The King's Scepter

No visit to Memphis is complete without going to Sun Studios, where many of the greats recorded their music. I got to stand on the spot where Elvis stood and get a picture holding his microphone. It was amazing! His guitar is also on display in another room. As in Texas, it also helps if you have chosen family in Tennessee. (As of a couple years ago, I even have biological family in Tennessee!)

The King's Scepter
Acrylic, Stencil, Sharpie and Marker on Canvas
2012

For my third painting in my class, I chose Elvis' guitar. The designs in the leather on it fascinated me, in addition to the giraffe print on his guitar case.

The painting was modeled after this picture that I took in December 2009 at Sun Studios:

Some random guy who has lost weight
since this picture was taken
with Elvis' mic, December 2009
That is, the picture is said guy with the mic.
The picture was not taken with a mic.
Thought I'd clarify.

Days of Yore: Listening to Music

I know what you're probably thinking. "Wait a minute... Didn't you already cover listening to music here?" Well, yes and no. In my "Audio Recordings" post, I covered ways of listening to music and other audio recordings in the home and in your car. That included records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and MP3 players such as iPod and Zune. I also mentioned the radio. But those are not the only ways out there of listening to music over the years.

Jukebox
LMPark Photos on Adobe Stock

Many Broadway fans are familiar with the concept of jukebox musicals. These are musicals using songs that were not written for the musical. Someone decided to use existing songs and build a story around them. There are several kinds of jukebox musicals. Some, such as Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys and others, feature the music of a specific artist or group (ABBA and Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, respectively, in these two examples). The playwrights of Mamma Mia! came up with a fictional story based on the songs of ABBA. Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons and incorporates their songs. Many jukebox musicals follow one of these two patterns. Others, such as Moulin Rouge, gather songs from a wide variety of artists. The original musical, The Black Crook, even gathered a lot of its material from existing songs from multiple sources, and also new ones.

But I wonder how many people in the younger generations, who may have varying opinions on the existence of jukebox musicals, know what a jukebox is? The picture above is a jukebox. They were common in the previous century in restaurants, dance halls, and anywhere that you wanted to have a good time. Each jukebox had a set of songs which you could see through the glass at the top and scroll through. You could select the song, put your coin(s) in the slot, and start it up. Voilà! Your song played for everyone around to enjoy! Some restaurants had smaller jukeboxes on each table. Though they aren't nearly as common now, I have seen them on occasion in '50s-style diners.

Over the years, there have been a variety of ways of playing music for a crowd. There's live music played by artists on a stage. There is recorded music curated by DJs (disc jockeys), who have used various kinds of equipment, often using vinyl records or more electronic types. Milli Vanilli got in trouble for pretending to do live music while in fact playing songs that were previously recorded by someone else. Karaoke has used records, CDs and other forms to play the accompaniment track (just the music without the singing) for someone who may or may not have a talent for singing to stand on stage and sing their hearts out, following along with the words on the screen. We also used accompaniment tracks for other purposes, such as special numbers in church. I performed songs in church and choir class in high school using both cassettes and CDs. In the Philippines, they called them Minus Ones. In my interview for a design internship a few years ago, I used the accompaniment track to parody "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll & Hyde and showcase my design skill set. I downloaded the track from Amazon and saved it on a thumb drive so I could play it on the classroom computer. (Disclaimer: I did not warm up ahead of time, and I could have used more rehearsal, but hey, I got the internship! If I ever perform this again for Broadway, I promise to rehearse more and warm up ahead of time.)

I did the same in a class presentation around that time period to parody "Bui Doi" from Miss Saigon, regarding my dream of becoming a graphic designer. (Note: While Jekyll & Hyde and Miss Saigon are musicals, they are not the jukebox variety.) In that same class, I did another presentation using the same way of playing, but in a silent movie format to showcase how I had overhauled my website. I was The Great Steverino, a celebrated magician of yesteryear who could magically transform websites. No sound came out of my mouth, but I mouthed the words, and they appeared on the screen. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor played on the organ in the background. (Sadly, that was not videoed.)

In a previous blog, I mentioned various ways we have played music over the years. Record players, 8-track players, tape recorders, CD players, Walkman, Discman. Over the years, various websites have offered options for playing music. Napster, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes and others. SiriusXM offers streaming radio that you can listen to in your car or just about anywhere.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I listen to most of my music on my cell phone and the computer these days. I mentioned as much in my post about Audio Recordings.

Poema

I wrote this poem May 23, 2000 for my Spanish class in college. It's the only poem I've written in Spanish. The assignment was inspired by Jorge Luis Borges' poem Instantes. (I highly recommend reading his poem. It's deep and thought-provoking. The link takes you to his poem in English and Spanish.) Like Borges, we were to start our poem "Si pudiera vivir nuevamente mi vida, / en la próxima..." (If I could live my life anew, / in the next...) and then personalize it. It was an exercise in the conditional tense. (I majored in French in college. One of the requirements of the major was to study a year of another European language. I decided Spanish would be the most useful.)

I also translated my poem into English so people who don't speak Spanish can read it.

