March 26, 2025 • 12 mins
We spoke with Palace Theater Actor Andrew Hendrick about the show “Come From Away”
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Andrew Hendrick. He's starring in Come from
Away at the Palace Theater in Waterbury.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, Hey, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
How are you I'm great, Thanks. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm fantastic, excellent.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So this beautiful show is coming to the Palace Theater
in Waterbury called Come from Away. People can see it
on April fourth and fifth. Give me a little bit
of premise about the show.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Absolutely so, the show actually takes place set against the
backdrop of nine to eleven, which at first listened might
sound like a weird concept for musical but really what
it is, it is, you know, a absolutely thrilling and
heartwarming story about what happened on September twelfth and the
(00:49):
days after on nine to eleven, the US airspace was
shut down and I'll you know, hundreds and hundreds of
planes were diverted to other countries and this small town
in Newfoundland, Canada called Gander ended up taking in about
seven thousand stranded passengers. And we're talking about a town
(01:11):
with a population of about eight thousand, so essentially the
stranded passengers doubled the population of this town and The
story is about how the town just dropped everything and
took care of people. You know, relationships were forged, friendships
were made, and people over the course of the five
days being stranded, left you know, feeling better about the
(01:33):
world and worse than you know, I think most people
in the world did at that time. So it's the
heartwarming true story of what happened over those five days
with those stranded passengers in Newfoundland, Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And what is the music like, how does it go
along with the storyline?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's a great question, you know. I think originally the
writers of the show had said that they were trying
to write it as a play, but what they realized
as they started working on it is that music is
just so ingrained in the culture of these people that
it would do a disservice to the story to actually
not make it a musical. So the music is very
much like a Newfoundland Newfoundland sound. You know, we've got
(02:16):
the musicians actually on stage with us, and they play
the show sitting on stage as though they are part
of the story and characters in the story. It's got
that kind of Irish rock to meet like country vibe,
and it's actually just so thrilling to like listen to
every night. The score was one of my favorites even
(02:37):
before I started working on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Really is it very uplifting and inspirational.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Absolutely, I you know, speaking of it as an audience member,
I remember coming out of the theater feeling just a
renewed hope in humanity that you know, there are good
people out there, and there are people who are generous
and kind and giving, and and that's really what you
leave the show feeling that that renewed sense of hope
(03:06):
and optimism in the world. And it's it's it's an
absolutely beautiful story. You will cry, you will laugh. Hopefully
you'll laugh a little bit more than you cry, but
well it's definitely a roller coaster.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And sometimes that's a happy cry too, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh. Absolutely. One of my favorite things toward the end
of the show is just a beautiful moment, uh And
I love looking at the front couple of roads because
you kind of see people laughing but with tears streaming
down their face, and it's just it's kind of one
of those those things where you're like, we got you.
It made you feel all the things absolutely, So you.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Play Claude and other characters tell us about Claude.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Claude Elliott is what was the mayor of Gander, Newfoundland.
So he really spearheaded the town's effort to take care
of people, to coordinate with you know, you know, aid
and assistance that is coming in to help them, because
again they had to feed seven thousand people for five days.
So he really spearheaded the effort. And when I say others,
(04:09):
we actually as cast members, all play multiple roles in
the show. There's twelve cast members on stage and six
stand by cast members as part of our cast, and
everybody plays in the show, you know, upwards of five
different characters. So not only do I play the mayor
of Gander, I also play the mayor of several other
surrounding towns. I play a passenger from Texas who was
(04:34):
stranded in Gander. I play you know, a smattering of
other characters within the town. So we're all on stage
kind of NonStop for the entirety of the show, and
that's kind of part of the beauty of the storytelling
of this show.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So what did you have to do to prepare for
this role?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
A whole lot? It was definitely one of the hardest
shows I've ever learned, because not only are you working
with multiple characters, but all those characters have very interesting
and unique accents. So a big part of you know,
the learning process for this show was actually working with
our dialect coach to learn, you know, kind of the
(05:17):
proper pronunciation of lots of things, especially with the Gander,
Newfoundland accent. And then on top of that, it was
a lot of research about I mean, because again, the
show is a true story and there are you know,
tons of documentaries out there talking about what happened in Ganders,
So a lot of it was you know, preparation in
(05:38):
terms of research, just kind of really diving into what
happened there. And then finally, I would say part of
the probably the coolest part of preparing for this show
was getting to have a zoom phone call with the
person I'm playing and tell me their story directly from
their mouth and to kind of hear their accent and stuff. So,
(06:00):
I mean, I'm honored to have to say that I've
met and spoken with Claude Elliott, who I play, and
he's definitely given me some tips on how to make
sure that I'm portraying him properly on stage. Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
What was that like for you when you came away
from that phone call?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, it was just awesome. Again, I'm coming in.
