Ford’s Theatre Society will produce a one-night concert version of the Tony and Olivier Award–winning musical Come From Away on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial September 10, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. Members of the Come From Away company will star in this free, 100-minute concert in honor of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Come From Away: Concert at the Lincoln Memorial will be presented rain or shine. Tickets are not required. Information about the production and the outdoor concert rules is here.
“There isn’t a more fitting or inspiring location than the Lincoln Memorial to stage this wonderful story that honors the better angels of our human nature,” said Ford’s Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault. “On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we are honored to present this story of courage, communion, and compassion. And we are grateful for the chance to do so in-person, welcoming back audiences to experience the transportive power of live theater together once again.”
Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers on September 11, 2001, and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. The concert at the Lincoln Memorial marks the return of live performance for Ford’s Theatre and the first time since March 2020 that music from the musical will be performed publicly for a live audience in the United States.
The event features modified concert staging with minimal props and costumes. Casting for Come From Away: Concert at the Lincoln Memorial will be announced at a later date.
“We are thrilled to be returning to Washington, DC, working with our friends at Ford’s Theatre,” said Come From Away producer Sue Frost. “Ford’s Theatre was instrumental in the development of Come From Away, so it is fitting that the team is together again to share this story in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.”
Prior to its Broadway run, Come From Away had a sold-out, record-breaking East Coast premiere at Ford’s Theatre in September 2016. The musical was originally co-produced in 2015 by La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theater and also presented in 2016 by Mirvish Productions at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, CA. Come From Away (NAMT Festival 2013) was originally developed at the Canadian Music Theatre Project, Michael Rubinoff Producer, Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and was further developed at Goodspeed Musicals’ Festival of New Artists, in East Haddam, CT. The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council and The Fifth Avenue Theatre, Seattle WA also provided development support.
Broadway performances of Come From Away resume September 21 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
The North American Tour of Come From Away, which launched across the United States and Canada at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in October 2018, will resume performance on October 5, 2021, in Memphis, TN, visiting 36 cities including a return to Washington, DC, at the National Theatre in April 2022.
Apple Original Films has landed the live filmed production of the award-winning hit musical Come From Away, which will mark the first Broadway show to be streamed by Apple TV+, eOne, Hasbro’s entertainment studio is producing the live capture performance. The production took place in May 2021 in New York City and employed over 200 people including members of the Broadway crew, staff, and creative teams.
Come From Away features book, music, and lyrics by Olivier, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award winners and Grammy and two-time Tony Award nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein and direction by Tony Award winner and Outer Critics Circle Award winner Christopher Ashley, with musical staging by Olivier Award winner and two-time Tony Award nominee Kelly Devine, music supervision and arrangements by Ian Eisendrath, scenic design by Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley, sound design by Olivier Award-winner Gareth Owen and orchestrations by Tony nominee August Eriksmoen.
The Ford’s Theatre 2021–2022 season of in-person productions also includes plays My Lord, What a Night and The Mountaintop, exploring Civil Rights icons Marian Anderson and Martin Luther King, Jr., plus the anticipated world-premiere musical Grace and the joyful holiday return of A Christmas Carol. For more information on the Ford’s Theatre season, www.fords.org.
Ford’s Theatre Society
One of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital, Ford’s Theatre reopened its doors in 1968, more than a hundred years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Operated through a partnership between Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in the nation’s capital to explore and celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s life and legacy.
Ford’s Theatre Society was founded under the guidance of executive producer Frankie Hewitt, who, during her 35-year tenure, established Ford’s as a living, working theatre producing performances that highlighted the diversity of the American experience. Since the arrival of Paul R. Tetreault as Director, critics and the theatregoing public have recognized Ford’s for the superior quality of its artistic programming. With works from the Tony-nominated Come From Away and the nationally acclaimed Big River, to the world premieres of Meet John Doe, The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Liberty Smith, Necessary Sacrifices, The Widow Lincoln and The Guard, Ford’s Theatre is making its mark on the American theatre landscape. In the past decade, the mission of Ford’s Theatre Society expanded to include education as a central pillar. This expansion led to the creation and construction of the Center for Education and Leadership, which opened in February 2012. Under the current leadership of Board of Trustees Chairman Phebe N. Novakovic and through the lens of Lincoln’s leadership and legacy, Ford’s today endeavors to advance Lincoln’s “unfinished work” with programs and performances that cultivate empathy, encourage dialogue and bridge divides in American life.
For more information on Ford’s Theatre and the Ford’s Theatre Society, please visit www.fords.org.
What Critics Are Saying About Come From Away:
“EXUBERANT! THE IMPACT IT’S HAVING ON HEARTS AND MINDS IS REMARKABLE. AN EFFERVESCENT MUSICAL ANTIDOTE FOR WHAT AILS THE AMERICAN SOUL.” – The Washington Post
“BEAUTIFULLY GIVES PEOPLE REASON TO COME TO THE THEATER—AND COME TOGETHER.” – Chicago Tribune
“A MIGHTY MUSICAL THAT REMINDS US OF THE POWER OF HUMAN GOODNESS!” – Los Angeles Times
“THIS STORY TOUCHED THE WORLD AND CELEBRATES THE BEST THAT WE CAN ALL BE. WE NEED IT, ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW.” – Tom Brokaw, NBC News
CRITIC’S PICK! “THE CATHARSIS WE NEED IN THIS AMERICAN MOMENT. A GALE OF GOOD WILL BLOWS OUT OF THIS SMART, ROBUST SHOW.” – The New York Times
“IT DOES WHAT ALL THE BEST MUSICALS DO: IT TAKES YOU TO A PLACE WHERE YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU WANTED TO GO, AND MAKES YOU NOT WANT TO LEAVE.” – Newsweek
“A GLOBAL PHENOMENON!” – The Guardian
“THIS MIRACULOUS MASTERPIECE IS TOTALLY, SOUL-FEEDINGLY WONDERFUL.” – Time Out
SEE ALSO:
‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre: ‘A show on its way to Broadway that’s so moving and inspiring I would see it again in a heartbeat’ column by John Stoltenberg
‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre review by David Gerson
‘Come from Away’ emphasizes joy: Canadian musical lights up Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater review by Barbara Mackay
