Broadway' (it's here on YT) It's a 45 minute programme about the real people this was based on and their recollections of those few days. Such a great companion to the show. They were truely the most selfless, giving community.
To answer your "Why Gander?" question, before there were planes that could do really long trips at once, it used to be that most flights coming from Europe would stop in Canada to refuel before continuing to the US, and Gander was one of those places. So the airport that was built there back then was really big, since it was so busy. As planes got to the point where they could fly longer without refueling, they stopped using the airport for that, but if there's an emergency when a plane is in the air over the Atlantic headed toward North America, it's generally the place that they'll land, since it's the first airport that planes reach on the east coast.
When the Beatles first came to the US, the actual first place they landed was Gander. The airport there has a lot of photos from that era -- end of WWII through maybe late sixties -- of all the celebrities who stopped there, on the way between the US and Europe. (If you look at a map that shows where Gander is within Canada, it'll make more sense -- the aim on 9/11 was to prevent the possibility of any more attacks, so they didn't want any planes flying anywhere over possible targets. So the goal was to get them landed as close to the coast as possible, and also away from major cities if possible. Planes that were in the air within the US were ordered to land at wherever the closest airport was, which meant that there wasn't any one airport that got overwhelmed for the most part, but planes over the Atlantic were mostly routed to Gander.)
@@callalily3994 Ernest Harmon Air Force base was in Stephenville. Closed in 66. Elvis, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe are 3 celebrities I know that had stop overs in Stephenville. It was a refueling stop for USAF aircraft going to Europe or going to the US.
Love this musical so much, the choreography (chair-ography) is so incredible, I love how normal the costumes look, I love the way the characters are talking to the audience, making it feel like they really are telling us their story over a cup of coffee. I also love the way the musical goes from heart-wrenching, emotional moments, to hilarious ones. I think it really got that balance right, the hilarious moments help make the serious ones hit harder, while also keeping the whole thing from being a complete downer. And I don't mind seeing you pause a scene to look something up, especially since this musical is so based on real things, it's important to make sure you have the context you need for it and, well, spoilers aren't as a big deal when talking about such a recent historical event. You already know the broad strokes about what happened, so looking up info on the real town itself isn't going to ruin your experience. Newfoundland is really a gorgeous place, I was a little sad the wiki article you looked at didn't have pictures
Most Newfoundlanders have Irish adjacent accents because the Irish fishermen crossed the ocean and stayed there. Since it's cut off from the mainland, the accent stayed pretty pure
So glad you’re doing this. It’s so brilliantly staged with the switching of characters, minimal costumes and just chairs as set pretty much. And the music is great. As a Canadian and as someone who lived out east for awhile. the support and friendliness of the people from the east coast is like no other (I moved from Ontario and it was a culture shock in a good way) and this show does not exaggerate the hospitality at all!!
Yay I’m SOOOOO glad you’re enjoying it so far!! The accent IS heavily influenced by Irish… you may have noticed the Irish influence in the music as well. If you noticed in the scene where Capt Bass gets ahold of her husband, the words don’t really sound like song lyrics with a strict meter and rhyming… well it’s bc they used words from her actual phone call. The real Capt Bass also said in a documentary that it’s STILL difficult for her husband to watch that scene, bc for many hours they didn’t know if she was ok or not… I think two of the crashed planes were from American Airlines but of course trying to call the airline there was no way he was going to get through 😢
This is a special show for me. I am kinda friends with the Actor playing Kevin T in this proshot, and was a standby for all the other male roles except Bob. I was at the first preview performance and the final show as well as many in between. the way they thread the needle between humor and horror is so well done. It is amazing how many times I will cry watching it knowing what is going to happen.
Come From Away is my absolute favorite musical so I am so so so happy you are reacting to it!! It’s very heartwarming yet heart wrenching at the same time. Tissues are very much needed for definitely the end but probably every part as well. It’s a hard subject but this musical does an amazing job tackling it with respect but lightening up some parts so it’s not entirely depressing. It’s just an amazing musical and I can’t wait for you to watch all of it!!
my favorite also. wish they'd put it out on dvd. have seen it 11 times in 5 diff cities and 2 countries, including Gander this past summer, plus 20+ times on apple tv
i think it's super ok stopping at the midle of scenes if you have questions about something. It makes the reactions better when someone is talking what they are thinking, feeling,...
Having been born in 2003 (and I have a smidge if autism) I've never truely been able to grasp with just how devastating 9/11 was, that is until I first heard this musical. As someone who's from Atlantic Canada, I was finally able to get a bigger picture, since this show is set so close to home.
There is a companion documentary to Come From Away that I highly recommend. It's here on RUclips called "You Are Here: A Come From Away Story". You get to meet, Diane, Bev, Tom, the two Kevins and the other real life people from Newfoundland that the characters in Come From Away are based on.
To be completely honest, you're the last person (based on appearance only) I expected to see watching something like this but I love how into it you are and open! It's so beautiful.
I recently saw CFA before it closed on Broadway, and it was so touching and so much fun. I also was lucky enough to experience Nova Scotians' hospitality when I was on a St. Lawrence River cruise more than 30 years ago. We were diverted from stopping at Prince Edward Island due to weather, and found ourselves in Sidney, NS. Not being on the usual cruise schedules, the local restaurants were not ready for our visit. The locals opened up a school gym and prepared meals for us. It was a bit of a taste of what the folks depicted in this show experienced. It is absolutely true-to-life. By the way, I understand they were soon included as a regular stop on similar cruises.