Image from: Kraken images

Si pudiera vivir nuevamente mi vida,
en la próxima cantaría más.
Desempeñaría en más de comedias musicales.
Aprendería muchas lenguas y hablaría a todo el mundo en su lengua nativa.
Cantaría también en estas lenguas.
Pero más importantemente, cantaría y alabaría más a Dios.
Usaría mi voz más para glorificar el Señor Jesucristo.
Con todas las lenguas que conocería, proclamaría el evangelio a todo el mundo.
Tendría más confianza para proclamar Dios al mundo.
Cuando pecaría, me arrepentiría inmediatemente.
Sería más contento porque glorificaría más a Dios.

Translation:

If I could life my life anew,
in the next, I would sing more
I would act in more musicals.
I would learn many languages and I would talk to everyone in their native language.
I would also sing in these languages.
But more importantly, I would sing and praise God more.
I would use my voice more to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
With all the languages I would know, I would proclaim the Gospel to everyone.
I would have more confidence to proclaim God to the world.
When I would sin, I would repent immediately.
I would be happier because I would glorify God more.

Days of Yore: Audio Recordings

Girl you know it's —
Girl you know it's —
Girl you know it's —

That was the beginning of the end for the popular band Milli Vanilli. As it would turn out, contrary to their claim in the song, it was NOT true. (I trust you read that last sentence in Morgan Freeman's voice.) We did not see the MTV broadcast where a hard drive issue caused the track to skip and repeat in the middle of the title phrase of the song "Girl You Know It's True," but it was big news in the Philippines, where we lived at the time. A technical glitch from a computer in 1989 exposed for the first time that the band was not singing, but was in fact lip syncing (though some had suspected it previous to that). As Rob Pilatus of the duo later remembered, it caused him to panic and he ran off the stage. He had to be coaxed into completing the concert. The irony of that happening on a song about how "you know it's true" is very interesting.

Though that example was due to a hard drive, the same thing happened with vinyl records sometimes when we would play them at home. The black vinyl disc would be playing the song "My Grandfather's Clock" until suddenly... "Ninety years without slumbering, tick tock — Ninety years without slumbering, tick tock — Ninety years without slumbering, tick tock — Ninety years without slumbering, tick tock —" That was when we knew we had to go move the needle because it was skipping due to a broken record. Records have been making a bit of a comeback in recent years, but they have not been nearly as popular as they were when I was young. When they were not skipping, they were great. They were double-sided, so once you reached the end of one side, you had to turn it over to listen to the rest.

Then there was the 8-track. It was a large rectangular cassette with a notch in the corner. We had an 8-track player in our car, and we would play music on long road trips. Ford began putting 8-track players in their cars in 1965, and music has been a regular feature in cars ever since.

8-track, cassette, record
Photo by Wynter, Adobe Stock

Once the 8-track started decreasing in popularity, the smaller cassette tape became more popular. Like records, they were double-sided and you had to flip them when one side ended to listen to the rest. Like 8-tracks, they had a long film on rollers inside the cassette. Sometimes the film would get tangled up in the tape recorder, and we had to untangle it and then roll it back into the cassette, using either our fingers or a pen or a pencil. Radios with tape recorders were also very handy for recording songs and other things on the radio so we could listen to them later. In the Philippines, they played "Good Morning" from the musicals Babes in Arms and Singin' in the Rain every morning at the same time, like clockwork. (I tried just now to find the specific arrangement they played, and didn't find it.) It always made us happy, so we recorded it. We recorded a bunch of the songs that they liked to play on the radio, such as "Put On a Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie, "Make Someone Happy" as sung by Jimmy Durante, and others. We could also record ourselves, speaking or singing into a microphone or into the tape recorder. After our car with the 8-track player, subsequent cars had cassette players. If you didn't play a cassette all the way through on both sides, it was necessary to rewind.

There were several different kinds of players to play cassettes. They were much more mobile than previous kinds of recordings. Boomboxes often had tape recorders. There were simple tape recorders that only played (and recorded) cassettes. Many radios accommodated them, as did cars. They even made Walkmen, which were small tape recorders you could carry with you and connect headphones. Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy has one. The Walkman was very handy as you could carry it in your pocket (provided your pocket was big enough), and some had a clip so you could clip it to your belt.

Record, cassette, 8-track, CD, not to scale
(Note: They did not typically have smiley faces) 😀
Drawing by Steven Sauke, June 2022

In the 90s, we were introduced to a new kind of recording: the CD (compact disc). It looked a bit like a record, but was smaller and fit in a slot rather than setting it on the player like a record, though some CD players do allow you to place it on there, similar to a record, but then it retracts into the player to play the music. Also where the typical record is black (though they did come in other colors occasionally), the typical CD is silver and shiny. They are still relatively common today, though not nearly as common as they were in the 90s and early 2000s. Recent cars have had CD players rather than cassette players. 

Everything that could play a cassette eventually adapted to be able to play CDs. The Walkman turned into the Discman. The Discman was similarly handy, though harder to fit in my pocket because CDs are bigger in diameter than the cassette, albeit much thinner. Recording things on CDs was more complicated than doing it on cassettes, however.

