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'Come From Away' Music and Technical Aspects | The BSB Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  RJ we're back at it.
• 0:01
  We're back.
• 0:01
  We're going back to the rock.
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  How you doing?
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  I'm ready to become a new Foundlander.
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  You had to stop for second and think of all the syllables to that.
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  Yeah, I didn't wanna say it wrong.
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  I probably still did.
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  So before we get started if you haven't listened to our first episode seen come from away or have no anything about what the show is Spoiler alert.
• 0:27
  We're gonna be talking about some of the technical aspects of this show And quickly going doing a recap last episode we talked about the story.
• 0:36
  This is a very It's a small story for a big story does that make sense is that I feel like that's a good way to put it you know, this is a story about
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  a small island, a small town that welcomed 7,000 stranded passengers on 9-11 and welcomed them in.
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  And at its core, it's a story about hope, it's a story about grief, it's a story about connections and community.
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  And there's a lot of good things about this story, the, a lot of relationships and lot of actors and actresses who give their heart in this show.
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  So first off, we want to give a shout out to them.
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  You guys are doing a great job.
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  But today we're going to turn away from the story and the cast in our favorite moments and instead talk about some of those technical aspects because this is a very technical show.
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  And this is definitely something that RJ, I know that you have a lot more of that technical background for it.
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  For the shows, you kind of know the ins and outs.
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  You know these things.
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  What is your kind of impression from a technical aspect of Come From Away?
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  because there's a lot going on and there's not a lot of set.
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  You know what mean?
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  Yeah, well, even when we were watching it, was as an actor, I was like, man, I'd be so stressed when they call like prop check before the show because they each have so many
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  costume pieces, which sometimes you could kind of consider a prop or just it's something that you prep before the show that if you don't have that thing, like it is instrumental
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  in this show to ensure
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  the storytelling is done correctly.
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  Like if you forget a hat or you misplace a jacket or anything, one thing can change the trajectory and you don't have time.
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  Like there's not time for someone to like ad lib and go grab it off stage.
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  So I'm curious as to if that's ever happened.
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  mean, people, I'm sure they make do but.
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  It is a very, like the smallest things make the biggest difference.
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  so if we're talking about the staging, guess while we're here, let's talk about the staging and kind of the props.
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  There's not a lot of staging.
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  There is 14 chairs and a few tables at points.
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  Like there's, that's it.
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  There's nothing.
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  And I did not know until you mentioned in the last episode about there being a pro shot that when I looked it up, that's all there ever has been for the show basically is 14
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  chairs and a few tables.
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  And that's it.
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  Yeah, I think it's intentionally left to be perceived however you perceive it or like how your lived experience speaks to what you imagine it looks like.
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  Which is very interesting as someone who travels frequently, like I'm very familiar with what a plane looks like, right?
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  Like I'm familiar with what that feels like, how crowded it is.
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  But thinking from the opposite perspective, there are people who never have been on a plane or in an airport or away from home.
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  And so I just, I think the lack of things on stage kind of leaves it open for interpretation of whatever your experience is, speaks to.
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  of what you're imagining when it comes to the set.
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  my wildest dreams, I never thought you could have such a big impact with such a little bit of nothing.
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  Because when they rearrange the chairs and it's an airplane, in my head, can see the airplane, because it's airplane-shaped-esque.
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  You know the seats, you've been in those rows if you've been on an airplane.
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  And then when they're they're at a tim hortons and like all that you have is a sign that says tim hortons and like everything else is like up to design but like You feel like when
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  that mayor walks in there, you know exactly that tim hortons because you've been to that tim hortons before and it reminds me of something that actually um joe bailey of the ring
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  wall was talking about with the glass of injury where like that's a memory show and memories are kind of Foggy and faded on the edges
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  that's kind of what this reminded me of a little bit too, of those, of like the, we're looking at something technically from like a, depending on how you're looking at it, the
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  show was developed at the 10 year anniversaries when they were kind of approached about their story, which is how the show ends.