I saw this live in Cincinnati Ohio, and it was AMAZING. There was an audience member that landed in Gander, people used his satellite phone. The Bill was several thousand dollars and when he called Verizon, they deleted his bill.
@allisonbergh4429 Under normal circumstances I'm sure, but this was an extenuating circumstances and the country came together as one. The days after 9/11 was amazing what people did for each other. We weren't individuals we were Americans.
Gander is a Central Newfoundland melting pot, all the surrounding towns feed into it for school and jobs etc. Every town in Newfoundland has its own dialect , and some towns have multiple accents so you really never know what you're going to hear. I am currently 40 minutes outside of Gander, it is my main stop for shopping, its the same now as it was then.
I’m glad you’re doing the theatre reactions again! This show is perfect for this channel. I saw the show on tour pre-covid and loved it so much I went and bought student rush seats the next day to see it again. Seeing it live you really feel like the community is welcoming in the audience; it’s unlike any other. It makes you just wanna live in that world even longer than the short musical. Get ready for a wild ride; it’s just getting started.
I had the pleasure of working in Newfoundland in ‘88 when the US Ice Patrol flew out of Gander. So, I saw this show for the first time during its run at Ford’s Theater. The part that gets me, I can’t image the images you conjure up at hearing there’s been an international emergency and the US airspace is closed. The whole country airspace , closed.
Yay! Les Mis and MIss Saigon are a great place to start but there is so much more to musical theatre than the Mega Musical! I'm going to throw out a few names of writers you should know and react to their work. First and foremost 1. Stephen Sondheim 2. William Finn 3. Jason Robert Brown.
idk why but I always find it so charming the way he says "Where ya 'longs ta, Janice?" The bit you mentioned where the scene stops is called an "aside"
Atlantic Canadian Here. Great video. Questions you had: The accent - Newfoundlanders have a unique accent and some will have it much stronger than others, and they do this in the musical as well. The island has a very strong English and Irish background with its settlers (although the Vikings arrived first). Why Gander for emergencies? - For trans-Atlantic flights Gander is closest North American airport. In earlier times Gander was a super busy airport as planes needed to refuel once coming across the ocean but it's pretty quiet now with modern jets able to go further. However, in emergencies, Gander will still be one of the first places picked to land. If not there, then likely Halifax or Moncton.
I first saw this on tour…without a clue as to what it was about. I laughed and cried. Then I saw it right before it closed on Broadway-almost all original cast. Again, on tour with two friends who had never seen it. It just is really amazing! Thank you for sharing your first time!
Newfoundland, rhymes with understand. Lots of Celtic influence in accent and music. :) Gander used to get all the stopovers for transatlantic flights until planes can fly all the way without fuel stops. So it has a huge airport. Also had a U.S. military base.
This is very timely. I'm seeing this Friday night -- it closed on Broadway and it looks like the US tour is winding up in late May -- I'm going to Palm Desert for it. I saw it in LA when it first toured through here, and I watched the Apple broadcast when it came out. Frankly, as someone with vivid memories of 9/11, the opening of the show actually gets me crying right off the bat. So excited you're experiencing this show -- it is wonderful story-telling. You've already figured out that the actors play multiple characters throughout. Can't wait to see your continuted reaction. I love watching your channel because you work to really understand what you're reacting to, and you are very perceptive. Keep it up!
A lot of these folks (maybe all of them?) are also the original Broadway cast. To have this much of the original cast still in the show years into the run is very unusual!
There's also an excellent documentary about how this show happened...the events of the day and the people portrayed in the musical. the accent is the Newfoundland accent...very Celtic based.
The real grander story is what this was based on. There is a documentary that showed the kindness of the Canadians. They are our greatest allies and we will protect them like they protected us.
Woah, late to the party but I'm so glad you discovered this musical, it's so beautiful and one of the most impactful I've ever experienced. Thank you for sharing your own discovery.
Me too!! I first heard about this show in a documentary ABOUT it, maybe a year ago. I didn’t look more into it bc I feel uneasy about musicals about big tragedies… think the Titanic related ones. But as they said in the doc it’s really a story about Sept *12th* … and then heard that it had been nominated for a Tony for best musical and decided to check it out. The soundtrack was available on RUclips and I found a reaction video for a Tony performance…. and I was hooked immediately!! I love Irish music too and noticed that right away. It has sad moments but is SO uplifting and heartwarming… it quickly became my favorite!
To answer your question- Gander is one of the last bits of land that you pass over before heading over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s constantly being used for emergency and precautionary landings for aircraft with medical emergencies or mechanical issues. That’s why the flight attendant says everyone in the industry means landing in Gander means you have an emergency. More than one plane at a time, though, is practically unheard of.
I love the post where it talks about how the winters, the water, and the wind try to kill them but they refuse to give in, because on Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, those are things that happen every year. Just last year Newfoundland lost an entire town from hurricane Fiona and it was almost just as bad on PEI. People from all over Canada came to rescue us. Other than the weather, it's the greatest place to live because the people are so nice.
One of the nice things about this play is that they wanted the characters to just look like normal folk barely making a living that you'd find in a Newfoundland town, not like the super fit young people you usually get in big broadway productions. So the people are just dressed in normal clothes to emphasize this. And it really works. (Also, as you'll see later, each performer plays multiple roles and swaps characters quickly with just a hat or a jacket change, so the base costumes have to be kept simple so the little accessories they pop on will become the dominant feature of the costume you notice, not the jeans or shirts or shoes.
I loved the Tony Award Show performance. Watching the show on AppleTV on the anniversary of the event...one of the few times I have cried watching anything.