As the early 2000s moved on, the iPod and Zune (and other brands of MP3 players) came out. iPod lasted longer than Zune, but they were pretty cool. I had a Zune for a while. Much smaller than your average Walkman, they had the music stored in them in MP3 format, which you could upload to it. They similarly had headphones attached.

These days, I hardly use any of those any more. I have music on my cell phone and computer, and can easily download it from Amazon and elsewhere and play it on any of my devices (computer, cell phone, Kindle). I have SiriusXM (and a CD player) in my car. Recordings have come a long way over the years.

Come from Away: Stories and lessons from those who lived it

The news came as a shock. That morning I was emerging from my room when my mom met me in the hallway. “Steven!” she said. I could hear in her voice that something serious had happened. I wondered if I was in trouble for some reason. Her voice trembling, she said, “A plane crashed into the World Trade Center!”

I didn’t know what to think, and it didn’t sink in immediately. Surely it must have been an accident. But what a catastrophic accident! We rushed into the living room and watched as they showed the horrifying footage on the news. It was starting to sink in. Someone in a building near the WTC called in to the news and told the anchors that a plane had deliberately flown into the Tower. Deliberately? Who would do such a thing? It occurred to me that this was the “JFK” event of my generation. My parents remember where they were when they learned of his assassination. I looked at my watch to take note of the date. September 11, 2001. I needn’t have bothered.

As we watched in horror, a second plane slammed into the other tower, causing a massive fireball. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Two planes crashing into two of the tallest buildings in New York within a few minutes of each other doesn’t just happen by accident. By this time it was getting time for me to start preparing for my work day, as Seattle is 3 hours behind New York due to time zones. I took a small radio into the bathroom to listen while I prepared and prayed desperately. The radio announcer related that a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon. We later learned that a fourth plane crashed in a field near Pittsburgh, as the passengers tackled the hijackers.

American Airlines Flight, over the North Atlantic

Meanwhile, an American Airlines plane was flying westbound over the Atlantic Ocean, en route from Paris to Dallas. Captain Beverley Bass got word on their air to air radio frequency that the towers had been hit, and New York airspace was closed. The airspace for the entire country was closed soon after. They knew then that they would need to divert to Canada, initially considering Toronto or Montreal. They then got word that a remote area would be wiser, so they were ordered to land in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland.

Air France, over the North Atlantic

The plane bound from Paris to Newark suddenly dropped in elevation, and passenger Kevin Tuerff, accustomed to flying, looked up at the GPS map on the ceiling of their jumbo jet. He wondered why they were suddenly flying due north rather than due west. Were they flying to the North Pole?

Continental Airlines, over the Atlantic

The flight was bound from Gatwick, England to Houston, Texas. Diane was returning home from visiting her son Mike and his family, stationed in the US Air Force in the UK. On the same flight was an oil industry professional named Nick, whose business took him to Houston. Neither of them knew that tragedy would bring together two strangers from opposite sides of the ocean.

Gander, Newfoundland

Gander Academy French immersion teacher Diane Davis heard of the attacks that morning. She went home for lunch and watched live as the towers fell. She would return to school to teach that afternoon. Her colleagues asked her to help mobilize help, possibly preparing food, and she readily volunteered as a point person for staff. With a staff phone list in hand, she registered with the town of Gander, telling them she had about 50 names and could probably count on half of them helping out. They moved desks and set up computers in the front at three schools, starting with the local high school. By the time they got to Gander Academy, they had about 100 volunteers setting up. After being up for 72 hours straight, she was ordered home to rest. She slept three hours and went back to work. By that time they had 770 people who needed help.

As the people of Gander prepared, so did the nearby towns of Appleton, Glenwood, Lewisporte, Norris Arm and Gambo. Six towns got ready to welcome thousands of people diverted to Newfoundland. Janice Young, a nurse from Lewisporte, worked 12-hour shifts to help people in need. Members of the local media, including Janice Goudie and Brian Mosher, would work tirelessly over the next few days, splitting their time between reporting the news and bringing aid to those who needed it.

“The world changed today, for the worse. Our flight from Paris to New York missed an international terrorist disaster in New York and Washington, DC. (Hijacked planes crashed into WTC & Pentagon.) We’ve been sitting on our plane now for 12 hours (7 now on the ground). All we can do is wait patiently for news about the tragedy, for a place to try to talk to our families. We’ve been told we may have to sleep here overnight (on board). We are fortunate to be alive. Many on the plane cried when we heard the news. Everyone is shell-shocked. No one can imagine what is next regarding our national security. Who can we trust now? Will this heinous crime start a war? All we can do is pray. P.S. Just learned we will soon depart plane and perhaps spend night in school here. At least 30 planes here waiting with stranded passengers aboard.”

