Come From Away – Apple TV+

Come From Away is available via Apple TV+

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The recent history of musical theatre on screen has been inconsistent in its quality. Huge productions like Cats (2019) have fallen flat and previews for Dear Evan Hansen (2021) do not bode well. In the same week, however, fans seem delighted with Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, and In The Heights, while suffering a poor financial return (mostly due to the dearth of open cinemas and willing attendees), was critically lauded. Come From Away follows the Hamilton on Disney+ model, which has so far skirted the problem of mixed success that seems to plague these cinematic releases.

I was lucky to see Come From Away in its West End incarnation not long after it opened in 2019 and, perhaps for this reason, my personal experience of the recorded Broadway production suffered ever so slightly. The pure energy that swells in the auditorium of the Phoenix Theatre – and, by all accounts, at the Gerald Schoenfeld in New York – is an addictive high to which the recorded versions cannot quite ascend. However, I must stress that this is not a fault of the production itself, merely the small-scale equivalent of a first-world problem: comparatively to the reach of Apple TV+, those who will have seen Come From Away live will be very low.

And for those who have never experienced it before, the show soars, radiating a devastating poignancy and life-affirming glow. The extraordinary talent of this streamlined and powerful cast is perhaps better experienced in this format; the multi-camera production serves crystal clear looks at every actor’s performance. Further still, it is testament to their extraordinary skill that even in the light of camera closeups, it is so easy to forget that the wealth of characters to whom we become so quickly attached are played by a relatively small number of people.

The truth is that what Irene Sankoff and David Hein have put together is indescribable in any of its forms. This is all the more true in the present moment, as we are reminded once again of the tragedy and pain that it cost the world. This is not the 9/11 story you usually hear. It’s one that, at first glance, ought not work as a musical, expected to be over sentimental or else in poor taste. For all these things, the show is better as a result: it’s whole existence is bound up with endurance and a belief in the power of community, whether that be a small town in Newfoundland suddenly doubled in population, or the assembled theatregoers at a musical. It feels as if it’s a piece that can make us kinder and more aware of our fellow people.

For most, this is the only way to experience that; the accessibility empowers it to do great things and, for that reason, I cannot fault it for any comparisons to the live version. Instead, I’m simply grateful that it exists.

Tom Martland