Gander, Canada welcomed stranded planes after September 11. Now the musical about it, Come From Away, heads to Canberra

The Canadian playwrights were living in an international residence for grad students, with residents hailing from more than 110 countries across the world.

And when the planes hit the Twin Towers, Hein and Sankoff remember just how the international community, who called the Big Apple home, came together to support each other in the days that followed.

Little did they know, at the same time there was a similar show of support shown by a community north of New York. It was those events that one decade later, would go on to inspire the biggest musical project of their careers, Come From Away.

Set in the small Canadian town of Gander, in Newfoundland, Come From Away details how a small town of 9000 people almost doubled in size as a result of September 11.

At the time, the duo had no idea what was happening on the eastern-most tip of North America. But looking back now, Hein said there was a sign - albeit, a subtle one.

"We had friends come up to us, as Canadians, and say, 'Thank you for taking the planes'. We didn't know what they were talking about ... like everyone else, we were focused on what was happening in America," he says over Zoom.

It wasn't until almost a decade later that they completely understood what their friends meant.

When the planes hit the Twin Towers, American airspace closed, leaving planes travelling across the Atlantic with no destination.

That was until Gander, Newfoundland, stepped in. Overnight, the town took in 38 commercial planes, carrying almost 7000 people, or as locals call them, the come from aways. For the next five days they were stranded, waiting for news about when they could return home.

It was those five days that inspired Sankoff and Hein's musical Come From Away, which comes to Canberra Theatre in June.

"There was this incredible story about a community from around the world coming together to support one another in a time of crisis," Hein says.

"It's about how we can take care of each other and how we respond with kindness in response to darkness."

For many - arguably, everyone who lives outside of Newfoundland - what the community of Gander and the surrounding area did is unbelievable.

While the very worst of humanity caused September 11, the very best of humanity was witnessed in Gander.

Flight crew were given the 550 hotel rooms that were in the area, while the passengers were put up in community centres, schools - any space that was large enough to accommodate them.

Since no one was allowed to access anything from the luggage hold, food, drink, medication and any needs were provided, free of charge, and the residents donated clothing from their own wardrobes. People even opened up their homes so people could shower, meanwhile the phone bills - for hundreds if not thousands of international calls - were covered.

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Not to mention, this was all done while navigating different languages, cultures and religions.

What is incredible is that this small community of Gander consider their response to be normal. They're known to often open their homes and show hospitality to any stranger that finds themselves in the remote part of the world.

It just so happens that on September 11, 2001, there were almost 7000 strangers from 1000 different countries (and 19 animals, including one pregnant bonobo chimpanzee) who found themselves stranded on what is known as "the rock".

But with 9000 locals and 7000 "come from aways" in one spot, at one time, that meant there were 16,000 stories to try and tell in one musical.

"We had been commissioned to write a musical, but I remember at one point, getting all of the stories and doing all of the interviews, and then suddenly I was like, 'Listen, there are so many stories, I don't know how we're going to distil this into a typical musical theatre formula. I think maybe it's a play," Sankoff says.

"And David was like, just wait until you hear the music. And we were in Gander at the 10th-anniversary kitchen party benefit concert for what's now Tuesday's Children ... but as soon as the band started to play, I was like, 'Oh, my God, you're right. We have to do a musical.

"You can't tell a story about Newfoundlanders without using music. It's part of their DNA, it's what they use to get through their long winter."

Newfoundlanders come together in the winter months, bringing their instruments to what is known as a kitchen party. There they stay warm and create music that can be likened to Irish and Scottish folk music. It is this style of music that makes up the basis of the Come From Away soundtrack.

It's been a decade since Come From Away first premiered - first in Ontario, Canada, before heading to San Diego and then taking a considered journey to New York's Broadway, through Seattle, Washington D.C. and Toronto - wanting to ease into the market that was still feeling the effects of September 11.

Along the way, it's picked up numerous awards, including a Tony for Best Direction of a Musical. Here in the capital, it's already broken box office records, becoming the highest-selling musical at the Canberra Theatre Centre in its first week of ticket sales.

With such a list of accolades, it's hard to believe that once upon a time, Sankoff and Hein thought that Come From Away would just be performed in schools and colleges.

"I remember making peace with the fact that the most important thing was the story. And that the people whose story we were telling - both the Newfoundlanders and the come from aways, and people who are part of the 9/11 community - they were proud of what we did," Sankoff says.

"So I was just like, this will never be done outside of Canada. But David was like, 'Yeah, but it's going to be done in every high school and every college because of the Canadian content'.

"But that gave us the freedom to tell the stories that we want to tell and tell it the way we want to tell it."

The result is a heartwarming tale about a small town in Canada that did what they humbly believe anyone in their position would do, and the thousands of people who were forever grateful for it.

Because at the heart of Come From Away is not a story about September 11, but rather one about September 12.

Come From Away is at the Canberra Theatre Centre from June 8 to July 2. For tickets or more information go to canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

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