So wrote Kevin Tuerff on his in-flight menu, on September 11, 2001. He was travelling with his partner Kevin Jung. Very few people had working phones on the plane, though Tuerff was able to attempt making calls from a first-class seat that a first-class passenger graciously allowed him to use. He didn’t get through because most people in the US were calling each other to make sure everyone was all right. He finally got through to a friend in Amsterdam, who was able to fill him in on what he had heard on the news. He then went back to their seat and told everyone what he had found out. Between trying to call out, watching Shrek twice, and dealing with an upset passenger behind them (Kevin Jung offered her some medication for her nerves, which she declined), they passed the long hours. Their plane was on the tarmac for 15 hours before they were finally allowed to deplane, one of the first of the 38 planes, containing a combined total of 6,579 passengers. They had to leave their checked luggage on the plane, so they were only allowed their carryon items. So Kevin and Kevin had only their bags containing cameras, passports and two bottles of Grey Goose vodka that Kevin Jung had managed to procure in Paris.

In his book Channel of Peace: Stranded in Gander on 9/11, Kevin Tuerff relates what happened when they left the plane. Security at the airport was tight. Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were stationed at the airport. (As another character in the musical comments, “There were soldiers everywhere.”) They went through immigration and customs, and Kevin says, “And that’s when the first wave of unconditional love hit us: the terminal was filled with volunteers greeting us as we registered. It was like we had walked into a party!” The people of Gander had stepped up and provided help and food for their thousands of guests. People had homemade baked food, chicken from KFC, and everything in between. Kevin managed to find a pay phone and call his parents, but had to go, as his ride was there. He watched people at the airport put “Out of Order” signs on the phones so they could get people to the places they were to stay.

Captain Bass’s plane deplaned early the morning of September 12, having been on the plane for 28 hours. She tells me that they “walked into the terminal building in Gander. I was shocked to see all of the food that had been prepared for the nearly 7k passengers and crew members. It was evident the folks of Gander and the surrounding communities had stayed up all night preparing and cooking for all of us. It was so heartwarming. During our 5 days there nearly 285,000 meals were served to the come from aways…as they call folks who are not from Newfoundland.”

The come from aways were housed all over Gander and the surrounding communities. Beverley Bass and her crew stayed at Gander’s Comfort Inn. She mainly stayed put at the inn, as she did not have a cell phone at the time and she needed to know right away if they were ready to leave. Kevin and Kevin were among a large group housed at the College of the North Atlantic. A Ganderite teenager gave them an air mattress, and it deflated the first night. The Society of United Fishermen Hall in nearby Gambo welcomed Nick, Diane, and the other passengers from their plane. Janice Young of Lewisporte hosted a couple British women in her home and helped out at a local church. Gander resident Beulah Cooper aided passengers from an Irish Aer Lingus flight, and filled four rooms in her house with passengers. The people of Newfoundland welcomed strangers into their schools, churches, businesses and homes with open arms. As Mayor Claude Elliott points out in his foreword to Kevin Tuerff’s Channel of Peace, they came from over three dozen countries. (Kevin tells me there were people from more than 90 countries.)

Among the passengers on the Aer Lingus flight was a couple named Dennis and Hannah O’Rourke, returning to New York from visiting Ireland. Beulah Cooper helped them as they desperately attempted to contact their son Kevin, a firefighter back home in New York. She developed a friendship with Hannah, which would be invaluable later when the O’Rourkes arrived back in New York and found that their son didn’t make it. His name is inscribed on the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero:

Photo by Steven Sauke

Diane Davis tells me, “As one of hundreds who helped at the school, I fell into an organizational role. I helped with general information in the office of the school for passengers. Like others, I helped passengers make international phone calls, I did announcements and took notes for captain Burgess when he met his flight. I organized bulletin boards for communication for each flight and helped to answer questions. Other teachers organized food and clothing. Some planned games and activities for children. Some took people home for showers, to sleep, or for laundry. We did not do things that were out of our skill set or extraordinary. We did the same thing we would do for anyone needing help. What is remarkable is how many need help and how many came to give it in the most basic of ways. Food, clothing, a drive somewhere, use of a phone.”

Kevin Tuerff relates that wherever they went in Gander, strangers stopped and offered to drive them to their destination. Others had similar experiences.

Stop the World!

On September 13, as Nick and Diane had been getting acquainted, they decided to take a gander (pun intended) at the nearby Dover Fault. Nick brought his camera, which he pulled out at the lookout. Diane suggested getting out of the way so he could photograph the beautiful scenery, but she didn’t realize that he was more interested in her than the scenery. With a single photograph, he “stopped the world” and preserved a memory that would be a turning point in their lives:

Photo by Nick Marson. Used with permission.

They would return a year later on their honeymoon, and again in 2017 when the town of Dover updated the plaque at the lookout with their story:

Photos by Nick and Diane Marson. Used with permission.

“What Was That Ungodly Screech?!”

During that time, some of the come from aways were “screeched in.” Kevin Tuerff would not have this privilege until 2011 at the 10-year celebration, and his (now former) partner would be screeched in later. The musical explained some of the background behind the Screech in ceremony, but I was still curious about it and asked Diane Davis. She tells me, “The Screech In had many variations. A Google search will get you some info but the Screech is a rum based drink that harkens back to when our salt fish was shipped to Jamaica and the ships came back with rum and molasses. It’s a bit of fun and when well done, it’s a good laugh. Kissing the cod is perhaps similar to the effort it takes to kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland. You really need to want it bad to do it. I love the Screech in song. Another sing of the musical genius of Sankoff and Hein. Folks will be thinking it’s a traditional song.”

