A tale of 7,000 stranded strangers becomes an ensemble showcase for Fine Arts Center Theatre Company.

Come From Away is a high-spirited musical made up of random pieces that somehow all manage to fall into place. The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company has it all skillfully in hand.

The Tony-winning piece is based on real events that occurred in the town of Gander, Newfoundland, on Sept. 11, 2001. When the U.S. closed its airspace that day, 38 commercial planes were grounded in Gander International Airport. The town of Gander, Newfoundland, population 10,000, hosted the nearly 7,000 stranded passengers.

For the next five days, overwhelmed and exhausted townspeople and travelers learned to make do and get to know each other.

Scenic designer Kevin Nelson hangs large cloth panels printed with a map of Gander, Newfoundland, on one side of the stage and New York, New York on the other to orient the audience.

Onstage, Nelson integrates stacks of suitcases with big stone blocks for a background that suggests the multitude of stranded passengers and the unyielding weight of their circumstances.

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Fittingly, the musical, book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is nearly non-stop patter songs. The story is constructed from swiftly changing vignettes of events, personalities and relationships. The ensemble is the star. The entire cast plays multiple roles. Some of the individual townspeople and travelers’ stories are developed, but in a highly abbreviated form.

This puts heavy emphasis on the ability of the actors to quickly switch characters, accents and motives. The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company cast is more than up to the challenge. There is an impressive level of talent and versatility on stage.

A scene from ‘Come From Away’ at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. | Photo: Isaiah Downing

Impact players

A few of the cast have the opportunity to make a more noticeable impact. As the mayor of Gander (and mayor of several other towns and a Jewish traveler to boot), Colin Alexander is always at ease and displays a variety of convincing accents.

Lauren Alice Smith, an understudy, plays several roles and switches easily between an in-command pilot and an opportunistic flirt.

Choreography by Jessica Hindsley brilliantly portrays the hurly-burly of a confused crowd. Many of the scenes have the large cast dashing hither and yon across the stage. It’s a constant astonishment — a credit to the cast, director Kenny Moten and the choreography — that they never miss a mark and manage to make enacting chaos look easy.

The high point of the show is an elaborate dance featuring kissing a fish (or one’s partner) as an initiation to becoming an islander. The cast dances exuberantly. The stage scenery pulls back to reveal the small instrumental band, led by David Nehls, which gets into the act with gusto.

The script has some good laughs and a non-stop pace that reflects the frenetic situation. The music is lively, but it must be said, none of the tunes are memorable. Pleasant, but forgettable.

Come From Away does a superior job of portraying people welcoming and unexpectedly forming a community, albeit transitory. It’s less effective in showing the trauma and loss that grounded these strangers in Gander.

The loss one character experiences is highlighted, but it comes quite late in the show. There’s little time left for the emotional transition to the upbeat ending this show insists on. It’s not quite denial but uncomfortably close.

Still, there’s room for an energetic, “feel-good” show and Come From Away is nothing if not that. I must confess, I’ve never thought twice about Newfoundland. Now, it’s on the list of places I’d like to see. Barring that, this cheerful travelogue is a good place to start.