‘Come From Away’ highlights the ‘goodness of humanity’ after 9/11

“Come From Away,” which is coming to the Academy of Music Feb. 4-9 courtesy of Ensemble Arts Philly and the Shubert Organization, is based on the true story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Because many planes were grounded in response to the attacks, forcing them to land at nearby airports, Gander welcomed 38 planes carrying approximately 7,000 total passengers. Despite Gander having a 10,000-person population, the town managed to provide the passengers with food, clothing and shelter.

Although the story begins with the 9/11 attacks, actor John Anker Bow, who plays Nick Marson and others in this production of “Come From Away,” highlighted, “This is not a 9/11 story; it’s a 9/12 story.”

“Despite the background — a tragic event — the story is really about the goodness of humanity and how people do come together in times of need,” Bow said.

For Bow, this role was a no-brainer.

“This is a show I’ve loved for a long time. I saw it in New York and wanted to be a part of it the moment I saw it,” Bow said.

Bow also drew a line between the themes of “Come From Away” and the current political climate.

“The story, itself, is about people,” Bow said. “Our instinct is to help one another in times of crisis. Unfortunately, in our current political climate and with our day-to-day lives and our routines, we don’t think that way on an average day. The beauty of this show is it tells many different stories.”

He elaborated, “Some of the folks in this tiny town were not accustomed to the types of people they were interacting with. There were people stranded from all over the world. Many people did not speak English, lots of different races are represented. There is a Middle Eastern character named Ali, and there was a lot of stereotyping and racial profiling that happened after these events. That is touched upon. There’s also a queer subplot as well, which was something else that suddenly people had exposure to where maybe they didn’t prior.”

Bow noted how “it doesn’t matter” when it came to identity during this moment in time.

“Your identity did not matter very much in these circumstances,” Bow said. “People needed food and a place to stay and a bed to sleep in and medication. Everyone needed that the same. The identity that divides us so much in politics, these things tend to melt away when we really take a moment to see one another.”

Regarding the queer representation in “Come From Away,” Bow shared, “As a queer person, I remember really appreciating the fact that there was this subplot in the show. And, once again, all of these are true stories. Kevin T. is the character’s name.”

Bow described Kevin as “one of the prominent stories in the show.”

“I think it’s nice to have that representation in the show, and it’s also interesting that his faith comes across in the show, which is a huge part of him as an individual, as the real person, and it’s also interesting that the actor playing that character also has a faith-based background, and there is a little bit of reconciling the two, which both of those people shared.”

Bow and the rest of the cast also had the opportunity to meet the real-life person the character is based on, whose full name is Kevin Tuerff. 

Kevin Tuerff went on to create the nonprofit organization Pay It Forward 9/11, a charity that advocates for acts of kindness and loving one another. 

“After he had this experience in Gander and went back to his life, every year on the anniversary of the attacks, he would give each of his employees $100 and tell them to go do a good deed,” Bow said.

In addition to meeting Kevin Tuerff, Bow had the opportunity to meet the real Nick Marson and his wife Diane (played by Tyler Olshansky-Bailon in the “Come From Away” tour). She was stranded in Gander as well, which is how the two met.

Bow explained that an actor having the opportunity to meet with the person they are portraying is “very rare” and added, “They couldn’t be sweeter people.”

According to Bow, the couple has seen “Come From Away” in the ballpark of 150 times, and, during their call, the couple was seated in front of a bookshelf of “Come From Away” memorabilia.

In terms of what he hopes audiences will take away, Bow said, “the real message of the play itself is our humanity is universal.”

“We all want the same things,” Bow said. “We want safety. We want a promising future for our children. We all really do want the same things, and often, when we’re othered and stereotyped as the people we are regarding our sexuality, our gender, our race, we tend to divide, and that doesn’t serve us well as a community.”

“As divided as our nation is right now, we are all in this together, and we do have problems that need solving. The only way that they get solved is by coming together,” Bow added. “The only way that we have ever made progress in the United States is by both sides, politically speaking, coming together to make change and to move that progress forward.”

Ensemble Arts Philly and the Shubert Organization present “Come From Away” Feb. 4-9 at the Academy of Music. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ensembleartsphilly.org.