A bus driver has brought a busload full of stranded airline passengers to a camp in Newfoundland, in the middle of the night. The passengers don’t really know why they’re there, and many of them are scared. When they arrive at the camp, the first passengers in line don’t want to get off the bus, and they don’t speak English. The bus driver doesn’t know how to get through to them. Then he notices that one of them is holding a Bible, and he knows his Bible. He flips the pages to Philippians 4:6:“Be anxious for nothing,” the verse begins. He points to the page. The passengers read it, and understand.
“And that’s how we started speaking the same language,” the actors address the audience.
Come from Away — the deeply humane musical about what happened when 38 international flights landed at Gander International Airport in Newfoundland after U.S. airspace was closed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — kicks off the Shubert Theatre’s 2023 – 24 Broadway season. It’s a tremendous start to what looks to be a season jammed with hits, from Chicago (Dec. 7 – 10) to Company (Jan. 31-Feb. 4) to Annie (Feb. 29-Mar. 3) to Hadestown (Apr. 30-May 5) to Stomp (May 31-Jun. 1), with plenty of shows in between, including the Dance Theatre of Harlem, A Christmas Carol, and Randy Rainbow (visit the Shubert’s website for a full listing of its upcoming shows).