Departure, Tributes and Reflection

After five days in Newfoundland, the planes were finally allowed to leave. Kevin’s Air France flight returned to France, and they found themselves stranded once again, this time in Paris. At the airport, they witnessed a deeply moving show of support there and on the TVs as Europe came to a standstill, cars stopping on the road and people getting out of their cars to observe a moment of silence for the people of America. Europeans stopped what they were doing and stood at attention as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played.

For Diane Davis, “The most moving experience for me was helping to count money from a donation box to put it in the school safe. We were exhausted and my vice principal and I began to cry. There were so many denominations from 4 aircraft that we had to sort it by colour first to try to recognize currencies. There were 2 personal cheques for 1000 made to Gander Academy. When I see the scene of the collection on the aircraft and the passenger writes a cheque, I cry. We were overwhelmed with the gratitude of passengers. I still am by the hugs from strangers.”

A grateful American businesswoman welcomed by the town of Lewisporte took up a collection to fund scholarships for students there. It lasted for years, and both of Janice Young’s daughters benefitted from it.

Come from Away

Years later, the 10-year celebration and the musical Come from Away would serve to bring many people together. Mayor Claude Elliott met Kevin Tuerff at the celebration. Beulah Cooper and Diane Davis met when they learned that they had been combined into a single character named Beulah Davis. (They laughed about having never met before that.) The musical combined reporters Janice Goudie of the Gander Beacon newspaper and Brian Mosher of Rogers Cable into one person named Janice Mosher.

Kevin Tuerff finds the song “Prayer” from the musical particularly moving. He tells me that the “Most moving part of Come From Away for me is the song “Prayer” based in part on the Christian hymn “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.”  I’d always loved that hymn. It had played in my head for days after 9/11, and was sometimes the only consolation when I would see the continuous loop of TV footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. Its lyrics were on my heart when I attended Mass at Notre Dame in Paris on September 16th, 2001. The first time I heard it, I immediately started crying. I never remembered telling the writers about this, Air France lied to us, saying we would leave Gander for New York, but instead they flew us back to Paris. We should’ve just stayed with the kind people in Gander!”

I must say I concur. The first time I heard that song, I was in tears. I love the combined Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu prayers, in addition to multiple languages in one song, all praying for the same thing: peace (shalom in Hebrew, shaantih in Sanskrit) and praise to God (Allah in Arabic).

Response

Kevin founded an environmental marketing firm called EnviroMedia in 1997, and after his experiences in Gander, he started a new initiative called Pay It Forward 9/11. You can learn more about it at Pay it Forward 9/11. Basically, as described in the musical, every year on 9/11, he distributes $100 to groups of his employees and sends them out to do random good deeds for strangers. In this way he hopes to remember the horrific acts of 9/11 and the incredible selfless outpouring of love he was shown by strangers in Gander. He describes some of the deeds his employees have done, and they are truly moving. In this way he hopes to combat xenophobia, Islamophobia, homophobia and racism and replace them with compassion. He calls it a “jump start to the heart.” I highly recommend ordering his book Channel of Peace: Stranded in Gander on 9/11 on Amazon. I now own it in audiobook form (read by the author), as well as Kindle and the physical book. In addition to his story in Gander, and that of many of the others mentioned in the musical, he includes practical tips about how you can do good deeds for strangers. (You can also view the tips on the website for free.) It doesn’t have to be expensive, but he has seen lives changed for the better by some of the simple acts performed.

Similarly, since her retirement from teaching, Diane Davis has been instrumental in helping displaced Syrian refugees in Gander. Kevin Tuerff recently moved to New York so he can help his church to welcome immigrants and refugees there. Beverley Bass enjoys picking up the tab for first responders and others at restaurants. She paid airfare for the family of a member of Come from Away’s band when their homes in Dominica were destroyed in Hurricane Maria. Last summer she took her family to Newfoundland and personally thanked every mayor of every town that helped out.

Accuracy and Repeat Viewings

One thing I asked everyone I interviewed was how accurate their characters were represented in the musical Come from Away. The consensus was that they were very accurate. As mentioned above, some characters were combinations of two people. Kevin Tuerff told me that “The Kevins” actually lived in Austin, Texas rather than Los Angeles. Sankoff and Hein made this change so that they wouldn’t have “too many Texans” in the musical. (He also mentions in his book that they did not go to the Legion for a drink while stranded in Gander, and they were not Screeched In until years later.) Nick and Diane Marson pointed out that they made some minor changes to put everyone in one airplane and one shelter. Beverley Bass is deeply impressed with the way she is portrayed. She tells me that Jenn Colella is an ideal actress to play her. “First of all, she is adorable and has the most amazing voice. She belts out "Me and The Sky" which is my aviation life compacted into a 4:19 second solo, the only solo in the show. Her body language and everything is just the way that I am. We both have similar hair cuts and she used to have blonde hair like me, but has decided to let it go natural and is no longer blonde.” Diane Davis tells me that she personally observed most of what happened in the musical, and it brings back the memories of those events actually happening.

