I skipped the 9/11 anniversary movie watch a few weeks ago so this is a little randomly late to the party. But this Apple TV+ presentation of the Come From Away stage musical was sitting in the back of my head. I couldn’t find something decent on that appealed so early in the morning so I decided to give it a try. I knew the basics of what the play was about, but I wasn’t prepared for how good it was.

Come From Away tells – via song and dance – the relentlessly positive story of Gander, Newfoundland on and a few days after 9/11/2001. Dozens of planes were routed to the unusually large airport of this small town… 7000 “plane people” were released and treated with humanity, generosity, and compassion until the FAA reopened the air.

This is a marvelous positive and thrilling live performed by a bunch of players that really need to take a rest. As with the Disney+ presentation of Hamilton, I was personally exhausted by their energy, talent, and precision. People who are better at their job than I’ll ever be at anything. I’m not much of a musical theater guy so maybe this is just Tuesday to them and to the fans. But it blows me away (as ignorant as I may be).

I teared up about a bunch of times watching this. The water works were open. And it’s not just from sad moments or thoughts that threw me back to 9/11… but from joy and faith in humanity restored. Or maybe just faith in Canadians… who knows?! This is certainly a flag flown for the goodness of this small town at the edge of the world.

And, yes, it reminds me of that brief time back in 2001 where it seemed like we were all united. And, in that, this play about 9/11/01 speaks to our time now twenty years later. The play has a sequence about the people on the planes just needing to get off… and that feels like lockdown. It also reminds me of how so very not united we are regarding masks and vaccines.

The play is performed by about fifteen people playing forty or more roles so every actor wears (literally) many hats. They switch rapidly from character to character, usually with just a change in body language, accent, and maybe a hat. There isn’t a sequence in the play that lasts for too long – it bounces from moment to moment rapidly – and it works. It’s easy to keep track of everyone and their individual stories.

Tales of the female American Airlines pilot moved me. The couple who gets together, the couple that comes apart, and a completely unseen rare bonobo somehow – somehow! – moved me to tears with just a few minutes “on stage”.

I loved this play and this performance. It was filmed using most of the original actors just as we were coming out of lock down so both the performers and the audience were just happy to be back to something like normal. That’s beautiful too. This whole presentation was beautiful.

Was it a little corny? Did it leave important things out or not cover specific themes deeply? I suppose so. But the musical is so earnest and honest and open-hearted, it’s almost rude to nitpick it. This isn’t about 9/11, this is about a specific side-story that happened because of 9/11. It can’t and won’t and shouldn’t be all things.

If you have Apple TV+ watch it. If you don’t have Apple TV+, get it and watch it (and then watch Tad Lasso to ensure your faith in humanity stays firm). Don’t avoid it because you don’t want a tumult of 9/11 memories and grief like I almost did. Watch it because it will make you feel.

Score: 92