Christine Toy Johnson hopes audiences seeing Come From Away will appreciate the musical’s impactful message.
“The show has an incredible message of the healing power of intentional compassion and generosity. It feels important and joyful to share that story,” she says.
Playing Altria Theater February 1 through February 6, the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics award-winning musical tells the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and other targets in the United States. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high at first, but the experience led to trust, gratitude, and enduring friendships.
Johnson’s nightly mantra before going on stage is always about gratitude, something that she shares with the heart of this story. The show is “something where all the pieces add up and you realize how fortunate you are,” she says.“I really do look at this time as this perfect storm of good fortune and artistry combined. I’m glad I have the opportunity to be part of this.”
The native New Yorker has always been interested in acting.
“I was one of those kids who at Christmas would put on a version of the Twelve Days of Christmas,” she says. “I would see Broadway shows from a young age. I have always been doing this.”
During her career, she has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, television, and national tours. “I really do enjoy both touring and being on Broadway. While I love the opportunity to be at home, being on the road has been extraordinary,” she says.
Interestingly, Johnson was away from home working on a corporate industrial show in Las Vegas on 9/11. She was watching the Today Show and saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center.
“I have a very clear memory of that and also trying to get home to New York City. The company I was working for arranged for buses to drive us back east. We couldn’t get on the bus until Thursday, two days later,” she says. “We didn’t know what to do.”
The bus trip home took forty-eight hours, dropping off people in different cities. “We had a tag team of drivers,” she says, noting it did parallel the story of the play. “We did depend on the kindness of strangers to get us home.”
Unlike the play where all of the people bonded, the people stranded with Johnson did not bond past the time they spent together. “I have never spoken to those people again,” she says. “In the play, the people grew so close and they are still close to this day.”
During the drive across the bridge into New York City, she saw the hole in the skyline where the Twin Towers once reached into the sky. She saw people looking for their loved ones. “I was deeply sad,” she says. “It’s been so healing for me to do Come From Away. That’s why we call it the 9/12 story.”
The show provides an additional lens where people don’t have to see the dark side of humanity, she adds.
“We see how our better angels can come out in times of need. We can be generous and compassionate. We can be the best parts of ourselves, seeing both those pieces and honoring the people who lifted each other up and the spirit behind that,” she says, adding it’s a message and a movement needed, “especially now when there is so much divisiveness.To be able to spread a message of unity is really healing to me and important to me as a storyteller.”
She is also glad to be able to share the story after eighteen months in a Broadway shutdown due to COVID-19.
“We used to say that the audiences went from Wow! to Oh my goodness – wow!” she says of seeing the musical. “All of our audiences have responded strongly to this show. People are happy to be back in a room together and sharing this experience.”
Come From Away plays the Altria Theater from February 1 through February 6. Please note COVID protocols. Proof of vaccination and/or negative COVID test must be shown for admittance. For showtimes and tickets, go here: Broadway in Richmond.
[North American Tour of Come From Away Photo Credit Matthew Murphy]
