History Theatre / ComeFromAway

** One of the town council lists off the community events that have to be cancelled due to the state of emergency, including hockey practices and games. Claude stops him and asks him to confirm that hockey's cancelled. This seems to set up a joke about [[CanadaEh Canadians' love for hockey.]] Cue Janice announcing over the news that all perishable food donations are now to be moved to the Gander community center, which the mayor has declared...

* CanadaEh: The show includes references to Tim Hortons, Shoppers Drug Mart (a pharmacy chain), a bus stopping for a moose, and of course a local ''hockey'' arena. Due to Newfoundland's unique provincial culture, the trope might also be "Newfoundland, b'y".

In 2021, because of the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic's impact on the theatre and film industry, previously-announced plans for a film production [[note]]which would have cast unknown actors, filmed in Gander, and hired locals as extras[[/note]] were scrapped in favor of a professionally-shot version of the show featuring most of the original Broadway cast.[[note]]De'Lon Grant replaced Rodney Hicks as Bob and others, Tony [=LePage=] replaced Chad Kimball as Garth, Kevin Tuerff and others, Emily Walton replaces Kendra Kassebaum as Janice Mosher and others, Jim Walton replaced Lee [=MacDougall=] as Doug, Nick Marson and others, and Paul Whitty replaced Geno Carr as Oz Fudge and others. [[/note]] It was released on September 10, 2021 - one day before the 20th anniversary of 9/11 - on Creator/AppleTVPlus.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Some of the cultural Newfoundland experiences that can seem outlandish to non-Newfie audiences are all real: cod au gratin, the Screeching-In ceremony, the ugly stick, etc.

''Come From Away'' was written by a Canadian husband-and-wife team, David Hein and Irene Sankoff, following their visit to the September 11, 2011 anniversary gathering of the "come from aways" in Gander. It was workshopped at Sheridan College in Ontario in 2012 and 2013, played in La Jolla and the UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} Repository Theater in 2015 and the Royal Alex in UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} in 2016. The cast performed a pair of concerts in Gander, playing to many of the very people portrayed in the show, before opening in the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on Broadway in 2017. Most of the cast stayed on through all of these runs. The musical has received seven Tony nominations for 2017. A second production opened in Toronto in early 2018.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: An out-of-universe example as detailed by the book. Initially, the writers had little hope of the show being popular, thinking that most likely Canadian high schools would be forced to do ''Come From Away'' because of its minimalism and Canadian material. Similarly, some Ganderites were bewildered that they'd want to make a musical about "people making sandwiches", as they consider their actions something that they had to do in the situation. Reg Wright, president of the Gander airport, even wished the writers "Good luck with that." Averted by Matt Kane, a Gambo resident who correctly predicted that "This project that [the writers] are working on? It's going to be big. Much bigger than [Broadway]." Three international productions [[note]]British, Australian, and Dutch as of 2021[[/note]], a (sadly canceled) tour of China, one North American tour, a planned film adaptation and a professionaly-filmed version of the musical later, he was proven right.
** When it's made available, high schools will jump at the chance to put on "Come From Away"! It has a positive story, an ensemble cast that can be undoubled to give a large number of actors named parts and a moment in the spotlight, and very little that will need to changed to make it appropriate for a school setting--as well as the minimalist setting and costuming required.

* ExactWords: Beulah's prank on the schoolchildren. "I told 'em we'd only have a half day this morning and they were quite pleased... until I told 'em we would have the other half in the afternoon!"

* GargleBlaster: Screech is a downplayed example; during the "Screech-In" ceremony the volunteers must drink a shot of Screech to become honorary Newfoundlanders. Kevin T and Nick thought it tasted terrible. Diane thought it was delicious.

* CallBack: At one point in the show, ''Film/Titanic1997'' is mentioned as one of the films that is shown to the travelers stranded on the airplane, which is followed by one woman singing the chorus of "My Heart Will Go On" from that movie before being cut off. Later in the show, when some of the stranded travelers in Gander are in a bar, they start singing karaoke, and a woman in the bar briefly repeats some of the same lyrics from "My Heart Will Go On".

* CallBack: At one point in the show, ''Film/Titanic1997'' is mentioned as one of the films that is shown to the travelers stranded on the airplane, which is followed by one woman singing the chorus of "My Heart Will Go On" from that movie before being cut off. Later in the movie, when some of the stranded travelers in Gander are in a bar, they start singing karaoke, and a woman in the bar briefly repeats some of the same lyrics from "My Heart Will Go On".

** Later, when they're in the bar (and drunk), Kevin T. accidentally lets their relationship slip, at which point the townspeople start talking about the gay people they know (daughters, sisters, brothers, etc.), causing Kevin T. to remark that "we somehow ended up in the gayest town in North America!"

* BasedOnATrueStory: Not only is it based on a true story, it's based on a ''recent'' true story, and most of the people on whom the characters were based have seen the show. Beverley Bass, the pilot whose character sings the song "Me and the Sky", has seen the show over sixty times and is now good friends with the actress that portrays her in the show's main company. Also, the Marsons (Nick and Diane) have seen the show over a hundred times and describe the experience as a form of renewing their vows.

* EndOfAnAge: As a show about 9/11, it goes without saying. Also a common theme expressed in "Something's Missing". Beverley in particular notes that the atmosphere among her fellow airline pilots was different after 9/11, and that security regulations meant children could no longer visit the cockpit as was previously customary on flights.

* AdultFear:
** 9/11 and its aftermath are shown on display. As one person mentions in-universe, [[TechnologyMarchesOn this was before cellphones were commonplace]], so none of the passengers forced to make an emergency landing know what's happening.
---> ''This is before most people had mobile phones.''
---> ''And only a couple people got through.''
** Bonnie realizes that the airline personnel forgot about taking care of the animals and risks jail time or getting shot to go rescue them. [[spoiler:She fails to save Unga the bonobo from miscarrying]].
** Ali was just trying to go on a business trip and then go home to his family. Everyone treats him like a criminal because he happens to be Muslim, although he's Egyptian and is trying not to cause trouble. It culminates in airline security ''strip-searching'' him before his flight back home, which also causes a great violation of Ali's religious beliefs--the space between his stomach and his knees is only supposed to be seen by his wife, but Captain Bass has to witness the search.
** Diane's son, David, was supposed to be on a different flight; Hannah's son, Kevin, is a firefighter in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. Diane eventually receives good news; [[spoiler:Hannah does not.]]

** "Stop the World" about Nick and Diane coming to terms that they might not see each other again when they go home during a visit to the Dover fault, takes place just before their final departure, but had taken place earlier in the week while US airspace was still closed. Also Diane and Nick say before the song that they were to remain close to the airport when the departures are delayed, but the Dover fault is just an hour away from Gander.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In the stories of some individual characters, some details have been shifted to fit more easily as story beats:

** The actual Kevins didn't break up because of 9/11 and in fact remained together until 2010 and had parted on friendly terms. Their break up in the show however, serves as a foil to Nick and Diane's developing relationship.

** ''Stop the World'' about Nick and Diane coming to terms that they might not see each other again when they go home during a visit to the Dover fault, takes place just before their final departure, but had taken place earlier in the week while US airspace was still closed. Also Diane and Nick say before the song that they were to remain close to the airport when the departures are delayed, but the Dover fault is just an hour away from Gander.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Kevin J is the only member of the main plane-people not to get an update in the Finale.

* NoAntagonist: This show doesn’t have or need a villain. (Unless you count the terrorists who started the whole affair, but they never appear on stage.)

-->'''Nick:'''So I moved to Texas, and then I proposed!