Come From Away Stars Share What It Felt Like to Film the Show and Why It Resonates

To celebrate the recent release of the filmed stage production of Broadway's Come From Away on Apple TV+, Broadway.com correspondent Charlie Cooper talked with the cast about performing again in front of an audience, what they hope audiences get out of the musical and the importance of theater accessibility.

Jenn Colella, who reprised her Tony-nominated performance as real-life pilot Beverley Bass & others for the film, talked about the moment they walked out on stage to perform to an audience full of 9/11 survivors ad frontline workers. "We tried to prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for that moment. We knew it was going to feel overwhelming," she said. "To feel their gratitude, to feel their excitement, there was nothing we could do to prepare for that. It left each of us shaken for a few moments, to be certain. I think I can also speak for my colleagues and say it also invigorated us."

Based on the true story of when the small community of Gander, Newfoundland played host to the world, Come From Away follows what started as an average day in a small town turned in to an international sleepover when 38 planes, carrying thousands of people from across the globe, were diverted to Gander's airstrip on September 11, 2001.

"I always hope that people will take away from it is the truth of the fact that we're better together," said Petrina Bromley, who plays Bonnie and others. "We spend so much time drawing hard lines around the things that make us different, but in the end of the day, people from all over the world descended in Gander, and what brought them together was the commonality of needing to get through what was happening."

Watch the interview below, and head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy winner Tamsen Fadal and powered by Broadway.com, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.