Justin Trudeau to Attend Broadway Musical ‘Come From Away’
By MICHAEL PAULSONMARCH 4, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, who has championed the arts and welcomed refugees while in office, said on Saturday he would visit Broadway to see a new musical
that highlights Canadian generosity toward stranded airline passengers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The founder of the project, Michael Rubinoff, said "Come From Away" is only the fifth musical with a Canadian writing team to reach Broadway,
after "Billy Bishop Goes to War" in 1980, "Rockabye Hamlet" in 1976, "The Drowsy Chaperone" in 2006 and "The Story of My Life" in 2009.
Rubinoff said that This is extremely culturally significant, having a Canadian
musical, written by Canadians about Canadians, on Broadway — that’s historic,
"Welcoming refugees, kindness — these are issues he’s been championing since he’s been prime minister,
and those themes speak to him now more than ever, given the international political climate." The show has had multiple pre-Broadway productions — at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, Seattle Repertory Theater, Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Alexandra Theater in Toronto.
The show was nurtured by the Canadian Music Theater Project at Sheridan College near
Toronto, which is trying to cultivate more musical theater by Canadian writers.
He said the musical would probably appeal to Mr. Trudeau both
because of his interest in the arts — he once taught high school drama — and because of his political agenda.