Salvo if you want to have a great time you need to visit Newfoundland. The friendliest,funniest, happyist people in the world. If you love music and love having a grea😂t time visit St. John's or for that matter any place in Newfound. George Street in St. JOHNS it is rumored to have have the most pubs of any city In the world and they all have great live music. Love that your showing this.
Would you consider it a fourth wall break as well since he addressed the audience? Or does the character have to be aware he's in a play for it to be a fourth wall break.
It wasn't just the airspace that closed, the US/Canada border crossings were closed too. I was taking a Greyhound back to Buffalo, NY from Toronto that morning. When we reached Hamilton, we were told that the border had closed. I returned to Toronto and while hanging out in a coffee shop I was offered a place to stay until the border reopened.
The controlled tower and gander had to help over 200 planes that were over the Atlantic find a place to land. Gander was one of the many cities that became home for those people. Other cities in Newfoundland included St. John’s; Halifax Nova Scotia; as well as cities in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.
Newfoundland got a Lot of Irish immigrants over the centuries, and being sort of isolated (and something of a latish-comer to Canada as a province, they only joined at the end of... one of the world wars, can't remember which atm), they have their own set of regional accents that're strongly descended from Irish accents.
There's a great Canadian crime drama tv show called Republic Of Doyle that takes place in Newfoundland if you want to hear more of these amazing accents. It was on for like 6 yrs.
I'm sure someone's already said this since you posted, but I'm loving your reaction to their accent! Newfoundlanders have a very distinct accent that smacks of its Irish heritage. There's a show called Republic of Doyle based in St. John's (the capital) that really highlights the difference in accents between islanders and mainlanders. (Look up concert clips from Great Big Sea - Bob Hallet, a founding member, actually consulted on the music for CFA.)
So I tried to watch your 1st musical with you & I just couldn't get into it for some reason. This one seems to be a whole nother ball game. I'm loving it so far. The characters are awesome. I heard very little about the planes that were suddenly grounded. I never even thought about what it must've been like for all those passengers & the wonderful people in Gander. I'll definitely be doing some research while I'm waiting on u to post part 2 here. This is a huge learning experience. Thank you Salvo very much, wonderful idea. Btw: I think its great how they've got the slight humor here & there too. I think that makes it much more emotionally manageable. Looking forward to part 2 .. Peace ☮️😊
Fun little tidbit- there was a JetBlue flight where the passengers were watching themselves on live TV making an emergency landing, over at LAX a few years ago.
Switching roles happens all the time in theatre. Gander is huge airport because of its role in Second World War. It’s normal for planes to go there for any reason needed.
Hi SalvoG! I’m a new subscriber and I love musicals. One I was lucky enough to see when I was in NYC was American Idiot. It’s based on the Green Day album of the same name. Green Day were very involved in the show and their lead singer, Billiy Jo Armstrong joined the cast as St Jimmy. It’s really worth a listen.
9 months later I find out about Gander and I thought I knew everything there was to know about 9/11. Then I look to see if the .musical is on you tube and low and behold one of my favorite reactors is watching it. There are a couple of interviews that are interesting. I'll send them to you IG later. I watch 1 and 2 last night I think but I'm going to make sure. So glad you did this!
The dialect of Newfoundland makes sense because Newfoundland is directly across the Atlantic Ocean from England, Ireland, and Scotland. A LOT of people settled in Newfoundland who came from those places. My mother is from Conception Bay Newfoundland and my aunt still lives in St. John's, the capital. I don't know how much you know about Canada still has very strong ties to the U.K. It still colours the Canadian way of life, especially on "The Rock". We were once a dominion of the United Kingdom and are still a member of the British Commonwealth. The Queen was then and the King is still now our head of state and on our money, though parliament really runs things.
I'm from newfoundland we are of Irish English Scottish for most part, last part of Britain to become canada, they were people from all coasts of Europe that fished off our shores the the early years
You've got so many commenters I'm sure you've been told already. And I don't claim I'm writing this specific instance. But I believe when an actor addresses an audience directly it would be called an "aside". But that could be a very specifically used term
That "Accent" is the typical "Newfie" accent. Listen for the Newfie sayings once in awhile like, "Lard 'tunderin' Jaysus!'. As someone who's all Newfie on my paternal side. They say 'me' instead of 'my', 'bye' instead of 'boy', they sometimes substitute 'she' for 'it'. Example "How's she goin' bye?" I could go on. I saw this live and was on the verge of tearing up for a lot of it. So funny, and yet so incredibly poignant.
The accent you're hearing is a Newfoundland accent. Many many Irish and Scottish landed in Nfld and settled there. I had a friend from Ireland and when my mom met him she asked if he was from Nfld? We thought that was funny.😅
Because the early (16th century) fishers and settlers in Newfoundland were often from Scotland and Ireland, and the island was pretty far from what is now Canada, accents have been both preserved and developed their own Newfie-ness. I haven't seen the filmed version of "Come From Away" but I did see it on stage in Seattle in 2015 before it went to Broadway (and living in Vancouver, it was a lot closer). For those who have seen the show - live or filmed - there is a wonderful CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) documentary about how the musical was developed from the beginning, with interviews of both the passengers on the planes as well as the community that received them: ruclips.net/video/LTNDRvUqVQA/видео.html
Thank you for doing this reaction . I've wanted to see it but haven't had the chance. I think you might be interested in the documentary "Operation Yellow Ribbon Documentary" with Tom Brokaw narrating. It may help you understand what actually happened that led to this play.
The "many different dialects" was partly because these were actors all trying to do a Newfoundland accent and they didn't all nail it quite right. (not important, but don't take the different accents as trying to mean something. It's mostly just an artifact of the actors tying to mimic a hard accent to mimic.)
