Christopher Ashley Archives - North West End UK

10Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come From Away – Sheffield Lyceum

Musical Theatre does not get any better than this! It has a heart and Soul, so buckle up on the soaring flight that lands exactly where it should - in the hearts and minds of its audience. Pure Perfection! Direct from the West End this award-winning musical ‘that welcomes the world’ is written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein and Directed by Christopher Ashley, Musical Staging by Kelly Devine. With Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt we are greeted by stage that is versatile yet warming and welcoming. With the trees aligning the wings and a wooden slatted wall upstage, the only other set is movable and mismatched tables and chairs which are manipulated by the cast with a choreographical magic to behold. The band are visible upstage left as they interact with the cast and seamlessly perform the...

22May

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Come From Away – Birmingham Hippodrome

I’d never heard of Gander and I probably couldn’t put my finger on Newfoundland without Google Maps but in the week following the 911 in attacks in 2001 38 planes were redirected from their intended destination and landed there instead. 7000 passengers unexpectedly arrived on the island and this is their story. Not the most obvious subject for a musical or is it…? “Come From Away” opened in San Diego in 2015 and, after moving to Broadway, went on to win Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book, Best Actress and Best Direction - quite clearly the ideal subject for a musical, then. In the safe hands of composer/lyricist Irene Sankoff and husband, David Hein, both of whom where in New York when the twin Towers fell, “Come From Away” has proved itself a heart-warming and humbling work whic...

1May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come From Away – Leeds Grand Theatre

Wandering through Broadway’s theatreland my youngest daughter and I were looking for a show to see so she suggested that Come From Away had fantastic word of mouth on TikTok. We popped into the box office scoring great stalls seats for 80 bucks, and she was spot on with her pick as this warm-hearted show about the best and worst of humanity went straight into my top five musicals. A musical about the aftermath of 9/11 seems an unlikely hit, but it’s based on a true story set thousands of miles away from the twin towers in a small Canadian town called Gander that was home to an airfield once used to refuel jets before they set off across the Atlantic. Super jets made the landing strip almost obsolete, but as airspaces were shut down after the terror attack 38 airplanes carrying 7000 diso...

Multi Award-winning ‘Best Musical’ Come From Away returns to London’s West End from 22nd July

14Apr

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Multi Award-winning ‘Best Musical’ Come From Away returns to London’s West End from 22nd July

The shutters of the Phoenix Theatre in London will lift on 22nd July and welcome in audiences to the highly anticipated re-opening of international hit musical Come From Away. Winner of every major Best Musical award when it opened in the West End in March 2019, Come From Away tells the remarkable and inspiring true story of 7,000 stranded air passengers during the wake of 9/11, and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but as uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Twenty years ago on 11th September 2001, the world stopped. On 12th September and in the years following, their stories of kindness, generosity and love have moved us all. The international hit musical has...