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  And it's kind of like that fady fogginess of like 10 years before what happened in that moment.
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  I could be putting things together that don't need to go together, but it kind of felt like there was some of those pieces together there.
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  Yeah, I think.
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  It also is, it stays true really heavily leaning on the actual storytelling and less on.
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  what we're looking at.
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  Like many theater goers, when you go to a show and the curtain goes up or maybe if the set is already exposed, like you're really focusing on that.
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  And so by having a lack thereof, is truly, much like we experienced when we saw Sunset Boulevard, you're focusing on the vocals, you're focusing on the story, you're focusing on
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  the message.
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  And you're not distracted by, like I think, like Hadestown, where it's the lights, it's the wall, it's moving, the band's on stage.
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  Like, you are just paying attention, which you have to be, to the characters, to the story, to the music.
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  So I think it does a good job at that.
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  because it does again lean itself towards that very personal story without having those moments.
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  think something that you kind of, as I'm looking at the sheet here that you mentioned here that's very interesting is that the transitions without having huge sets that have to be
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  rolled in and rolled out, they can keep to their very strict time call that they try to do for the show.
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  And it allows for...
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  There's almost no point where you have time to clap because they are from one scene to the next because all you have are chairs and tables.
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  You're able to just move and manipulate so quickly as you're moving from scene to scene to scene.
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  So with that, there anything about, so how does the show, how does it pull, how do you get that feeling of immersive, how do you feel personal towards the story when there's not
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  much of a set?
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  For you, is it the cast and the characters is kind of what pulls you in?
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  Yeah, yeah, I think it's the experience.
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  It's almost like you're put in a place where you're wondering what you would have done or like what your response would have been.
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  Or as they kind of talk about in the show, like if that was me, what would my life look like?
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  Because once again, many of the people who lived through this experience vividly remember exactly what they were doing in that moment.
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  And so I think once again, it invites us in to identify maybe with one of these characters, with one of these lived experiences to say others felt this way too and or
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  didn't.
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  But
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  I couldn't help but g-g-g-
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  that aren't told,
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  Sure.
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  mean, 7,000 people are there and we see 12, 14, 30 maybe, know, like there's these stories are very individual and not maybe capturing of the entire experience for everybody, but
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  they grab stories that were specific and told a specific outlook, you know, like it's, they're all connected in a very interesting way.
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  And the fact is that they're all of pretty much one.
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  plane and the people that took care of that one plane.
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  You know?
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  So with this show, with this set not being huge, a lot of changing of props, sweaters, hats and stuff, it really does allow for the acting and the music to kind of tell the
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  story.
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  There's a lot of songs in this.
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  There's a lot of transitions to songs.
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  The whole show is just a continuous song.
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  And you kind of spoke on this in the first episode, but what...
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  songs hit you and I know specifically one that I feel like we should talk about it again because I think that is important but what song speaks to you?
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  Captain My Captain
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  I mean, like I mentioned previously, Me in the Sky, it's just, first of all, it's an incredibly well-written song.
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  Obviously, the storyline, very powerful.
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  I'll also say the prayer might have also been a moment that I, I don't know if I cried, but I definitely was in my feels.
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  as someone who was raised in a faith but also has experienced many faiths.
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  And in reality, in a time where in that specific time, I can't imagine the tension of faith as we see it on stage, but also it just made me think to
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  not to get too real, like to today, right?
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  Like there are so many experiences when it comes to people's faith.
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  Um, and so it was, it's so insane and amazing to see a room full of people, not really caring what anybody else believed or was doing, but just like,
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  what they were all doing the same thing in their own right.
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  And I'm not sure that that's something that we see too much.
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  I want to say in real life, this, you know, portrayal portrayed then was happening.
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  I mean, the opening number is very unique.
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  We get like that rhythmic drumming to really kind of set the folky acoustic vibe of the entire show.
