Critics Embrace Come From Away's Return to Ford's Theatre
Ten years after it stopped at Ford's Theatre on its way to Broadway, Come From Away has returned to the historic stage on 10th Street. The homecoming could hardly be better timed. Irene Sankoff and David Hein's Tony Award-winning musical arrives as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of September 11, and it is drawing packed houses and some of the warmest notices of the fall season. Demand has been strong enough that Ford's has already added a week to the run, which now continues through October 25, 2026.
The story is true, and it is remarkable. On the morning of September 11, 2001, American airspace was suddenly shut down, and 38 planes carrying nearly 7,000 passengers from around the world were ordered to land in Gander, Newfoundland. Gander was a town of about 9,000 people, and its once-bustling airport had become something of a local joke. Over the next five days, the people of Gander and the surrounding towns fed, sheltered, clothed, and befriended thousands of frightened strangers, along with a surprising menagerie of stranded animals. Sankoff and Hein built the show from interviews with the real islanders and travelers. The result is a musical that spends only a moment on the horror of that day before turning its full attention to the generosity that followed.
Director Kevin S. McAllister, a longtime associate of the show, has gathered twelve of the region's finest performers, and the ensemble is the heart of the evening. Each actor plays a handful of characters, sometimes switching mid-scene with nothing more than a cap, a sweater, or a new accent. The company moves between Newfoundland locals and globe-trotting passengers so smoothly that the audience never loses its bearings. Critics were struck by the genuine camaraderie among the twelve and their razor-sharp comic timing. They also noted the stunned silence that falls over the theatre when the passengers first see the news footage from New York.
Several moments have been celebrated again and again. Housso Sémon plays Beverley, a trailblazing airline captain, and she brings the house to its feet with "Me and the Sky," a soaring account of a lifelong dream fulfilled. Sarah Corey is heartbreaking as Hannah, a New York mother desperate for word of her firefighter son, in "I Am Here." Kelli Blackwell's warm and funny Beulah offers Hannah comfort and serves as something of a guide through the town's story.
Lawrence Redmond is both hilarious and quietly moving as Gander's mayor, Claude, whose steady leadership barely hides the emotion underneath. He also presides over the raucous "Screech In," in which the visitors become honorary Newfoundlanders by kissing a cod. Julia Wheeler Lennon charms as Janice, a rookie reporter handed the story of a lifetime on her first day on the job. Caitlin Brooke and Joe Mallon tenderly build the unexpected romance between a Texas divorcée and a reserved Englishman, culminating in "Stop the World." Jonathan Atkinson and Michael Perrie Jr. find both comedy and depth as the two Kevins, and Atkinson delivers a gut-wrenching farewell as Ali, an Egyptian passenger who meets suspicion before he finds welcome. Evan Casey, Montel B. Butler, and Erin Weaver add plenty of laughs of their own. The midpoint number "Prayer," in which voices of many faiths blend into a single plea for peace, left more than a few audience members reaching for tissues.
The production looks and sounds superb. Emily Lotz, making her Ford's Theatre debut, surrounds the stage with towering wooden walls, scattered luggage, and simple tables and chairs. It all sits on a double turntable whose rings can spin in opposite directions, keeping the story in constant motion. Xavier Pierce's lighting earned particular praise for how it picks out individual speakers, flickers like television screens, and washes the rugged Newfoundland landscape in shifting color. Katy Tabb's choreography keeps bodies, chairs, and suitcases in perpetual and precise motion. Paris Francesca's everyday costumes, David Budries's clear sound design, and Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston's dialect work round out a production polished in every department.
Music director Mason Moss leads an eight-piece band steeped in Irish and Newfoundland folk tradition, with fiddle, bodhrán, mandolin, whistles, and uilleann pipes. The musicians are mostly tucked behind the scenery, but they burst into view for the kitchen-party exuberance of "Screech In" and again for the finale. That finale sends audiences out on a wave of foot-stomping joy.
What critics kept coming back to is the show's remarkable balance. Laughter and tears arrive in quick succession, sometimes within the same minute, and the evening works as both a memorial and a celebration. Audiences are leaving Ford's moved, uplifted, and reminded of how much ordinary people can do for one another in the worst of times.
Come From Away runs approximately one hour and 45 minutes with no intermission and is recommended for ages 10 and up. Performances continue through October 25, 2026, at Ford's Theatre, 511 10th Street NW, Washington, DC.