@@LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac Yeah they were filming the special Barney's Christmas Star the day of 9/11. It was a weird time for Barney. The three original creators had had a falling out. Barney had actually been cancelled. Bob West, the OG voice had left as did David Joyner, the guy in the costume. They decided to uncancel it but they ditched the old school set and built a new park set. They brought in a new voice actor.
Obviously these videos can’t be monetized! The reaction without any edits can be found on Patreon if you want to support the channel. Although, this version on RUclips turned out pretty well I’ll admit.
Hi ok the accent is unique to our province and is made of English, Irish and Scottish with some French all according to where you were born, like for example the Irish is stronger in St. John's the capital, our province have many different dialects and saying and it is because our ancestors came from England, Scotland and Ireland, that is why you hear that accent is the way we say things. The Newfoundland accent is not easy to replicate, lol
Watch operation yellow ribbon its an emotional one about where this play came from
“For the love of God, stop bringing tp to the Lions Club!” I love this line. Clearly it’s an item of comic relief-but it also illustrates how immediate and large this outpouring of support was
I live in St. John's (the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador). We had some planes here, but had enough hotel rooms. 2 hours after the planes landed, the city council asked people to stop calling and dropping off supplies because there was more than enough.
@@b.w.6535 thank you and your community…. Love from the USA 🇺🇸 ❤️ 🇨🇦
The line actually happened- but it was Gander Academy
Its the shop assistant that said something along the lines of 'thank you for shopping at Walmart, would you like to come to my home for a shower?'
Actually happened. I've heard an interview with the reporter that Janice's character was based on. It was actually Gander Academy and not the lions club, but they had filled a whole classroom with individual rolls of donated toilet paper!
If you’ve ever done theater you can appreciate the technical skill this show takes. It is amazing how props move on and off stage, costumes change, etc.
You asked "why Gander"? On September 11 when U.S. airspace was shut down every plane in the air heading west over the Atlantic had to land somewhere. The first large airport they would get to is Gander. For such a small town they have a very large airport. Before long-distance flight was possible, every trans-atlantic flight would land in Gander for refuelling.
I mean it is explained later in the play when they bus in the stranded passengers into the host towns.
Also, all flights outside of US airspace were no longer allowed to land in the US. So any flight intended to approach the US either had to turn around where they came from (if they were close) or land in another country. So Canada. And again, Gander had a large empty airport … room to put a bunch of planes.
I saw the touring production a few years ago. I didn't know what to expect, and was amazed at what a great show it is. You wouldn't think you could make a great show, let alone a musical, about people stuck in Newfoundland on 9/11, but they did it.
I’ve actually been (many, many years ago) on a trans-Atlantic flight that was diverted to Gander for refueling. As people have said, it's one of the first places in North America you can land a trans-Atlantic flight, and as they explained, it used to be common for planes to have to refuel there, thus the large airport in such a small place. There's also a Canadian Air Force Base there, as the location makes it strategically important. Apparently it's still a major refueling stop for smaller, private jets, too.
A favorite fact about Come From Away: they sourced real trees for the set, you can see them along the side of the stage. With so many stage lights in the theater the trees were exposed to lots of light. Well one of them started sprouting leaves. It didn’t know it had been cut down. It’s a perfect metaphor for the strength of spirit even when faced with hardship and pain - just like the people in Gander and the come-from-aways.
Why Gander? They sort of touch on why briefly in a few lines sprinkled through the play but they don't dwell on it so if you aren't looking for it you miss it.
Used to be the longest runway airport in the world. It was built by a joint effort of the UK and Canada as the last refueling stop for airplanes that were built in factories across the US and Canada on their way to the UK for the war. Gander is a bit inland in Newfoundland when most other towns are coastal. The location was chosen because they needed an airport not next to the coast (too foggy much of the time on the coast). The town was created specifically because of the airport. All those military people living on base eventually created a need for a town.
Because it was built to be the last refueling stop before you head out over the Atlantic Ocean, it was still useful in civilian form after WW2 to support the airline business.
Until airplanes got enough range not to need refeuling to get across the ocean anymore. Then Gander's business withered away. It became a weird anomaly - an enormous set of runways serving a little town of less than 10,000 people and just handling a few teeny commuter flights a day.
But the Air Traffic Control station there is still super important, as it runs all the transatlantic air traffic going overhead. Many airline pilots have spoken over the radio to people who live in Gander and work the air traffic control, without ever having landed there.
The airport runways are kept in good condition by the Canadian government even though they're not needed for any local reason, because the runways still serve as an important emergency landing place for transatlantic traffic, being the easternmost spot on the continent you can land. (This is the reason for the line where the flight attendant says "everyone in the business knows that if you're landing at Gander, it's an emergency.")
All that led up to the fact that when those transatlantic flights had to be immediately grounded on 9/11, many of them had to go to Newfoundland as the closest place, and weirdly the little town of Gander had the biggest airport, bigger than the one that serves the biggest Newfoundland city of St Johns, so many of the jumbo jets had to go to Gander even though the town wasn't really big enough to deal with all those people, and that's how this story happened.
As an airline pilot who flies over the Atlantic, and overflies Gander a lot, this musical is one of my favorites!
As to why Gander. It is one of the first options to touchdown between North America and Greenland. If you are landing there, it’s not good news.
Have you had to fly into Newfoundland?
Thank you for keeping your passengers safe. I have flied with my family including young kids and we really depend on you getting us from where we are headed go to where we are going. I cannot imagine how horrifying that was for the pilots, flight crews and the passengers on the planes.
