Come from Away takes flight at the Orpheum Theatre [Video]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – The award-winning musical “Come from Away” tells the true story of what happened when 38 jetliners carrying more than 7,000 passengers were forced to land in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, in the aftermath of 9/11.

Former American Airlines Captain Beverly Bass was flying one of those planes.

”We were flying from Paris to Dallas on 9/11. We were over the middle of the North Atlantic when the attacks happened. And we really only learned about it from an airplane that was in front of us, because when you’re over international waters, you’re not talking to air traffic control,” Bass recalled.

Bass landed her plane in Gander, where over the next five days, townspeople put their own lives on pause to care for thousands of American travelers stranded far from home.

”It gave me such an appreciation of a small community like Gander; they had a population of 9,400 people. And we …