Performing Arts
Come From Away Is a Star-Studded Tear Jerker You Wouldn't Want to Miss
It might also be the best show of 2025.
Published on Jun 16, 2025
(SPOT.ph) “Five days. Nineteen animals. Seven thousand strays." This sums up the impact of 9/11 on the residents of Gander, Newfoundland, after 38 planes filled with thousands of people (and 19 animals) unexpectedly landed on the small town following the collapse of New York's Twin Towers 23 years ago. The line is from the musical Come From Away, and what happened on those five fateful days on the edge of the Atlantic was the inspiration behind said play now running at Samsung Performing Arts Theater. In this award-winning work, Irene Sankoff and David Heins show us a picture of humanity looking past perceived differences and standing shoulder to shoulder while the rest of the world burns.
Also read: Come From Away Is Coming to the Manila Stage
I walked into a performance of the Manila production not knowing anything about it, save for what I read in the synopsis. I even skipped the pro shot streaming on AppleTV, which is quite uncharacteristic a musical theater nerd like me. But I'm glad I did.
Might as well say it already: Come From Away might be the best musical of the year. It will send you on a tidal wave of emotions from first note to last. The moment the ensemble steps onstage and belts out, “Welcome to the Rock!”, your heart will be swept into the story.
Also read: Come From Away Is Coming to the Manila Stage
Come From Away's greatest asset is its powerhouse cast.
The production made headlines recently thanks to its all-star cast—a virtual who’s who of Philippine theater. The names include Sheila Francisco, Gian Magdangal, Garrett Bolden, Jr., George Schulze, Steve Cadd, and Mikki Bradshaw. The way GMG Productions Executive Producer Sam Sewell put it, despite the caliber of the show's stars, audiences will find that in this production, “walang bida, pero lahat bida.”
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The play's cast has been described as "the Avengers" of Philippine theater, composed as it is by some of the country's top performers. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
And it's the cast that is the beating heart of this rather underrated musical. The actors play off each other's energy, vollleying emotions as they move across the stage, moving in sync like a well-choreographed ballet.
Director Michael Williams shared that a critical part of working on the musical was ensuring the cast members each found their sweet spot on the stage, steering the rehearsal experience into a creative and collaborative one. And find them they did! One scene effortlessly pours into the next, deftly navigating the material's multiple story arcs and myriad points of view. Every character feels fully realized, whether they're one of the Gander locals or one of the “come from aways.”
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Each actor gets to play more than one character in the production. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
ICYDK, each actor portrays several characters in Come From Away. This means each cast member would sometimes find themselves playing a small supporting role. While many wouldn't put as much effort into a character that has only very limited stage time, that isn't the case here. Cathy Azanza-Dy, for example, plays the Tim Horton’s waitress with as much heart as she does the lovelorn Diane, a lady suddenly faced with a second chance at happiness.
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Cathy Azanza-Dy as Diane in Come From Away. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
Topper Fabregas, meanwhile, is charming as one half of the Kevins, and just as compelling in his respectful portrayal of an Egyptian Muslim chef.
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Topper Fabregas as the Muslim Chef in Come From Away. Photo Courtesy of GMG Productions..
Carla Guevara-Laforteza has us holding on to hope as Hannah, the mother of a missing firefighter lamenting the distance between her and her son. Moments later, she has us in stitches when her unnamed character sings, “We open the airplane doors, flash all the cars...”
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Carla Guevara-Laforteza as Hannah in Come From Away. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
Last but not least, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo delivers a masterful performance, boasting comedic flair as townie Annette before effortlessly shifting gears to essay the role of composed yet shaken Captain Beverly Bass who tries to stay grounded amidst the chaos.
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Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Captain Beverly Bass in Come From Away. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
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Come From Away's stripped down staging leaves maximum impact
Staying true the original production, Williams chose to steer clear of having elaborate sets and kept props to just the essentials. Perhaps the only luxury it yielded to was having Gander’s official mascot, the cod, made. The stage was mostly filled with tables and chairs, which, according to the director, had their own choreography. One wrong move can trigger an improv moment!
But the stripped-down setup serves the material well, letting the story and music shine through. Musical director Rony Fortich steps up to the challenge and delivers arguably his best work yet. The music and the singing hit all the right notes, breaking those of us in the audience one song at a time.
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Come From Away's stage is simple and stripped down so that the music and the story can shine. Photo courtesy of GMG Productions..
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You don't have to be from Gander to know what Come From Away is all about.
Come From Away takes us on the amazing journey of this little town “somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of who knows where,” and the people who pull out all the stops to help those caught in the maelstrom of one of history’s darkest days. In the song "Costume Party," the characters express feelings of loneliness and isolation even as they stand in a room of people, grappling with fear and confusion. “Like we’re stuck here in a messed up costume party, and there’s nothing here familiar,” they sing, all while they ponder the kindness that surrounds them.
What just happened? What now? How does one move forward? Big questions we’ve all asked ourselves—it's just that for the strays of Gander, Newfoundland, they have to experience something tragic before they can find the answers out. Come From Away doesn’t shy away from the answers either, and the emotions that go with them. It serves them all up in a rush, each one demanding to be felt.
By the time the cast take their bows, each person in our row, myself included, is a sobbing mess—except we're not quite sure why. Is it happiness? Sadness? A little bit of both? Who knows? We go with it for ten more minutes til the lights come back on. Consider all our heartstrings tugged.
Over the course of a hundred minutes, Come From Away will open up a little space in your heart—for kindness, for hope, for love, for grief, and for a life still waiting to be lived. As one of the songs gently reminds us, “You are here, at the start of a moment,” and every decision we make from there sends ripples outward. The hope is that when we get to “the end of a moment,” we would have given as much, or even more, kindness as we have been shown, just as the people of Gander did for the 7,000 "come from aways" who found themselves in their small town.
Come From Away runs until June 28 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit Mall, Makati. Tickets start at P900 via Ticketworld. For more information, visit GMG Productions' Facebook page.
Also read: Your Ultimate Guide To Theater Shows in the Philippines in 2025
Also read: Your Ultimate Guide To Theater Shows in the Philippines in 2025
There is so much in life waiting to be lived, and the stories that come out of it are the best kind. People, places, flavors, and things. For Elizabeth, that is reason enough to keep on writing. So she does.
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