Hey Everyone, 

I'm finally doing another musical recommendation :D yay.

So I have just returned from broadway and managed to see 7 shows in 6 days, which is an achievement I am pretty proud of :p. I saw Dear Evan Hansen (which I shared here). 

So, another show I was (scratch that) am obsessed with is a show called "Come From Away".

I'll explain a bit about the show. So, this unique little musical is based on the events of 9/11, but a rather unknown story. This is the story of the people of Gander, Newfoundland who opened their doors and welcomed the thousands of passengers off the 38 planes diverted there as they couldn't enter the United States. When the US closed their Airspace, all the planes flying over the Atlantic had to land somewhere, so they diverted them to Gander and the surrounding towns.

Come From Away also has the tag "A New Musical" which I will instantly be interested in. To me, A New Musical, states it isn't going to be conventional and the show will have that "New Musical" sound. (I describe this as a mix of acoustic instruments and electric, in a slightly contemporary but folky style.)

From my knowledge, (which is probably wrong), the first big show that was described as new was Wicked. There have been quite a few since, some getting the recognition they deserve, and others that seem to die without being seen.

Come From Away is pretty unique in the fact that it is completely a chorus based show. There is only one solo in it, and one little duet (that is only about 2 mins long) the rest of the show is the story told by the actors playing multiple roles (the plane passengers, the towns people etc.)

When I saw it, I was sat next the to the sound desk. I had so much respect for the sound guy. It was fascinating watching him navigate the sliders and switching between the different microphones.

Anyway, onto some songs. The first one here is actually the opening to the show.

It really gives you a feel of how the show is structured and how its a chorus effort, but also very narrative and strong in its story telling. As this was uploaded for everyone, he doesn't say "Frick" in the show but "F**k' which works when you see it live.

This song is near the end of the show and is the only solo in the whole show. Its called "Me and the Sky". Like all the characters in the show, the character singing this (Beverly Bass) is based on a real life pilot who got caught up in everything, portrayed by Jenn Colella.

You can hear on both these songs, they have an acoustic, folky feel but there is more going on to give it that New Musical feel.

If you like these songs, I urge you to go buy the whole soundtrack. You won't regret it. The story is fascinating as is how the music works.

Love to hear your thoughts below.

Till next time,

Your musical nerd - Robin

-- Edited by Producer - Robin on Monday 17th of April 2017 12:00:56 AM