I'd come into the show several years after it had
already been established in you know, a very popular musical,
so I was coming into the show as a fan,
and so getting to kind of meet the person who
inspired the character was just one of the coolest things ever.
(06:37):
And then as we do the run of the show
and I'm you know, posting pictures of myself on social media,
it's fun to have him be able to comment and say, ah,
you're looking good, but not as good as me. These
folks are are extremely funny, They're extremely generous with their time,
and the crazy part of it all is that, you know,
(06:57):
their stories have become quite famous because of the popularity
have come from away, but they are just the most normal,
run of the mill, every day wonderful people who just
happened to have their story told and have you know,
caught some notoriety for it, which which I think is
really nice.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Do you perform a favorite song or is there a
favorite part of the show that you like best?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Uh? Yeah, The song that I primarily perform is called
screech In, and it's it's one of the more fun
moments of the show. In Gander or in Newfoundland, they
have a screech In ceremony, which basically is a ceremony
by which the people are made honorary Newfoundlanders, and it
consists of drinking a shot of Newfoundland's screech rum, which
(07:47):
is hard to drink. It consists of kind of saying
a mantra and then kissing a fish. And so we
actually we performed that kind of ceremony as a big,
rowdy dance number on stage and I get to kind
of be at the forefront of it. So I would
(08:08):
say that's definitely my favorite moment of the show. I'm
certainly sweating the most running around the stage, but I'm
also having a really great time.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Now, you are born and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut. You're
one of our own, that's right, and you have an
amazing background in theater. Maybe you will like to share
just a little bit of the things you've done, of course.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I've been touring the country with various years agos
for the better part of the last ten years or so,
but I did grow up in Fairfield, Connecticut. I got
my degree from Western Connecticut State University up in Danbury.
And I mean the Palace in Waterbury was kind of
the place that I saw my first touring shows. That's
(08:50):
where we would go and you know, pile five friends
in a car and drive up to Waterbury and get
rush tickets to see whatever tour was playing there. I've
gotten to play the Palace I think three times now.
I was there with Checko and Hyde back about ten
years ago, and most recently I did the Fiddler on
the Roof national tour which stopped by the Palace, And
(09:14):
so I'm excited to bring this one back. And it's
definitely the biggest role, and I would argue probably the
most fun show I've ever taken there. So I'm really
excited to have you know, friends and family and you know,
neighbors and Stutch comes to the show.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
What's it like performing on the Palace stage.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I mean that theater is just so absolutely stunning. It's
I remember thinking like when I first went, you know,
when I was much younger, thinking like, how how crazy
is it that this absolutely gorgeous box of a theater,
like this jewel box is just in the middle of
Waterbury and you kind of unassumingly so if you've never
been inside. So getting to stand on stage and look
(09:55):
out at the audience and kind of look up at
the seats in the very back of the balcony that
I used to buy for student rush prices, to get
to kind of look at those feats from the stage
and see kind of how far I've come, It's just
really thrilling for me. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
What do you hope people take away or take with
them when the show is over.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
I really think the primary thing you walk away from
this show feeling is a renewed sense of hope. You know,
things in our world continue to be crazy as they
have for the past, you know, x amount of years,
and I think a story that is truly just about
human kindness and people doing, you know, a brave thing
(10:36):
in the face of you know, uncertainty is truly one
of those stories we need right now. It is, you know,
an hour and forty minutes of kind of NonStop, awesome
musical theater. It's a one act there's no intermission on
this show. The show starts and then it ends. And
I think that's actually very specific or perpose done because
(11:02):
you know, when the events of the show happened. The
people of Gander didn't get a break, they didn't get
to stop for fifteen minutes and have water and go
to the bathroom. They they, you know, went at full
speed from the time it started till the time it ended.
