When I saw this new musical on the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, there were no more than ten minutes during it when my eyes were dry. They welled up from the first scene. Sure, I know I tear up easily, as did my dad. I’ve even been kidded about it. But never before has a show left me so awash.
By the end I had no clue how I could talk about a show that had left me without words. A show on its way to Broadway that’s so moving and inspiring I would see it again in a heartbeat. A show that told a true story about human kindness that touched me in a place in my soul I think I did not know was there.
Now to read the barrage of reviewers’ accolades this show has garnered is to go, “Yes, yes. That’s true. All true.”
And now to hear the blizzard of audience buzz about this show is to think, “Well, no wonder. Of course.”
Come From Away is a show the likes of which American musical theater has never seen: an uplifting emotional epiphany about accidental altruism that leaves you a better person than before you went in. A five-star review by my DC Theater Arts colleague David Gerson explains succinctly why Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre has become a hit:
Come From Away is a celebration of the unflappable human spirit, and the generosity and kindness that always seems to manifest itself in our darkest hours. And it earns every tear, laugh, and cheer that it deservedly gets.
So watch your back, Hamilton. Another blockbuster’s on the way. The American theater will be better because of this show. America too, I believe and hope.
LINK:
Review: ‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre by David Gerson on DCMetroTheaterArts.
https://vimeo.com/173767835