Another thing I asked everyone was how many times they have seen the musical. I believe Beverley Bass holds the record at 106 times as of the time she responded to my questions. Diane Davis hasn’t counted, but she believes it has been at least a dozen times, in Gander, Toronto, New York City and Winnipeg. It makes her cry every time. Kevin Tuerff recently attended his 26^th performance over the course of five years, with his nephew and an African friend who was recently granted asylum in the US. Nick and Diane Marson are at second place among the people I interviewed, at 75 times in six cities and two countries. They tell me it is rewarding to show people who are older and yet have not found their “special someone” that there is still hope. Nick and Diane were “both into middle age, not 20 somethings” when they met. They also feel it is like renewing their vows every time they see it.

Relating to Come from Away

One thing I love about Come from Away is how much I can identify with it. I grew up in the Philippines, but I currently live in the Seattle area. I have also lived in Hong Kong and Montana. Having lived on opposite sides of the Pacific, I often feel like a come from away wherever I go. (“Where are you from?” is a complicated question for me.) In addition, I distinctly remember the events of 9/11. I remember the uncertainty of what would happen. That horrible morning, the hits kept coming. A plane hit one tower. A plane hit the other tower. A plane hit the Pentagon. A plane likely bound for the White House crashed in a field near Pittsburgh. Where would the next plane hit? After I got to work in a Seattle highrise that morning, I wondered if it would hit our building. Would a plane crash into the Space Needle? Our employer gave us the option of going home just in case. I decided that, worst case scenario, a plane would hit our building, and I would be killed and go to heaven. Heaven didn’t sound so bad.

With that in mind, I also asked everyone if there was a way they could relate to the musical.

Diane Davis shared that “9/11 was the hardest I worked ever to do something good, to volunteer, to be a contributing citizen. I am also on Gander Refugee Outreach Committee now and the time and energy involved in welcoming 4 Syrian families to Gander has renewed and polished all those citizen skills. Part of teaching our families was telling them the story of 9/11 and again, David and Irene selected stories that emphasize inclusion, compassion, empathy and community. For me though, the memory that always strikes me is the passengers seeing it on TV for the first time and when I see it on stage I cry. It’s the sense of helplessness, no matter how willing we were, that there was nothing we could do to make this not true or better.”

Nick and Diane Marson tell me, “As we travel to other cities where the show opens, and meet so many new people, we feel like we still are come from aways.   One of our favorite aspects of the show is meeting new people and sharing stories with them.”

Kevin Tuerff says, “As a gay Catholic, I know what it’s like to be marginalized. When I see the scene when the Muslim man (Ali) is scared because of how others are treating him simply because of his religion, it makes me sad. No doubt there was tremendous anxiety about who was a terrorist because the ones who hijacked the planes came from Muslim countries. But they were extremists who disobeyed their own religion. Virtually every religion in the world have one common teaching: The Golden Rule­–Treat others as you want to be treated. I hope as Come from Away goes on tour around the world, people are reminded of this, and take their experience in the theater and incorporate it into their daily lives.”

Tips for Visiting Newfoundland

Another question I asked everyone was where they would recommend going when visiting Newfoundland.

In addition to Gander, Beverley Bass recommends visiting Gambo and Lewisporte, as well as the other “adorable little towns” in the area. As far as restaurants in Gander, she recommends Bistro on the Roe, Rosie’s, and The Gander Bread Box Bakery & Café.. “Everyone is so incredibly nice that you really never want to leave.”

Diane Davis says, “There is a Beyond Words bus tour that will take visitors to the various sites around Gander and does a great job of telling Gander’s 9/11 and aviation history. I like to make sure people see Gander Heritage Memorial Park and read some of the letters at the town hall in Gander. I also recommend the Peace Park in Appleton and visiting all the town halls in the communities where passengers were housed. Gander, Appleton, Glenwood, Lewisporte, Norris Arm and Gambo. Everyone should visit the Dover Fault and sing “Stop the World” too.”

Kevin Tuerff says, “The best place to start a tour of Gander is at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. They offer a seasons tour of the Gander International airport and several scenes in Come from Away called Beyond Words. I recently took a self-driving tour of other beautiful towns across Newfoundland from Maxxim Vacations, called the Come From Away Experience. The island has absolutely stunning beauty and remarkably kind people.”

Nick and Diane Marson have a rather unsurprising yet exciting suggestion: “Do we ever! Of course we like to see our Newfie families, but ….   Our visit to Dover Fault on Sept. 13th, 2001 highlighted the budding feelings between us…Nick wanted a photo of Diane not the beautiful scenery so that meant he was as interested in me as I was in him...  It is the “Stop the world” moment in our lives and is portrayed as such in the Play.”

Go See Come from Away!