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  Cause really like we hear the rhythmic drums pretty much under every single, if it's not being sung, there's some type of drumming happening underneath it.
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  And then of course like,
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  screech.
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  can't, you can't not mention that song because it's just it's the it's the I think the pinnacle of the show.
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  The light hearted really one of the more like upbeat if I mean, for sure the most upbeat song in the entire show.
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  You know, what's interesting about the music for me is that you're saying all these names.
• 12:53
  No, is that as somebody who just experienced it for the first time, had never heard a song before, had never seen the pro shot and never listened to this album before.
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  The fact that there is no moments where you really stop and clap.
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  It's really hard for me to be like, what song is what song?
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  And like, I know me in the sky because that is such a powerful song.
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  It's that it's the ballad.
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  It's it's very
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  uh, poignant to the uh, the the experiences of Beverly Welcome to the rock that one there was clapping at the end of that one.
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  It was the first song they allowed you to clap Screech in i'm assuming that's the other clapping song like the one where they're kind of the new when they're becoming newfound
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  landers Something like that.
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  Um, but a lot of these songs do they blend in together because there's just no
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  Stopping the train to mix my vehicle analogies here Because they do they just all just kind of they go from one to the other to the other And each one just kind of gives a lot
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  I'm looking at them most of them are just company the company the company the most of them are just the company singing um So when you're talking about those was stopping and
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  thinking what songs really stood out to me and the one that came to mind Is I didn't know the name, but when you mentioned prayer and I said yes
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  because that one was a moment where like you got to see the people really come together in a way that like there had been such a buildup of like us and them and then they're kind of
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  trying to find each other they're trying to find each other and then during prayer you kind of hit this point where people can communicate through each other that's the song I'm
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  thinking of right?
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  okay
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  And that was a huge moment.
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  I think that was a moment that like one of the first times actually felt like I could breathe in the show.
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  Because you're just kind of like holding your breath.
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  You're waiting.
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  You've we've all experienced, well, not all of us as we as we discussed at the last one, but many of us experienced that of our age bracket and above everything that went through
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  in that time period, everything that happened with that with 9-11.
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  And that was the first moment where they finally could understand each other and they could breathe themselves.
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  And that's really kind of a turning point in the show and it's really the halfway mark in the songs it looks like.
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  I could be wrong there, but...
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  And so that one does stand out.
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  But also you're right.
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  Welcome to the Rock sets a pace.
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  About the drums, which I found interesting, is you call them folk drums.
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  Is that actually what they...
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  that like the technical term for them?
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  Or like the way that they're being played?
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  No, I mean that they the drum has I'm sure a specific name but the genre is very folky like it's it's an it is an acoustic
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  rhythm, acoustic drumming.
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  I going to say it reminded me, and this is where maybe I put my own trauma on this, so feel free to check me.
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  But I experienced this moment of it felt like the heartbeat of like the people.
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  And I felt like that's what kept kind of going through this of like, at the end of it, all of our hearts beat exactly the same way, which is kind of like the unifying moment of
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  being like the when people go through trauma, they tend to.
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  migrate towards each other that they tend to you can almost sync up heartbeats in a way you know you can you're you're kind of going to this joint experience together and as a
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  result you're kind of singing out so for me it kind of reminding you of like the not to date myself any at all but the the the beats in the beginning of high school musical three
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  where it's like the the basketball heartbeats that's what it reminded me of and reminding you of like the we're all here in this experience together we're all kind of
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  connected with each other.
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  And maybe I'm making that completely up.
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  No, I mean, once again, as we know, like that's the fun thing about theater is that everything is perceived differently by everyone.
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  And so it could be that exact, like it could have been made for that purpose or not.
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  But if that's what it was to you, then rightfully so.
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  Well, I appreciate that.
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  But there was just that, there was that moment of coming in.
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  So it kind of starts that kind of falls through, but yeah, also Screech in, I couldn't help, but I think I was also teary eyed in that one too, because again, it was that moment
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  of like,
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  They were all so joyful and it's just like in your head a lot of people can ask like how can you be so happy in the middle of such a trauma?