And I think the original producers and the writers of
the show wanted to kind of emulate that for the audience,
(11:24):
that energy of here's this thing that happened. We're going
to take you through the story and by the end
of it, you're going to be like catching your breast
because it is it is a freight train, but wow,
it's a really cool experience for the audience too.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Sounds amazing. I'm speaking with Andrew Hendrick. He plays Claude
Elliott and other characters. He's going to be at Come
from Away at the Palace Theater in Waterbury April fourth
and fifth. If you'd like to get tickets, go to
PALACETHEATERCT dot org. Andrew Hendrick, break a leg, Bravo to
you
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Thank you so much, lovely being talking to you today.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Andrew Hendrick. He's starring in Come from
Away at the Palace Theater in Waterbury.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, Hey, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
How are you I'm great, Thanks. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm fantastic, excellent.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So this beautiful show is coming to the Palace Theater
in Waterbury called Come from Away. People can see it
on April fourth and fifth. Give me a little bit
of premise about the show.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Absolutely so, the show actually takes place set against the
backdrop of nine to eleven, which at first listened might
sound like a weird concept for musical but really what
it is, it is, you know, a absolutely thrilling and
heartwarming story about what happened on September twelfth and the
(00:49):
days after on nine to eleven, the US airspace was
shut down and I'll you know, hundreds and hundreds of
planes were diverted to other countries and this small town
in Newfoundland, Canada called Gander ended up taking in about
seven thousand stranded passengers. And we're talking about a town
(01:11):
with a population of about eight thousand, so essentially the
stranded passengers doubled the population of this town and The
story is about how the town just dropped everything and
took care of people. You know, relationships were forged, friendships
were made, and people over the course of the five
days being stranded, left you know, feeling better about the
(01:33):
world and worse than you know, I think most people
in the world did at that time. So it's the
heartwarming true story of what happened over those five days
with those stranded passengers in Newfoundland, Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And what is the music like, how does it go
along with the storyline?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's a great question, you know. I think originally the
writers of the show had said that they were trying
to write it as a play, but what they realized
as they started working on it is that music is
just so ingrained in the culture of these people that
it would do a disservice to the story to actually
not make it a musical. So the music is very
much like a Newfoundland Newfoundland sound. You know, we've got
(02:16):
the musicians actually on stage with us, and they play
the show sitting on stage as though they are part
of the story and characters in the story. It's got
that kind of Irish rock to meet like country vibe,
and it's actually just so thrilling to like listen to
every night. The score was one of my favorites even
(02:37):
before I started working on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Really is it very uplifting and inspirational.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Absolutely, I you know, speaking of it as an audience member,
I remember coming out of the theater feeling just a
renewed hope in humanity that you know, there are good
people out there, and there are people who are generous
and kind and giving, and and that's really what you
leave the show feeling that that renewed sense of hope
(03:06):
and optimism in the world. And it's it's it's an
absolutely beautiful story. You will cry, you will laugh. Hopefully
you'll laugh a little bit more than you cry, but
well it's definitely a roller coaster.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And sometimes that's a happy cry too, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh. Absolutely. One of my favorite things toward the end
of the show is just a beautiful moment, uh And
I love looking at the front couple of roads because
you kind of see people laughing but with tears streaming
down their face, and it's just it's kind of one
of those those things where you're like, we got you.
It made you feel all the things absolutely, So you.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Play Claude and other characters tell us about Claude.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Claude Elliott is what was the mayor of Gander, Newfoundland.
So he really spearheaded the town's effort to take care
of people, to coordinate with you know, you know, aid
and assistance that is coming in to help them, because
again they had to feed seven thousand people for five days.
So he really spearheaded the effort. And when I say others,
(04:09):
we actually as cast members, all play multiple roles in
the show. There's twelve cast members on stage and six
stand by cast members as part of our cast, and
everybody plays in the show, you know, upwards of five
different characters. So not only do I play the mayor
of Gander, I also play the mayor of several other
surrounding towns. I play a passenger from Texas who was
(04:34):
stranded in Gander. I play you know, a smattering of
other characters within the town. So we're all on stage
kind of NonStop for the entirety of the show, and
that's kind of part of the beauty of the storytelling
of this show.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So what did you have to do to prepare for
this role?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
A whole lot? It was definitely one of the hardest
shows I've ever learned, because not only are you working
with multiple characters, but all those characters have very interesting
and unique accents. So a big part of you know,
the learning process for this show was actually working with
our dialect coach to learn, you know, kind of the
(05:17):
proper pronunciation of lots of things, especially with the Gander,
Newfoundland accent. And then on top of that, it was
a lot of research about I mean, because again, the
show is a true story and there are you know,
tons of documentaries out there talking about what happened in Ganders,
So a lot of it was you know, preparation in
(05:38):
terms of research, just kind of really diving into what
happened there. And then finally, I would say part of
the probably the coolest part of preparing for this show
was getting to have a zoom phone call with the
person I'm playing and tell me their story directly from
their mouth and to kind of hear their accent and stuff. So,
(06:00):
I mean, I'm honored to have to say that I've
met and spoken with Claude Elliott, who I play, and
he's definitely given me some tips on how to make
sure that I'm portraying him properly on stage. Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
What was that like for you when you came away
from that phone call?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, it was just awesome. Again, I'm coming in.