[As of July 2018,] Come from Away is currently playing on Broadway and Toronto. The musical is kicking off its national tour in Seattle in October. (I can’t wait!) The tour is currently slated for Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Costa Mesa, Las Vegas, Portland (Oregon), Vancouver (British Columbia), Edmonton, Calgary, Omaha, Appleton (Wisconsin), Pittsburgh, Greenville, Baltimore, Hartford, Milwaukee, St. Louis, New Orleans, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago and Ottawa. The show opens in Melbourne, Australia in July 2019. Tickets are now on sale for the Dublin production, and it runs in London starting January 20, 2019. Tickets are now on sale there as well.

The show lasts 100 minutes, and there is no intermission. It is recommended for ages 10 and up.

You can get more information on the musical’s website, www.comefromaway.com. I also highly recommend visiting www.payitforward911.org for ways you can help spread the kindness that the people of Newfoundland showed to strangers. 

Dad

"Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental, seem for you the wrong companions. You were warm and gentle."

I'm "working through the unimaginable," to quote Hamilton.

When I was a kid living in the Philippines, my brother Tim introduced me to Broadway musicals. I particularly remember us listening to The Phantom of the Opera on repeat. Sometimes we had to take the cassettes out of the tape recorder and wind the film back into the cassette because it got tangled in the tape recorder. They played "Good Morning" from Singin' in the Rain every morning on the radio, and we taped it, along with other songs like "Put on a Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie. We listened to Broadway and Christian music all the time. (My mom got tired of the screams in Phantom of the Opera.)

Through it all, my dad, an avid sports fan, who once dreamed of raising a softball team, encouraged his two sons in our love of music. Neither of us were particularly into sports as he had hoped, but he didn't press us to do something we wouldn't like. (Though we have enjoyed attending baseball games together, and Tim and I have attended a lot of rugby games since the Seattle Seawolves started a couple years ago.) My dad paid attention to our interests and encouraged them. He enjoyed Phantom and other musicals with us. We watched the classic movie musicals as a family. I lost count of how many times we watched The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, and others. Someone gave us the animated musical of Gulliver's Travels ("Aaaalll's well! It's a hap-hap-happy day!") and we watched that video many times. So many happy memories. 

Every play, musical and concert in school, my dad was there rooting us on. Tim played Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore in high school. I would later be in a Disney revue and Oklahoma! when I was in high school. In college, Tim was in a community theatre production of Carousel, and I would later be in South Pacific in a different community theatre group. We both were in Oliver! Tim was in a lot more community theatre shows than I was. I was also in several plays, such as Arsenic & Old Lace, The Curious Savage, You Can't Take it with You, and others. My dad cheered us on and constantly encouraged us. My parents enthusiastically joined our church choir when my brother joined, and when Tim later started directing it. I also participated.

My dad and I also enjoyed watching adventure movies together, such as Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Master and Commander, Star Wars, and others. We enjoyed discussing them.

For Tim's 30th birthday, my parents treated us to a nearly-lifelong dream of watching The Phantom of the Opera in its national tour when it came through Seattle. Years later, on my 40th birthday, they told me I could name the musical and we would go. It took nearly a year for the right musical to come through Seattle, but we went to Come from Away as a family. We couldn't know it would be the last show we would see together as a family of four.

Last month, my dad was watching football when he had a stroke. We called 911, and he was rushed to the hospital, then transferred to another one a little further away. A week and a half ago, he was put on comfort care, and we rushed to the hospital, where Tim and I both got to talk to him individually and thank him for being a truly amazing father. The next morning, he was gone. We got the call in the middle of the night and rushed back to the hospital. He had been gone nearly an hour when we arrived.

It seems unreal. Just a month ago, he was relatively healthy. Now, he's gone. It's hard to take in. The past week and a half we have been involved in arrangements and so much other stuff involved in losing him. While I'm currently doing better than I would have expected, the grief has been up and down. I'm sure it will intensify as the burial makes it more real.

My mom commented he will have a better Christmas than we will. I rest in the assurance that he is in a better place, with no more pain, completely healed. That is a big help. But I find myself "wishing [he] were somehow here again." I regularly think of a question to ask him or want to share something with him that he would enjoy, only to realize that can't happen. As of a couple weeks ago, he was the only person I had bought Christmas presents for so far.

I remember the amazing man he was, and I think of how much I took for granted when he was with us. So many times I have heard people who have lost a loved one beg their friends to treasure their loved ones while they are here. That never really sank in for me until the past few weeks. I've always appreciated him, but I do now more than ever, and I wish I could tell him.

Several songs have resonated with me in ways they haven't in the past. Josh Groban's rendition of "To Where You Are" has helped. "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles. Several hymns, such as "It Is Well" (which was written by a father who had just lost his daughters in a shipwreck). The worship song "We Will Dance". My friend Clay Crosse's rendition of "Time to Believe". "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera. "Bring Him Home" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Mis (another cast recording my brother and I played over and over in the 80s and 90s). Multiple songs from Come from Away. "Proud of Your Boy" from Aladdin. "Endless Night" and "He Lives in You" from The Lion King. "All the Wasted Time" from Parade. "It's Quiet Uptown" from Hamilton. "The Honor of Your Name" from The Civil War. Multiple others.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, even not knowing what was going on. You have been a major encouragement to us.

