2022 Christmas Show: Come From Away

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Kim

On Saturday, December 17th, I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket on a full bus going to the Historic Shea’s Buffalo Theater to see “Come From Away” with the Busy Buddies group. WOW — I was speechless when the show ended. It was a wonderful production and included a delicious dinner and time spent with special friends. What more could I have asked for?

We left Albion on the bus at about noon headed to Shea’s for the matinee performance. It was a snowy day in Buffalo – not as bad downtown where we were, but much of Buffalo was getting hit pretty hard.

This was our bus parked outside Shea’s and the line of people going in to see the show.

Shea’s Performing Arts Center started out in 1926 as a movie theater built by Michael Shea. Today, the campus is comprised of three theaters in the Buffalo Theatre District. It is a beautiful, historic theater with ornate décor and amazing ambience.

“Come From Away” is a Canadian musical production based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on (and in most cases share the names of) actual Gander residents and stranded travelers they housed and fed. The musical has been received by audiences and critics as a cathartic reminder of the capacity for human kindness in even the darkest of times and the triumph of humanity over hate. This is the stage setting used during the entire show.

The show was wonderful…..extremely emotional, but also filled with fun humor to lighten the mood of a very tragic and sad time in our country’s history. It was so well done…..just incredible! I highly recommend everyone see it if the opportunity arises.

After the theater, we went to Sean Patrick’s restaurant in nearby Amherst for dinner. The meal was delicious and the restaurant was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

We had a choice between steak and chicken. The meal also included a cup of Italian Wedding soup and a salad to start and vanilla ice cream with chocolate and crème de menthe drizzle for dessert. So good!!!