The hit musical Come From Away is set on the Canadian island province of Newfoundland, which is an awful long way from Toowoomba.
But The Empire Theatre is ambitiously putting on this Broadway show with a Queensland cast to tell the true story of 7000 stranded airline passengers and the small Newfoundland community that welcomed them with open arms when the US airspace was closed in the wake of 9/11.
Now wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a Newfoundlander in the cast to help with the accent and a bit of local knowledge?
Enter Karen Rock, the rural Pittsworth chiropractor and amateur thespian who auditioned for the show and made the cut. Rock is not from Gander, the Newfoundland town where the passengers landed (at Gander International Airport), but she knows the town and she is a Newfoundlander through and through. There’s a lovely synergy about having a Newfoundlander in the Toowoomba production.
You can call her a Newfie, too, if you like. It’s sometimes used as a pejorative, but she’s okay with it. Newfoundlander or Newfie, she’s the real deal and she’s thrilled to be in the musical, which opens for a six-show season at the Empire Theatre’s main auditorium from March 14.
“I’m so thrilled they chose me,” Rock says. “I have been here 24 years now and I’m trying to bring a bit of Newfoundland culture to the production. I try to bring some Newfoundland treats to rehearsal, too, like Blueberry Buckle and Moose Farts.”
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Blueberry Buckle sounds tasty – it’s a kind of coffee cake studded with blueberries. Moose Farts sounds like something you might not want to snack on but, actually, they are delicious cookies. There’s also Newfoundland Snowballs, too, kind of like Aussie rum balls. All of which makes you wish you were at rehearsals with Karen Rock, who loves the show and saw it in Melbourne.
“We flew the whole family down to see it,” she says. “I never imagined I would actually be in it.”
But as a member of the Pittsworth Amateur Theatrical Society she does have some stage experience and she passed the audition. She says the story is true to the character of Newfoundlanders.
‘such an emotional roller coaster … from devastating sadness to absolute joy’
“They have always been big on hospitality,” she says. “They are friendly and funny and now thanks to Come From Away the whole world knows about that. The musical has been great for tourism back home. I visited last year and you have to book a rental car a year ahead nowadays because so many people want to visit after seeing the musical.
“It’s a beautiful story, such an emotional roller coaster, from devastating sadness to absolute joy. When we did the first run through, I was crying I was so overcome with emotion.”
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Rock’s husband, fellow chiropractor Trevor Rock, will be at the show along with the couple’s four kids.
The cast features a line-up of 21 local performers, plus the Newfoundland expatriate. Also in the show are country music artist Melanie Martin; opera baritone Jon Maskell; and professional performer and recording artist Diana Holt, who starred as Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! Rock portrays Crystal, who works at Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee store chain famous for its doughnuts. Cast members play various roles with some doing multiple.
The director is New York-based David Wynen (his last gig was directing the musical Billy Elliot in The Big Apple), who first saw Come From Away on Broadway in 2017. He fell in love with the show, its verbatim storytelling and its folksy music.
“I’m happy to be directing it at The Empire, where they have all the resources necessary,” Wynen says. “Some of the cast are working professionals, there are a few who are amateurs and have some theatrical training and then there are people from the community.
“In casting Come From Away we were looking for some specific elements in our auditionees. We needed to see a strong ability to tell a story and we wanted to see truth – the truth of what it would be like if they were the ones put into the situation we are putting on stage.
“This show is members of the Toowoomba community telling the true story of the Gander community and how the people there stepped up in a time of tragedy and crisis, something we know our audience here will really connect with. We are excited to throw ourselves into this production and make it our own with a fantastic cast.”
The Empire’s general manager Giuliana Bonel says she is thrilled.
“It’s a credit to the enormous talent pool in the Toowoomba and surrounding regions that such an extraordinary and strong cast was assembled,” she says. “Come From Away is a remarkable story and I look forward to seeing the skill, energy and passion of this dynamic group as they all bring something unique to the production. With the dedication of our outstanding creative team alongside our talented cast, I am confident this will be one of The Empire’s most memorable and celebrated shows yet.”