I'd come into the show several years after it had
already been established in you know, a very popular musical,
so I was coming into the show as a fan,
and so getting to kind of meet the person who
inspired the character was just one of the coolest things ever.
(06:37):
And then as we do the run of the show
and I'm you know, posting pictures of myself on social media,
it's fun to have him be able to comment and say, ah,
you're looking good, but not as good as me. These
folks are are extremely funny, They're extremely generous with their time,
and the crazy part of it all is that, you know,
(06:57):
their stories have become quite famous because of the popularity
have come from away, but they are just the most normal,
run of the mill, every day wonderful people who just
happened to have their story told and have you know,
caught some notoriety for it, which which I think is
really nice.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Do you perform a favorite song or is there a
favorite part of the show that you like best?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Uh? Yeah, The song that I primarily perform is called
screech In, and it's it's one of the more fun
moments of the show. In Gander or in Newfoundland, they
have a screech In ceremony, which basically is a ceremony
by which the people are made honorary Newfoundlanders, and it
consists of drinking a shot of Newfoundland's screech rum, which
(07:47):
is hard to drink. It consists of kind of saying
a mantra and then kissing a fish. And so we
actually we performed that kind of ceremony as a big,
rowdy dance number on stage and I get to kind
of be at the forefront of it. So I would
(08:08):
say that's definitely my favorite moment of the show. I'm
certainly sweating the most running around the stage, but I'm
also having a really great time.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Now, you are born and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut. You're
one of our own, that's right, and you have an
amazing background in theater. Maybe you will like to share
just a little bit of the things you've done, of course.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I've been touring the country with various years agos
for the better part of the last ten years or so,
but I did grow up in Fairfield, Connecticut. I got
my degree from Western Connecticut State University up in Danbury.
And I mean the Palace in Waterbury was kind of
the place that I saw my first touring shows. That's
(08:50):
where we would go and you know, pile five friends
in a car and drive up to Waterbury and get
rush tickets to see whatever tour was playing there. I've
gotten to play the Palace I think three times now.
I was there with Checko and Hyde back about ten
years ago, and most recently I did the Fiddler on
the Roof national tour which stopped by the Palace, And
(09:14):
so I'm excited to bring this one back. And it's
definitely the biggest role, and I would argue probably the
most fun show I've ever taken there. So I'm really
excited to have you know, friends and family and you know,
neighbors and Stutch comes to the show.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
What's it like performing on the Palace stage.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I mean that theater is just so absolutely stunning. It's
I remember thinking like when I first went, you know,
when I was much younger, thinking like, how how crazy
is it that this absolutely gorgeous box of a theater,
like this jewel box is just in the middle of
Waterbury and you kind of unassumingly so if you've never
been inside. So getting to stand on stage and look
(09:55):
out at the audience and kind of look up at
the seats in the very back of the balcony that
I used to buy for student rush prices, to get
to kind of look at those feats from the stage
and see kind of how far I've come, It's just
really thrilling for me. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
What do you hope people take away or take with
them when the show is over.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
I really think the primary thing you walk away from
this show feeling is a renewed sense of hope. You know,
things in our world continue to be crazy as they
have for the past, you know, x amount of years,
and I think a story that is truly just about
human kindness and people doing, you know, a brave thing
(10:36):
in the face of you know, uncertainty is truly one
of those stories we need right now. It is, you know,
an hour and forty minutes of kind of NonStop, awesome
musical theater. It's a one act there's no intermission on
this show. The show starts and then it ends. And
I think that's actually very specific or perpose done because
(11:02):
you know, when the events of the show happened. The
people of Gander didn't get a break, they didn't get
to stop for fifteen minutes and have water and go
to the bathroom. They they, you know, went at full
speed from the time it started till the time it ended.
And I think the original producers and the writers of
the show wanted to kind of emulate that for the audience,
(11:24):
that energy of here's this thing that happened. We're going
to take you through the story and by the end
of it, you're going to be like catching your breast
because it is it is a freight train, but wow,
it's a really cool experience for the audience too.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Sounds amazing. I'm speaking with Andrew Hendrick. He plays Claude
Elliott and other characters. He's going to be at Come
from Away at the Palace Theater in Waterbury April fourth
and fifth. If you'd like to get tickets, go to
PALACETHEATERCT dot org. Andrew Hendrick, break a leg, Bravo to
you
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Thank you so much, lovely being talking to you today.
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