David and Jonathan 2013

For Sunday school, we did a skit this morning. "Jon", a good friend currently in high school, whose mom Lori helps me out, came to play the part of himself in a few years. My friend Aaron, who lives in Texas (which, as you'll see, is an important detail to know), also made an important contribution. "Davey" was one of the kids, who didn't know ahead of time he would be featured in the skit. Aside from the adults, names have been changed. However, we used real names in the skit. 

STEVEN

Good morning, class! As you know, we've had an exciting past couple weeks with our annual music festival and competition. Each of you did a great job on your musical recital, and we're proud to announce that you all made the top ten finalists! Now I need to introduce our special guests. You all know our very own Principal Lori. You may not know that she easily won this same competition several years ago when she was in this class. For many years before that, the world-renowned Amalek Symphonic Orchestra, with its colossal 1000 members, won every year, but that year, her solo act on the tuba blew the judges away. Of course, after winning the contest, she wanted to keep all that orchestra's instruments and marry their director Randy, but our former Principal Samuel had to remind her that wasn't nice.

LORI (embarrassed)

You weren't supposed to mention that part!

STEVEN

Oh, sorry. Anyway, we also have the distinct privilege of having Principal Lori's son Jon O'Saul with us today. As you may know, he has already made a name for himself, playing the drums, trumpet, piano, organ, oboe, bassoon, flute and accordion all over the world. That's not even mentioning his amazing talent at singing. Audiences in Tokyo, Paris, London, New York and elsewhere have been amazed at his outstanding talent. I'm also proud of him because he's one of my former students. He is currently studying for his doctorate in Musical Arts at Juilliard School in New York, and we are privileged to have him as our TA this year as part of his internship.

JON

Thank you. When you put it that way, it sounds all impressive. Honestly, it's just what I love to do. You may have noticed me in the audience as each of you did your recitals, and I've gotta say I'm impressed with your talent. As you know, the 10,000-member orchestra Go Lithe has won the competition every year ever since my mom defeated the Amalek Orchestra. But I'm excited to announce that this year we have a new winner. The judges tell me this is the youngest champion they have ever seen, and they have asked me to give the prize and their congratulations to Davey McJesse!  (applause) Since he performed way beyond anyone's expectations, and by himself he defeated the Go Lithe Orchestra with just a harp, Juilliard has authorized me to give him a scholarship to attend our exclusive school where he will receive top-notch training in music. Not only that, but until he's old enough to attend Juilliard, I will be giving him personal lessons. (more applause)

STEVEN

I think I should point out that Lori has beat out 1000 musicians, but Davey has beat out 10,000 musicians. That is an amazing accomplishment, and we're proud that both of them come from our school.

LORI

Wait, what? That’s no fair! Holding the record was my greatest and proudest accomplishment! There must be some mistake. [She storms off to the side]

SCENE 2

3 days later. Steven and Jon are having a conference.

JON

Davey tells me that my mom is really jealous of his accomplishment. His tutoring sessions are going great, but he seems to be scared that she’ll do something to get revenge because he outdid her. It just doesn’t sound like something she’d do! We decided that he’ll miss lunch tomorrow and hide. Then we’ve arranged a signal. I really don’t think she’d do that, but I trust Davey. I know where he’s hiding, but I won’t tell anyone. He always eats at her table in the cafeteria, so she’s sure to miss him. We’ll see how she reacts. Davey and I will meet afterwards in his hiding spot. I’m so sure that Davey is mistaken about how far she’ll go that I’ve decided that if it turns out he’s right, I’ll find a video of someone in Texas wishing him good luck. That way if my mom is near, she won’t realize it’s a sign. I hope he’s wrong. Not only because I love my mom, but who do I know in Texas?!

Later that day. Cafeteria.

JON

Hi, mom!

LORI

Isn’t this lunch great? The cooks are amazing here. I never get tired of the food. Too bad Davey… Wait a minute, where is Davey?

JON

He said he couldn’t make it. Something about having to practice for his recital next week.

LORI

What?! He can’t do a recital! I won’t let him! I still can’t believe you dare give him private lessons! What kind of son are you? Do you hate me that much, that you help my rival but don’t help me? Get out of here and let me figure out what I’m gonna do about this problem!

Later that day. Classroom.

JON [to Davey]

Well, I found a video.

STEVEN starts video on laptop

AARON (via video)

You’re doing an amazing job! Good luck in your recital next week!

JON and Davey hug

JON

You were right. If you ever need help, you have my phone number. We’ll have to do our private lessons in secret, and I’m afraid we’ll have to secretly reschedule your recital. My mom is too jealous of you for the recital to work as we were planning. I’m afraid she’d do something to interrupt your performance or make you look bad. In fact, it might be a good idea to lie low for a while until my mom has a chance to calm down. You’re a great friend, and I know you’ll go far. In fact, I think you’ll beat even bigger orchestras. Remember how Elvis was called the King? I think you’ll be bigger than Elvis.