In mid-September 2001, 38 planes with over 6,500 passengers landed unexpectedly in Gander, Newfoundland, a remote island off Canada’s east coast. U.S. airspace had been shut down in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The town’s 10,000 residents hosted people from all over the world for nearly a week. The “guests” spoke more than 100 languages. Meals were served, shelter and medications were provided, friends were made and lasting relationships were formed.
The hospitality of Gander and the connections made there has been captured and recreated in the award-winning musical, Come From Away. It’s been a hit on Broadway and in Toronto, London and Australia. And starting Sept. 17, its touring production will land in Cincinnati for two weeks.
Assembled by Tony nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away distills events experienced by more than 16,000 people into a 100-minute show that portrays the innate goodness of humankind. A dozen actors play numerous passengers and locals, recreating people who met and embraced one another during the emotional moment.
Two of those passengers are Nick Marson, an oil industry engineer from London, and Diane Kirschke, a department store buyer from Houston. Both were in their 60s and flying from London to Houston. They did not know each other prior to the flight. Diane was returning from a family visit near London; Nick was on a business trip to Houston. Seated separately on the plane, they did not even meet during the first 24 hours in Gander, when passengers had to remain on the aircraft awaiting arrangements.
But fate intervened when they were sent to a temporary shelter for about a thousand people in Gambo, 25 miles from Gander. Having been separated from most of their fellow passengers, Diane and Nick arrived separately.
“When we discovered that, we figured if we hang together there was a better chance of getting back to the same plane,” Diane says.
And so, over the next four days they did just that — stayed together, eventually forming a friendship. Many fellow passengers and locals thought they were a married couple. And a year after their layover in Gander, the couple got married for real.
Nick and Diane’s story bubbled to the surface when Sankoff and Hein began to assemble stories. Nick and Diane even visited Cincinnati late in the spring for the announcement of Broadway in Cincinnati’s 2019-2020 season.
With his gentle British accent, Nick chuckles, “Gander’s population, was almost 10,000. We descended on them like a swarm of locusts.” With a bit of Texas twang, Diane adds, “All you could take (off the plane) was your carry-on bag. I had my little make-up bag, but no medicine. They had pharmacists who would take your information, fill a prescription for you, and bring it to your shelter.”
By the next evening, Nick says, everyone thought they were married, though at the time he says they had just become good friends. In one instance, a local asked Nick where the pair was from. When Diane said Texas, Nick was asked, “What part of Texas?” — since he certainly didn’t sound like anyone from The Lone Star State.
“Not only did they feed and shelter us, they started to entertain us to take our minds off the circumstances,” Nick says.
For instance, a local geology teacher took the couple on a sightseeing trip. At Dover Fault, a scenic overlook, Nick was taking photos.
“She thinks I’m trying to take a picture of the scenery,” he says. “No, I wanted a picture of her.”
Diane adds, “I’m trying to get out of the picture. He said, ‘No, no, stay there.’ That’s when I knew he was interested.”
The resulting photo has since become famous.
When they explained that they were not married, a justice of the peace offered his services. After a few beers, Diane, not much of a drinker, said, “Why not?” Both were divorced and available, but they decided not to be so impetuous.
Once flights were restored, they spent time together in Houston and continued with transatlantic phone conversations and emails. Nick later wangled another work assignment in Houston. It was then that they realized their feelings were real. After marrying in 2002, the pair returned to Gambo for their honeymoon, which included a dinner the locals staged for them. Gambo’s mayor, Claude Elliott, even wrote a song about their romance.
The pair has since settled in Houston, their love story immortalized by Come From Away’s creators.
That’s how this show works: No heroes or villains, just everyday people being kind to one another. Audiences everywhere have loved these stories. Citing current social media and news filled with divisiveness and anger, Hein says, “It’s never bad to tell a story about human kindness but particularly right now (it’s needed).”
Of the people featured in the musical, Nick and Diane Marson’s intersection is one of the sweetest tales about the people who “came from away.”
Come From Away, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati, will be onstage at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, Sept. 17-29. Tickets/more info: cincinnatiarts.org.
This article appears in Aug 14-21, 2019.