#queue smith

In a meme that has been making its way through theatrical social media communities, the unnamed audience member on a four-day trip to New York describes finding himself backstage at the Tony-winning musical after a mishap involving an armrest and his only pair of pants for the trip:

Since the true tale of Broadway teamwork has gone viral within the past few weeks, we reached out to the mystery costumer herself to get the scoop on this small but popular act of quick thinking and kindness that would have made the folks of Gander proud.

Melissa Joy Crawford is the wardrobe supervisor for Come From Away and a twenty year veteran of Broadway who has worked on shows like Paramour, Harvey, and Motown the Musical. She was in the costume shop that night and received the distressed audience member.

"Our house manager, Dexter Luke, came down to get some safety pins and I said why not just bring him down. We have retired pants here and the repair wouldn't take long. He came down and I didn't have anything his size."

With no more than a few minutes until curtain, Melissa made a quick decision to save the evening.

"I just turned to him and said 'Drop your pants' and he said, 'Uh, okay'" she explained with a laugh, "So he did and I handed them off to our stitcher, Estella Marie Simmons, she stitched them up, gave them back to me, I handed them back to him, and said have a good show!"

Though the story has captured the imaginations of theatre fans on social media, Melissa says moments like this are commonplace in her line of work.

"It's the first time it's ever become a thing for the media. But it's what we do, an actor rips his pants before curtain, and we're like drop 'em and that's what we do. And what you should do as a human." adding, "I'm glad that it's touched people."

Despite her new found social media popularity, Melissa insists that acts of kindness and charity are very much the norm in Broadway circles.

"I'm so glad that people enjoyed our story, but there are so many people on Broadway who are doing great things." she explained.

"There's Betsy Waddell who collected shoes at SpongeBob for Soles for Souls and Kimberly Mark over at Hamilton who does raffles for Freedom Farm, an animal sanctuary. You get to know people in this business and so many of them are doing cool stuff."

In just a few short weeks, this story of quick thinking and teamwork by some of the theatre's most unsung heroes has captured the imaginations of hundreds of theatre fans on social media.

The Tony-winning Come From Away, which tells the true story of 7,000 airline passengers stranded in Newfoundland in the wake of 9/11, will make its U.K. premiere at the Phoenix Theatre beginning January 30, 2019, with an official opening night February 18.

Prior to the West End, the musical will have a limited engagement at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin from December 6, 2018, to January 19, 2019. Casting will be announced at a later date.

The musical, which plays Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, features a book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein and is directed by Tony winner Christopher Ashley, with musical staging by Kelly Devine, music supervision and arrangements by Ian Eisendrath, scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestrations by August Eriksmoen, and casting by Pippa Ailion CDG and Natalie Gallacher CDG.

In a statement, Sankoff and Hein said, “The humor, the music, and the infectious generosity of spirit of the people of Newfoundland inspired us to write this musical, however along the journey we discovered that this isn’t just a Canadian story—it’s a universal story of how, when faced with global atrocities, the world comes together to respond with kindness and cooperation. We are particularly thrilled to be sharing this story with audiences in the U.K. and Ireland.”

Come From Away also continues its record-breaking engagement in Canada, with a 60-city North American tour launching in October in Seattle, an Australian production confirmed for summer 2019, and a feature film adaptation in the works.

Come From Away was originally co-produced in 2015 by La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre, and presented in 2016 by Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and Mirvish Productions at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada, all in partnership with Junkyard Dog Productions.