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LARA JO HIGHTOWER NWA Democrat-Gazette I t was several years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that David Hein and Irene Sankoff were approached by friend and producer Michael Rubinoff with the idea to create a musical. It would relate the story of 38 planes forced to emergency land in — and be embraced by — tiny Gander, Newfoundland, that day. "I think he had actually approached five or six other writing teams, and they had all said no — because they thought a 9/11 musical was a terrible idea," says Sankoff of the process that would become the couple's award- winning musical, "Come From Away," opening on the Walton Arts Center's Baum Walker stage Oct. 26. "But somehow it resonated with us. It felt very similar to what we had gone through, and the kindness that we had seen." Sankoff and Hein were in New York City on that tragic day, living in a residence hall for international graduate students. "There were 700 students from 110 countries around the world, and that community of international people who were stranded in New York at the time all came together," Hein says. "We saw so much kindness in response — people volunteering, people overcoming their differences, people being good to one another, to be neighbors. People thanked us, as Canadians, for taking planes, and we barely knew what they were talking about." Hooked on the idea, the duo started researching — and found out they were starting the project just in time: a 10-year anniversary commemoration was in the works in Gander. "All of these 'come-from-aways' were returning to reunite with the lifelong friends they had made there, to celebrate all the love and kindness they had seen," says Hein. The husband- and-wife writing team tagged along and managed to interview dozens of Canadians and "come-from-aways" about their experiences during the two days before air travel resumed on Sept. 13. The result is a joyous, emotional and, above all, warm-hearted Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award- winning musical that Ben Brantley in The New York Times called a "big bear hug of a musical." "Even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed during this portrait of heroic hospitality under extraordinary pressure," he added. "We didn't set out to tell a 9/11 story," says Hein. "In fact, we wanted to be really, really good to anyone who had been directly or indirectly affected by that — so many people have trauma about that day, and rightfully so. So we wanted to tell a 9/12 story. We wanted to tell a story about how these friends of ours — who we had fallen in love with, going out there — had been so generous and so kind and so courageous and so good in response to a tragedy. "As writers, we're very cautious about the words that we use," Hein explains. "We only use the word 'terrorism' or 'terrorist' once. We say 'the World Trade Center' only once in the show. We really want to bring people to Newfoundland and say, 'Come with us. There's an incredible story that happened in response to this.' And since then, it's been a real gift for us, because there are countless tragedies that happen every day on our social media that we see, and division, and this story becomes a model for how we can respond to dark times." The story is remarkable: When air space in the United States was closed at 9:45 a.m. on Sept. 11, all planes in flight at the time were diverted to the nearest airports to land. Thirty-eight of those flights — carrying almost 7,000 passengers — were diverted to Gander International Airport, nearly doubling the small town's population. With the town's 500 hotel rooms reserved for OctOber 24-30, 2021 What's up! 3 Cover Story See WAC Page 4 Celebration Of Community 'come From away' opens hearts and broadway season "We didn't set out to tell a 9/11 story," says playwright David hein. "In fact, we wanted to be really, really good to anyone who had been directly or indirectly affected by that — so many people have trauma about that day, and rightfully so. so we wanted to tell a 9/12 story. We wanted to tell a story about how these friends of ours — who we had fallen in love with, going out there — had been so generous and so kind and so courageous and so good in response to a tragedy." (courtesy photo/Matthew Murphy)