Bonnie was a hero looking after the animals on board.
Canadians are awesome. The best friends of the US. The sheltered so many when we needed it.
Most Canadians will riot over Gander being closed entirely. It’s the last hope for a lot of Atlantic flights in trouble, the alternate of where the Space Shuttle touches down, and one of the longest runways. Even before 9/11, most of Canada would have objected to its closure.
11:27 - I'm not from Newfoundland, but I am Canadian, and these lines make me emotional every time: "Welcome to the land where the winters tried to kill us and we said, "we will not be killed". Welcome to the land where the waters tried to drown us and we said, "we will not be drowned". Welcome to the land where we lost our loved ones and we said, "we will still go on". Welcome to the land where the winds tried to blow, and we said "no!""
When you have finished watching 'Come From Away' I highly recommend you watch 'Gander's Ripple Effect: How a Small Town's Kindness Opened on Broadway' (it's here on YT) It's a 45 minute programme about the real people this was based on and their recollections of those few days. Such a great companion to the show. They were truely the most selfless, giving community.
To answer your "Why Gander?" question, before there were planes that could do really long trips at once, it used to be that most flights coming from Europe would stop in Canada to refuel before continuing to the US, and Gander was one of those places. So the airport that was built there back then was really big, since it was so busy. As planes got to the point where they could fly longer without refueling, they stopped using the airport for that, but if there's an emergency when a plane is in the air over the Atlantic headed toward North America, it's generally the place that they'll land, since it's the first airport that planes reach on the east coast.
When the Beatles first came to the US, the actual first place they landed was Gander. The airport there has a lot of photos from that era -- end of WWII through maybe late sixties -- of all the celebrities who stopped there, on the way between the US and Europe. (If you look at a map that shows where Gander is within Canada, it'll make more sense -- the aim on 9/11 was to prevent the possibility of any more attacks, so they didn't want any planes flying anywhere over possible targets. So the goal was to get them landed as close to the coast as possible, and also away from major cities if possible. Planes that were in the air within the US were ordered to land at wherever the closest airport was, which meant that there wasn't any one airport that got overwhelmed for the most part, but planes over the Atlantic were mostly routed to Gander.)
@@callalily3994 Ernest Harmon Air Force base was in Stephenville. Closed in 66.
Elvis, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe are 3 celebrities I know that had stop overs in Stephenville.
It was a refueling stop for USAF aircraft going to Europe or going to the US.
Gander Airport also houses the air traffic control for the North American half of the Atlantic Ocean. The other half is housed in Shannon Ireland
Love this musical so much, the choreography (chair-ography) is so incredible, I love how normal the costumes look, I love the way the characters are talking to the audience, making it feel like they really are telling us their story over a cup of coffee. I also love the way the musical goes from heart-wrenching, emotional moments, to hilarious ones. I think it really got that balance right, the hilarious moments help make the serious ones hit harder, while also keeping the whole thing from being a complete downer.
And I don't mind seeing you pause a scene to look something up, especially since this musical is so based on real things, it's important to make sure you have the context you need for it and, well, spoilers aren't as a big deal when talking about such a recent historical event. You already know the broad strokes about what happened, so looking up info on the real town itself isn't going to ruin your experience. Newfoundland is really a gorgeous place, I was a little sad the wiki article you looked at didn't have pictures
Most Newfoundlanders have Irish adjacent accents because the Irish fishermen crossed the ocean and stayed there. Since it's cut off from the mainland, the accent stayed pretty pure
"To the ones who've left. You're never truly gone. A candle in the window and the kettle is always on.:
So glad you’re doing this. It’s so brilliantly staged with the switching of characters, minimal costumes and just chairs as set pretty much. And the music is great. As a Canadian and as someone who lived out east for awhile. the support and friendliness of the people from the east coast is like no other (I moved from Ontario and it was a culture shock in a good way) and this show does not exaggerate the hospitality at all!!
Yay I’m SOOOOO glad you’re enjoying it so far!!
The accent IS heavily influenced by Irish… you may have noticed the Irish influence in the music as well.
If you noticed in the scene where Capt Bass gets ahold of her husband, the words don’t really sound like song lyrics with a strict meter and rhyming… well it’s bc they used words from her actual phone call. The real Capt Bass also said in a documentary that it’s STILL difficult for her husband to watch that scene, bc for many hours they didn’t know if she was ok or not… I think two of the crashed planes were from American Airlines but of course trying to call the airline there was no way he was going to get through 😢
This is a special show for me. I am kinda friends with the Actor playing Kevin T in this proshot, and was a standby for all the other male roles except Bob. I was at the first preview performance and the final show as well as many in between. the way they thread the needle between humor and horror is so well done. It is amazing how many times I will cry watching it knowing what is going to happen.
Come From Away is my absolute favorite musical so I am so so so happy you are reacting to it!! It’s very heartwarming yet heart wrenching at the same time. Tissues are very much needed for definitely the end but probably every part as well. It’s a hard subject but this musical does an amazing job tackling it with respect but lightening up some parts so it’s not entirely depressing. It’s just an amazing musical and I can’t wait for you to watch all of it!!
my favorite also. wish they'd put it out on dvd. have seen it 11 times in 5 diff cities and 2 countries, including Gander this past summer, plus 20+ times on apple tv
i think it's super ok stopping at the midle of scenes if you have questions about something. It makes the reactions better when someone is talking what they are thinking, feeling,...
