'Come From Away': Remembering 9/11, where kindness took flight, through Filipino voices

GMA Network

14-06-2025

There's a moment, about five minutes into "Come From Away," where it's easy to forget you're watching a musical. You forget the stage, the lights, even the actors. You fall headfirst into a story that isn't trying to impress you—it's trying to heal you.
And here's the thing: it's not about us, but it is.
A story about other people, ending up being about all of us
On September 11, 2001, the world stopped.
Thousands of planes were grounded mid-air. In a remote town called Gander in Newfoundland, 38 planes carrying almost 7,000 strangers suddenly landed, unannounced. The town's population nearly doubled overnight. No one had planned for this.
But instead of panic, there was coffee. And hot meals. And strangers making beds for other strangers. People giving up their phones, their clothes, their time. It wasn't perfect. There were fights, there was fear, but there was also grace—a quiet, unexpected grace that stretched across cultures, languages, and broken hearts.
That's what "Come From Away" is about. And watching it in the Philippines, told by Filipino actors on a Filipino stage, adds a layer so personal, it leaves a lump in your throat that doesn't go away.
This cast isn't just performing—they're remembering
You don't watch this ensemble. You watch fifteen souls remembering something for the rest of us.
Each of them plays multiple roles—Newfoundlanders, stranded travelers, pilots, bus drivers, mothers, lovers, leaders. But you never lose track. They move like breath. They shape-shift like memory. One second, they're handing out sandwiches; the next, they're breaking down in a school gym, trying to call home, trying to believe this isn't the end of the world.
Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, as Captain Beverley Bass, sings 'Me and the Sky'—a song about chasing dreams, flying through ceilings, and then watching those dreams crash on the same day the planes did. It's not just a solo. It's a reckoning. And it hits you like you've heard it from your mother, your sister, yourself.
Carla Guevara Laforteza is heartbreaking as Hannah, the mother waiting for news of her firefighter son. Her grief is quiet and full of ache—the kind you don't perform, the kind you carry in your spine.
This isn't a musical with solos and showstoppers. It's a wave. Everyone rises, everyone falls, together.
It's funny, until it's not. Then it's beautiful.
Filipino voices, global story, same heart
There's something haunting about watching Filipinos tell this story. Because haven't we, as a people, always opened our homes in the middle of storms? Haven't we always offered food, water, warmth, even when we had so little to begin with?
In Gander, the townspeople gave everything they had—not because they were rich or powerful, but because they were kind. And what "Come From Away" teaches us is that kindness doesn't need permission. It just is.
You watch this show in Manila, and you feel like you're watching yourself. Your lola making extra rice. Your neighbor handing out candles during brownouts. Strangers becoming family because that's what's needed.
And this cast—this breathtaking, disciplined, brilliant cast—carries that truth in their bones. They remind you that compassion isn't cultural. It's human.
When the final note is sung and the lights go up, the audience doesn't jump to their feet out of habit. It's not the kind of standing ovation that feels polite. It's the kind that comes from gratitude. From being gutted and lifted in the same breath.
The applause goes on for minutes. Not because the audience wants to be heard, but because they want to say thank you- for making us feel something that deep. That clean and honest.
"Come From Away" doesn't tell a story with villains. There's no hero's arc. No fireworks. Just people, placed in an impossible situation, who choose decency. It's not flashy. It's not loud. But it stays with you.
Let" Come From Away" break you open in the best way. Let it remind you of who you are when everything else is stripped away. Let it show you that there is still tenderness in this world. Still music. Still people who say, 'You are not alone. You can stay here as long as you need.'
And when you leave the theater, don't just clap.
Be that kindness. Be that hope. Be the person who remembers what it means to come from away—and be welcomed anyway.
"Come From Away" runs until June 29, 2025, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati. This production also marks a milestone in Philippine theater as this is the first Filipino-led show from GMG Productions, brought to life by a stellar cast that includes Cathy Azanza-Dy, Caisa Borromeo, Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Gian Magdangal, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Garrett Bolden, among others.
The ensemble of 15 actors portrays approximately 84 characters, showcasing their remarkable versatility through lightning-fast transitions, distinct accents, and layered emotional beats—an extraordinary feat that speaks to the cast's depth and precision.
Ticket prices range from P952.20 to P5,819 and can be purchased via the Ticketworld website. —JCB, GMA Integrated News