The musical is based on the true story<\/a> of the nearly 7,000 airline passengers and crewmembers grounded in Gander, Newfoundland in the wake of 9\/11.<\/p>\n After the the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration shut down its airspace following the terrorist attacks, Gander, a town of about 10,000 residents, was told 18 planes would land at its airport. <\/p>\n They received 38, nearly doubling the town\u2019s population over night.<\/p>\n These passengers and crew members, known as the \u201ccome-from-aways\u201d or \u201cplane people,\u201d were taken to Salvation Armies, churches, schools and community centers across Gander and surrounding towns. The last of the \u201ccome-from-aways\u201d left Gander on Sept. 16, 2001. <\/p>\n \u201cCome From Away\u201d tells the experiences of real passengers and community members during those five days. <\/p>\n READ: \u2018You don\u2019t forget about it\u2019: 25 years after 9\/11, Orlando firefighter shares his story<\/a><\/p>\n WDBO spoke with actress Meka King, who portrays Hannah O\u2019Rourke, the mother of a firefighter stationed at Rescue Company 2 in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n O\u2019Rourke was on her way home to New York from her native Ireland when her flight was diverted. She later discovered her son was killed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. <\/p>\n King said she pulled inspiration for her character from her aunt Pam, whose son died in 2020. <\/p>\n \u201cThere were two days of us just trying to find out what was going on with him, and waiting for news,\u201d King said. \u201cIt\u2019s been six years now, and I still see the emotional weight that she carries from losing her son. And I draw a lot from that with Hannah \u2014 the waiting, the praying, the hoping, and then the despair after finding out that he\u2019s deceased.\u201d<\/p>\n King said in light of the recent 25th anniversary of 9\/11, it\u2019s draining to channel this grief nightly as someone who usually portrays comedy characters. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a scene in the show where the \u2018come-from-aways\u2019 are watching on television what has happened,\u201d she said. \u201cI always go back to that moment where I did actually see it on TV, and every night it feels like I\u2019m catapulted back to 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n The production displays the good and the bad of bringing together people from over 100 different countries in unprecedented times, from finding community despite language barriers to the early rearing of post-9\/11 islamophobia. <\/p>\n Following the 9\/11 attacks, the FBI reported there were 481 reported anti-Muslim hate crimes reported in the U.S. that year, with only 28 recorded in 2000, according to Pew Research Center<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are parts of the show that are, you know, still so very real,\u201d King said. \u201c…How entire communities were impacted with fear mongering and racism. And it\u2019s still very alive and well today and I want people to process that.\u201d<\/p>\n READ: UCF marks 25 years since September 11, 2001<\/a><\/p>\n King said she hopes the show appeals to theatregoers\u2019 sense of humanity. <\/p>\n \u201cI want people to really put themselves through a filter of \u201dWhat am I doing to contribute to making our world and our society better?\u201c King said. \u201dI really, really want people to leave this production wanting to be better humans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCome From Away\u201d is playing now through Sept. 27 twice daily at Orlando Shakes at 812 E. Rollins St. Tickets are available online<\/a>. <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and traffic app. And click here<\/a> to subscribe to our daily 3 Big Things newsletter.<\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Shakespeare Theater\u2019s production of \u201cCome From Away\u201d wraps up this Sunday, ending its first-ever run of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6029,51700,6030,147,152783,28,162109,139,141,140,3696,3478,5597],"class_list":["post-408076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-580am","tag-9-11","tag-am580","tag-central-florida","tag-come-from-away","tag-florida","tag-meka-king","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-shakes","tag-theater","tag-wdbo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/RWOKRV2BLRCZVBFQMM2RIAXZAM.png\")
Meka King portrays Hannah in Orlando Shakes’ “Come From Away” <\/p>\n