SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019 | 63

prayers from several religions to 
convey the message of coming 
together. 
“Prayer” is the song that 
holds the most meaning for 
music supervisor, arranger and 
sometimes onstage conductor 
Ian Eisendrath, 
38, who graduated 
from the University 
of Michigan. He 
focused on con-
ducting for choral 
and musical the-
ater repertoire and has specialized 
in new musicals. 
“‘
Prayer’
 is a compilation of 
real prayers that existed in the 
public domain,” says Eisendrath, 
who accepts most of the Jewish 
belief system as impacted by a 
Jewish mother and a father who 
is of Jewish descent.
“The idea is to tell the 
story of how the interaction 
of multiple faith groups in 
Gander learned to reach across 
what might be dividing lines. 
We hear these prayers sung 
simultaneously, a metaphor for 

how these faiths can coexist in 
harmony.”
The songs, he explains, have 
Celtic and folk-rock influences 
that reflect the Canadian area 
where the production is set.
Sankoff and Hein, who met at 
York University in Toronto and 
developed a friendship through 
theater studies before professional 
collaboration, have a very per-
sonal connection to the subject 
they have staged.
“We were living in New York 
on 9-11, and my cousin was in 
one of the towers and fortunately 
got out,” Hein says. “We didn’
t 

want to tell a 9-11 story; we 
wanted to tell a 9-12 story about 
the people we’
d fallen in love 
with in Newfoundland. 
“One of the reasons I think 
it resonates so much with us 
was because on 9-11 we were 
living in a residence for inter-
national graduate students with 
people from 110 countries, and 
we were in a community of 
people from around the world 
taking care of each other. 
“Obviously, we’
re proud of 
the story of Canadians, but 
what we’
re seeing now with five 
companies is that on this day, 

we wanted to come together 
and be good to one another.” 
The couple, nominated for 
Tony and Grammy Awards, is 
excited the story they developed 
is in movie development. With 
film, audiences can watch what 
it looks like for 38 planes to land 
and bring some 7,000 people 
from different countries into a 
town of about 10,000. 
A companion book — Come 
From Away: Welcome to the Rock 
(Hachette Book Group) — is 
coming out Sept. 24 and will 
include the script and songs as 
well as material cut from the 
show. Canadian Prime Minister 
Justin Trudeau wrote the fore-
word.
With all their collaboration 
— in marriage, parenting of 
one daughter and work — 
Sankoff and Hein believe in the 
power of communication to 
resolve differences.
“It’
s open communication as 
much as possible,” she says. “It’
s 
also trying to foresee problems 
before they happen.” 

Ian Eisendrath

WALTER MCBRIDE

Come from Away 
creators Irene Sankoff 
and David Hein

A lively musical 
number from 
Come from Away