I experienced the "Come From Away" musical for real

As the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre prepares to host the West End hit musical “Come From Away” this week, did you know we have two actual “Come From Awayers” living right here in the West Midlands.

For those of you who haven’t seen or heard of the musical, “Come From Away” depicts the experiences of some of the travellers stranded when their planes were diverted when the USA air space was closed as a result of 9/11.

In Gander, a tiny town in Newfoundland and Labrador, the inhabitants opened their homes and their hearts to those stranded on board the planes who were desperate to contact their families and friends to let them know they were safe.  “Come From Away” follows their adventures.

Our first “Come From Awayer” gave me his perspective of this life-changing event through the eyes of a child. 

Luke Taylor from Cheslyn Hay was on a trip to visit Disneyland with his family.  Despite being aged just 9, Luke still has vivid memories of the event.  

Luke said, “As we flew over America, I can remember lots of people screaming.  I was watching a film and then the pilot announced there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre.   I was that young that I thought that the word terrorist actually meant tourist and I thought, “well we are all tourists” and just carried on watching my film!”

“We were then told that the airspace was shut and there was not enough fuel to return to Heathrow and that they were trying to find somewhere to land.  Obviously there were a lot of planes in the sky with the same problem,” said Luke. 

“We were told we were going to Canada and  that it was a very small airport, but they were going to do everything they could to get us down.  That was Gander airport.  Luckily we were one of the first big planes down.  Even so, we were stuck on the plane for a long time while they worked out where we were all going to go.  We were allowed off eventually and taken in yellow school buses to a children’s camp in the forest. Only a handful of planes allowed the people off, the rest had to stay on the planes,” Luke continued. 

“We all gathered at what looked like a town hall.  We weren’t allowed luggage but we were given quilts and a Virgin Atlantic bag with basic toiletries and given a room with bunk beds, like a dormitory,” he said. “We were in the same clothes for about four days.”

“There were so many people there to help and every so often a school bus full of McDonalds would arrive to feed us,” he laughed!  It must have been heaven for a nine year old!

“I also remember because it was a camp,  there was a big patch of grass, a forest and a massive lake, so they gave us sports equipment to keep us busy.  They wouldn’t let us see what had actually happened, so we were none the wiser. This was before anyone really had phones so we knew nothing really.”

“Then late at night they came and said pack up because we are going now, back to Heathrow.  Everyone had to go.  If we didn’t all go, nobody would go. Obviously they couldn’t unload all the luggage, but more importantly because there could have been other terrorists on the planes.”

Luke has very fond memories of the people of Gander. “They were amazing, they were as memorable as the actual event,” he said. “There were lots of kids going to Disney who were obviously disappointed, but the people played with us, kept us busy and were so kind. Some of these people didn’t sleep for days trying to help us,” he said fondly.

His family made friends with another family which helped because they could relate to what each other was going through. 

Luke hasn’t been back to Gander, but has landed in Newfoundland.  “I think my parents might like to go back because they remember much more than me,” he said.

And the good news is that Luke and his family made it to “Mickey Mouse Land” the following year!

Meanwhile, Jason Griffiths from Wall Heath, Kingswinford, and his then girlfriend, now wife,  Louise were on their way to the Big Apple for a surprise trip for Jason’s 21st birthday, when their plane was diverted just under an hour outside of the city. 

Louise told me “I worked all summer in W H Smith to save the money for the trip and I was originally going to book tickets for the previous Sunday and so if we had gone then, we would have actually been in New York when the tragedy occurred.”  It seems that fate stepped in and Jason and Louise were meant to fly out a little later and thus remain safe. 

“Although we were young at the time, when they announced that the US airspace had been closed down, we were really worried as our first thought was that the plane had been hijacked,” said Jason. 

“Redirected to Gander, the plane sat on the runway for another 12 hours before we could get off.  By this time, news started to come through.  We found out that on our plane there was a lady whose son was a firefighter in New York and she was obviously desperate to find out if he was ok,” Jason continued.  

When Jason sees the show, I think he will be very moved by her story as it forms part of the storyline. 

They then spent four nights sleeping on the floor or in army cots at Elms Lodge, which Jason describes as “a sort of working man’s club.” 

“The people of Gander were amazing.  Right from when we landed, they were bringing blankets, home made food and drinks, we paid for nothing.  It was all donated,” he said.

Louise told me, “There was a guy who ran a bar inside the lodge and he barely went home to sleep.  They were just making sure we were all ok all of the time.  They organised for us to go in shifts to the one hotel there so we could have a shower.”

And there were all sorts of people from all walks of life stranded too.  “We babysat Woody Harrelson’s children while we were there,  as his wife and children were also redirected and staying at the lodge,” said Jason.  

Jason continued “We sat in the sunshine outside talking and drinking and we made some lifelong friends that we have since been to stay with. One friend, Kev, lives  in Queens and last year, we took the children to meet him too.”

It was Kev who recommended Jason and Louise see the show, as he had seen it on Broadway. 

The couple are keen for their own children, Orson aged 15 and Esme aged 12 to gain an insight into Mum and Dad’s adventures so the whole family has  tickets for the Saturday Matinee performance of the show at the city centre venue, and are very much looking forward to it. 

I can’t wait to see what our local “Come From Awayers” make of the show and if it stirs emotions all these years later.  I have also put them in touch with each other, so they can reminisce and share this experience of a lifetime. 

“Come From Away” is at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from November 5-9. For tickets, visit grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01902 429212.