Having been born in 2003 (and I have a smidge if autism) I've never truely been able to grasp with just how devastating 9/11 was, that is until I first heard this musical. As someone who's from Atlantic Canada, I was finally able to get a bigger picture, since this show is set so close to home.
Such a great show. Emotional, funny, uplifting. So good. 12 actors playing like 40 characters. Amazing
There is a companion documentary to Come From Away that I highly recommend. It's here on RUclips called "You Are Here: A Come From Away Story". You get to meet, Diane, Bev, Tom, the two Kevins and the other real life people from Newfoundland that the characters in Come From Away are based on.
We saw this production in Toronto last week... it is beautifully amazing! Restores our faith in humanity! ❤
To be completely honest, you're the last person (based on appearance only) I expected to see watching something like this but I love how into it you are and open! It's so beautiful.
God, that key change in the first song, ALWAYS makes me sob because I know what's coming. Just slams you right in the face.
It's always great to see art that reminds us that as horrible as humans can be to each other we don't always suck. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Eagerly awaiting pt 2! I love this musical and the stories it tells.
I recently saw CFA before it closed on Broadway, and it was so touching and so much fun. I also was lucky enough to experience Nova Scotians' hospitality when I was on a St. Lawrence River cruise more than 30 years ago. We were diverted from stopping at Prince Edward Island due to weather, and found ourselves in Sidney, NS. Not being on the usual cruise schedules, the local restaurants were not ready for our visit. The locals opened up a school gym and prepared meals for us. It was a bit of a taste of what the folks depicted in this show experienced. It is absolutely true-to-life. By the way, I understand they were soon included as a regular stop on similar cruises.
I saw this live in Cincinnati Ohio, and it was AMAZING. There was an audience member that landed in Gander, people used his satellite phone. The Bill was several thousand dollars and when he called Verizon, they deleted his bill.
That’s impressive simply because sure I used to work for a Verizon call centre and that would have been an extremely difficult thing to get approved 😅
@allisonbergh4429 Under normal circumstances I'm sure, but this was an extenuating circumstances and the country came together as one. The days after 9/11 was amazing what people did for each other. We weren't individuals we were Americans.
@@rickberhiet5072 Yeah, I remember. Lee Greenwood on every radio station. We were all proud(er) to be American for a while
Favorite musical! Looking forward to pt 2!! :)
Gander is a Central Newfoundland melting pot, all the surrounding towns feed into it for school and jobs etc. Every town in Newfoundland has its own dialect , and some towns have multiple accents so you really never know what you're going to hear. I am currently 40 minutes outside of Gander, it is my main stop for shopping, its the same now as it was then.
So glad you started this one! I love this musical!
This is one of my favorite musicals.
FYI - The actress who portrays Bonnie (the person who works at the SPCA) is from Newfoundland.
I’m glad you’re doing the theatre reactions again! This show is perfect for this channel. I saw the show on tour pre-covid and loved it so much I went and bought student rush seats the next day to see it again. Seeing it live you really feel like the community is welcoming in the audience; it’s unlike any other. It makes you just wanna live in that world even longer than the short musical. Get ready for a wild ride; it’s just getting started.
Such a great show. I saw this show live about five years ago and it was fantastic, so I'm excited to revisit it and see your reactions to it!
omg omg the time has come I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS
I had the pleasure of working in Newfoundland in ‘88 when the US Ice Patrol flew out of Gander. So, I saw this show for the first time during its run at Ford’s Theater. The part that gets me, I can’t image the images you conjure up at hearing there’s been an international emergency and the US airspace is closed. The whole country airspace , closed.
Yay! Les Mis and MIss Saigon are a great place to start but there is so much more to musical theatre than the Mega Musical!
I'm going to throw out a few names of writers you should know and react to their work.
First and foremost
1. Stephen Sondheim
2. William Finn
3. Jason Robert Brown.
Ohhh I'm so excited for this!!!
idk why but I always find it so charming the way he says "Where ya 'longs ta, Janice?"
The bit you mentioned where the scene stops is called an "aside"
Atlantic Canadian Here. Great video.
Questions you had:
The accent - Newfoundlanders have a unique accent and some will have it much stronger than others, and they do this in the musical as well. The island has a very strong English and Irish background with its settlers (although the Vikings arrived first).
Why Gander for emergencies? - For trans-Atlantic flights Gander is closest North American airport. In earlier times Gander was a super busy airport as planes needed to refuel once coming across the ocean but it's pretty quiet now with modern jets able to go further. However, in emergencies, Gander will still be one of the first places picked to land. If not there, then likely Halifax or Moncton.
Really enjoyed this. Wife and I watched it on Apple TV about a year ago but love seeing your reaction to it now
There are 12 actors in this cast and they each play many, many parts - so well!
I saw this one live, and entirely worth it! Everytime I listen to it, i cry, and when I saw it in person, it was sooooo amazing!!!!!
I first saw this on tour…without a clue as to what it was about. I laughed and cried. Then I saw it right before it closed on Broadway-almost all original cast. Again, on tour with two friends who had never seen it. It just is really amazing! Thank you for sharing your first time!
I have been listening to this musical on RUclips for several years, absolutely love it and was the first I knew this happened after the attacks.
Newfoundland, rhymes with understand. Lots of Celtic influence in accent and music. :) Gander used to get all the stopovers for transatlantic flights until planes can fly all the way without fuel stops. So it has a huge airport. Also had a U.S. military base.
One of the best musicals I have ever seen. Thanks for watching it. Love from a Canadian fan of yours.
I really enjoyed re-watching this amazing musical with you!
