From Jewish cantillations to 1990s power ballads, “Come From Away” is a musical that boasts an impressively wide-ranging score.
“They've got me playing some shakers … I get to play a cajon with a kick pedal,” said Ben Yats, one of the percussionists in the Guthrie Theater’s production of the show, who also plays instruments like the Irish bodhrán and West African djembe.
“I have 18 different instruments,” said renowned local Celtic folk musician Laura MacKenzie, who is also lending her talents to the production. “They’re mostly whistles, from very low bass whistles to little teeny high ones, and a couple of wooden flutes and Uilleann Pipes.”
The choice to have an eclectic range of instruments is in line with the show’s plot, which is based on the true story of international travelers stranded in a small town in Newfoundland, Canada, following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that caused the U.S. airspace to close.
“A lot of [the] instruments are not used in what I would presume is a traditional sense,” said Yats. He gave the example of the udu, a Nigerian instrument that resembles a clay pot, which he uses when an Egyptian character in the show is on stage. Yats said the score doesn’t have exact directions on how the instrument should be played, so he uses a technique he picked up from playing a South Asian instrument.
“[The composers] really found a clever way, I think, to sneak in a lot of different outside world influences onto this score,” Yats said.
At the core of the show’s music, however, is the English and Celtic-inspired folk music found in Atlantic Canada, which is why musicians like Yats and MacKenzie were brought on to play the show.
“The traditional music, from what I've heard in Newfoundland, is more of sort of the pub music, ballad singing tradition. So heavy Irish influence, a little Scottish and a lot of English influence as well,” said MacKenzie, who has been called a “High Priestess of Celtic music.”
The musical doesn’t shy away from some of those influences. In one scene, the characters coalesce at a local bar where they sing songs together—one of which is a sea shanty.
“I love this show, because it seems that the composers really wanted it grounded in the people's music, and so they have that flavor of Newfoundland folk music,” said MacKenzie.
Those more joyous moments of pub singing are contrasted with slower ballads and quiet moments of a cappella, all of which capture the rollercoaster of emotions some were experiencing in the wake of 9/11.
“There's such high moments, and all of a sudden you're just trying to hold it together,” said Ben Yats. “I think the musicians are reflecting that kind of emotional gravity on stage.”
“Come From Away"' runs through Aug. 9 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