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  I think it speaks back to the message of the beauty and the tragedy the light and the darkness and for a moment no matter what and anybody and I'm speaking to you listeners I'm
• 18:01
  speaking to anybody who's watching this When you go through a tragedy when you go through a death when you go through a loss of any kind when you go through a even bigger change
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  Whatever it is
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  You have to find the light.
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  You have to find a moment to be joined with other people.
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  To get off my soap box a little bit.
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  But you have to connect in that way.
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  And so to see them, it was kind of one of their final nights together and their...
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  Kissing Fishes
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  Do you like the company aspect of it?
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  Do you like the solos?
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  Do you think that it's a blend of both that makes the story work?
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  What is the music?
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  Because you are a very musically inclined person.
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  Out of the two of us, at least.
• 19:13
  Yeah, I mean, I think it is exactly as it should be for the writing for the book.
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  There was a good balance.
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  We had the duet between Nick and Diane, and then the solos throughout for a variety of reasons.
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  while, I think because there were very few solo songs, but there were a lot of solo, just solos.
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  And that was necessary in order to do the amount of storytelling and
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  and detailed storytelling that they did.
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  For sure.
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  For sure.
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  And it kind of again, gives you those moments to like have everybody in the caskets to kind of shine a little bit because you have like a little bit of a solo, but really like
• 20:05
  again, it puts it back onto that community feel of the show.
• 20:12
  Who do you think that this show is made for?
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  I mean, I think it's made for everyone.
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  I think it's a good history lesson.
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  It's a good reminder.
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  Even if you take out the fact that obviously it's talking about a collective trauma, it's a good story.
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  It's good music.
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  It's good production.
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  So I'd say, I mean, all ages.
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  I think the people that will enjoy it the most will be the ones who live through it and who understand it on a different level.
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  But at the same time, I think it's equally important for young, young, young people to be able to learn about something that happens through art.
• 21:06
  Like this is a cool way for that to happen.
• 21:10
  Absolutely, I do think that it's interesting on how people will connect I don't know if this will have the same emotional impact on a lot of younger crowds I mean it depends on
• 21:21
  what your relationship with the story is because for some of us that was Something that we lived through granted you and I were both young as we talked about in the last episode But
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  that was still something that we shared with an entire group of people And so that we connect on that level
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  But they do approach it in a way that it is a universal message.
• 21:42
  It's like something that most people are going to understand, are gonna connect with, and they're gonna hopefully enjoy it.
• 21:49
  mean, this is one of my top musicals of all time at this point, which I did not think it was going to be when we walked into that theater.
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  I thought it was gonna be good.
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  I thought it was gonna be enjoyable, but I did not think I was gonna walk away being like, wow, top five right here.
• 22:06
  Where do you rank this show?
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  Like, if you had to give it a grade?
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  If I had to it a grade, mean, I'd give it an A.
• 22:13
  Yeah, no, it is just.
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  for subject matter, for the music, for the storytelling.
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  I think it's all just very well done.
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  Absolutely.
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  So would you see it again?
• 22:39
  Absolutely same here.
• 22:40
  I think that this is one that When I heard that another theater is doing it somewhere soon, I Think that's public knowledge now.
• 22:50
  I think that they have announced that I Was really excited to be like we get to see this again Because this is a show that doesn't need a huge budget per se it doesn't need a lot
• 23:06
  of
• 23:07
  Flashiness like there's there's no flashiness to the story because it is just a human story That I would go see this multiple times especially because it mostly depends on
• 23:17
  who's the cast This is a cast forward show
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  and so yeah, I would take that fight again.
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  And with that, we are running out of time.
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  So thank you so much for joining in into our part two discussion of Come From Away.
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  Look forward for more coverage of Broadway in Detroit and other local theaters.
• 23:43
  Thank you again for joining us here in our back seats.
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  Until next curtain call.