This is very timely. I'm seeing this Friday night -- it closed on Broadway and it looks like the US tour is winding up in late May -- I'm going to Palm Desert for it. I saw it in LA when it first toured through here, and I watched the Apple broadcast when it came out. Frankly, as someone with vivid memories of 9/11, the opening of the show actually gets me crying right off the bat.
So excited you're experiencing this show -- it is wonderful story-telling. You've already figured out that the actors play multiple characters throughout. Can't wait to see your continuted reaction. I love watching your channel because you work to really understand what you're reacting to, and you are very perceptive. Keep it up!
I see a lot of Broadway shows. Come From Away is easily in my top 5 of all time. I’m so excited to hear what you think!
A lot of these folks (maybe all of them?) are also the original Broadway cast. To have this much of the original cast still in the show years into the run is very unusual!
@@derangedpinke Not quite all, but most.
Oh my gosh! I’m about to cry! I saw you were watching this. Tickets go on sale in KC for the touring show in august.
Do yourself a favour. Go to it if you can. Please.
There's also an excellent documentary about how this show happened...the events of the day and the people portrayed in the musical.
the accent is the Newfoundland accent...very Celtic based.
The real grander story is what this was based on. There is a documentary that showed the kindness of the Canadians. They are our greatest allies and we will protect them like they protected us.
Woah, late to the party but I'm so glad you discovered this musical, it's so beautiful and one of the most impactful I've ever experienced. Thank you for sharing your own discovery.
Wow this is fantastic!!! Huge Broadway fan and have seen a lot of shows but missed this one.
Me too!! I first heard about this show in a documentary ABOUT it, maybe a year ago. I didn’t look more into it bc I feel uneasy about musicals about big tragedies… think the Titanic related ones.
But as they said in the doc it’s really a story about Sept *12th* … and then heard that it had been nominated for a Tony for best musical and decided to check it out.
The soundtrack was available on RUclips and I found a reaction video for a Tony performance…. and I was hooked immediately!! I love Irish music too and noticed that right away.
It has sad moments but is SO uplifting and heartwarming… it quickly became my favorite!
I just saw part two up on RUclips and you won’t believe how fast I ran to watch this! ❤😂
A scene that is intended to explain the scenario to the audience is called exposition
My friend is the company manager of the touring company of this show. Seen it a few times, gonna get up there some day to visit.
To answer your question- Gander is one of the last bits of land that you pass over before heading over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s constantly being used for emergency and precautionary landings for aircraft with medical emergencies or mechanical issues. That’s why the flight attendant says everyone in the industry means landing in Gander means you have an emergency. More than one plane at a time, though, is practically unheard of.
I love the post where it talks about how the winters, the water, and the wind try to kill them but they refuse to give in, because on Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, those are things that happen every year. Just last year Newfoundland lost an entire town from hurricane Fiona and it was almost just as bad on PEI. People from all over Canada came to rescue us. Other than the weather, it's the greatest place to live because the people are so nice.
One of the nice things about this play is that they wanted the characters to just look like normal folk barely making a living that you'd find in a Newfoundland town, not like the super fit young people you usually get in big broadway productions. So the people are just dressed in normal clothes to emphasize this. And it really works. (Also, as you'll see later, each performer plays multiple roles and swaps characters quickly with just a hat or a jacket change, so the base costumes have to be kept simple so the little accessories they pop on will become the dominant feature of the costume you notice, not the jeans or shirts or shoes.
I loved the Tony Award Show performance. Watching the show on AppleTV on the anniversary of the event...one of the few times I have cried watching anything.
Salvo if you want to have a great time you need to visit Newfoundland. The friendliest,funniest, happyist people in the world. If you love music and love having a grea😂t time visit St. John's or for that matter any place in Newfound. George Street in St. JOHNS it is rumored to have have the most pubs of any city In the world and they all have great live music. Love that your showing this.
Talking to the audience where the other people who are on stage don't hear is called an "aside"
Would you consider it a fourth wall break as well since he addressed the audience? Or does the character have to be aware he's in a play for it to be a fourth wall break.
@@faerisoul yeah, when I think 4th wall breaking I think of it having a meta element to it where they are self aware of being a character
It wasn't just the airspace that closed, the US/Canada border crossings were closed too. I was taking a Greyhound back to Buffalo, NY from Toronto that morning. When we reached Hamilton, we were told that the border had closed. I returned to Toronto and while hanging out in a coffee shop I was offered a place to stay until the border reopened.
yesss im so excited you are doing this show, its one of my faves! I saw the US tour and the West End production and im obsessed with it
Your reaction mirrored my own, didn't know what was coming, loved it
The controlled tower and gander had to help over 200 planes that were over the Atlantic find a place to land. Gander was one of the many cities that became home for those people. Other cities in Newfoundland included St. John’s; Halifax Nova Scotia; as well as cities in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.
Newfoundland is filled with a large population of Irish descent that's why the accent sounds so similar
Newfoundland got a Lot of Irish immigrants over the centuries, and being sort of isolated (and something of a latish-comer to Canada as a province, they only joined at the end of... one of the world wars, can't remember which atm), they have their own set of regional accents that're strongly descended from Irish accents.
There's a great Canadian crime drama tv show called Republic Of Doyle that takes place in Newfoundland if you want to hear more of these amazing accents. It was on for like 6 yrs.
You paused at literally the most impactful moment of the play!
I absolutely love this musical. I have a good friend who was on one of the 7000 passengers having to land in Gander.
I'm sure someone's already said this since you posted, but I'm loving your reaction to their accent! Newfoundlanders have a very distinct accent that smacks of its Irish heritage. There's a show called Republic of Doyle based in St. John's (the capital) that really highlights the difference in accents between islanders and mainlanders. (Look up concert clips from Great Big Sea - Bob Hallet, a founding member, actually consulted on the music for CFA.)
This is one of my all time favorites! I saw the touring company last year and absolutely loved it.
Btw you should react to 2021 west side story next!
So I tried to watch your 1st musical with you & I just couldn't get into it for some reason. This one seems to be a whole nother ball game. I'm loving it so far. The characters are awesome. I heard very little about the planes that were suddenly grounded. I never even thought about what it must've been like for all those passengers & the wonderful people in Gander. I'll definitely be doing some research while I'm waiting on u to post part 2 here. This is a huge learning experience. Thank you Salvo very much, wonderful idea. Btw: I think its great how they've got the slight humor here & there too. I think that makes it much more emotionally manageable. Looking forward to part 2 .. Peace ☮️😊
Fun little tidbit- there was a JetBlue flight where the passengers were watching themselves on live TV making an emergency landing, over at LAX a few years ago.
Switching roles happens all the time in theatre.
Gander is huge airport because of its role in Second World War. It’s normal for planes to go there for any reason needed.
when everyone stops and one character speaks to the audience is called an aparté in theatre idk if its the same for musical theatre
Hi SalvoG! I’m a new subscriber and I love musicals. One I was lucky enough to see when I was in NYC was American Idiot. It’s based on the Green Day album of the same name. Green Day were very involved in the show and their lead singer, Billiy Jo Armstrong joined the cast as St Jimmy. It’s really worth a listen.
The word you were looking for at 17' was 'infodump'. Great job!
Gander is the place because it has a Huge empty airport. planes coming across the ocean used to need to stop their for fuel.
9 months later I find out about Gander and I thought I knew everything there was to know about 9/11. Then I look to see if the .musical is on you tube and low and behold one of my favorite reactors is watching it. There are a couple of interviews that are interesting. I'll send them to you IG later. I watch 1 and 2 last night I think but I'm going to make sure. So glad you did this!
The dialect of Newfoundland makes sense because Newfoundland is directly across the Atlantic Ocean from England, Ireland, and Scotland. A LOT of people settled in Newfoundland who came from those places. My mother is from Conception Bay Newfoundland and my aunt still lives in St. John's, the capital. I don't know how much you know about Canada still has very strong ties to the U.K. It still colours the Canadian way of life, especially on "The Rock". We were once a dominion of the United Kingdom and are still a member of the British Commonwealth. The Queen was then and the King is still now our head of state and on our money, though parliament really runs things.
I'm from newfoundland we are of Irish English Scottish for most part, last part of Britain to become canada, they were people from all coasts of Europe that fished off our shores the the early years
You've got so many commenters I'm sure you've been told already. And I don't claim I'm writing this specific instance. But I believe when an actor addresses an audience directly it would be called an "aside". But that could be a very specifically used term
A vignette scene is when the background actors freeze and the focus is on one actor.
That "Accent" is the typical "Newfie" accent. Listen for the Newfie sayings once in awhile like, "Lard 'tunderin' Jaysus!'. As someone who's all Newfie on my paternal side. They say 'me' instead of 'my', 'bye' instead of 'boy', they sometimes substitute 'she' for 'it'. Example "How's she goin' bye?" I could go on. I saw this live and was on the verge of tearing up for a lot of it. So funny, and yet so incredibly poignant.
A vignette is when the main action freezes and one person provides information.
The accent you're hearing is a Newfoundland accent. Many many Irish and Scottish landed in Nfld and settled there. I had a friend from Ireland and when my mom met him she asked if he was from Nfld? We thought that was funny.😅
There are so many accents in Newfoundland and Labrador. Some sound really Irish, some quite Scottish.
Our ancestry is Irish, Scotish, British, French and First Nations. That is why we have our dialect.
Newfie accents are quite distinct within Canada
Because the early (16th century) fishers and settlers in Newfoundland were often from Scotland and Ireland, and the island was pretty far from what is now Canada, accents have been both preserved and developed their own Newfie-ness.
I haven't seen the filmed version of "Come From Away" but I did see it on stage in Seattle in 2015 before it went to Broadway (and living in Vancouver, it was a lot closer).
For those who have seen the show - live or filmed - there is a wonderful CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) documentary about how the musical was developed from the beginning, with interviews of both the passengers on the planes as well as the community that received them:
ruclips.net/video/LTNDRvUqVQA/видео.html
Thank you for doing this reaction . I've wanted to see it but haven't had the chance. I think you might be interested in the documentary "Operation Yellow Ribbon Documentary" with Tom Brokaw narrating. It may help you understand what actually happened that led to this play.
The "many different dialects" was partly because these were actors all trying to do a Newfoundland accent and they didn't all nail it quite right. (not important, but don't take the different accents as trying to mean something. It's mostly just an artifact of the actors tying to mimic a hard accent to mimic.)
Julie Johnson, the actress playing Beulah in the national tour of Come From Away is the voice of Baby Bop in Barney.
NO WAY!!! My oldest daughter who was in utero on 9/11 was a HUGE Barney fan when she was a toddler 🤣🤣🤣
@@LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac Yeah they were filming the special Barney's Christmas Star the day of 9/11. It was a weird time for Barney. The three original creators had had a falling out. Barney had actually been cancelled. Bob West, the OG voice had left as did David Joyner, the guy in the costume. They decided to uncancel it but they ditched the old school set and built a new park set. They brought in a new voice actor.
I saw this at the Royal Alex in TO. It was amazing!
No. Keep going!!! Lol. Loving this.