Come from Away Stages Two Regional Productions in Birmingham and Anaheim with Casting Underway

Two separate regional productions of the beloved musical Come from Away are now in pre-production and actively casting, with performance runs scheduled beginning December 2026. Red Mountain Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama, and Chance Theater in Anaheim, California, are both mounting their own stagings of Irene Sankoff and David Hein's award-winning show, and both productions have casting directors already attached and working. For performers, music directors, choreographers, and theatre production professionals across the country, this is the moment to make contact.

Come from Away tells the true and quietly extraordinary story of Gander, Newfoundland, a small Canadian town that opened its doors, its homes, and its bars to nearly 7,000 stranded airline passengers after 38 transatlantic flights were diverted there on September 11, 2001. The musical, which ran on Broadway from 2017 to 2019 and earned seven Tony nominations including Best Musical, is notable for its stripped-down staging concept: 12 performers play 163 named and unnamed characters, shifting between roles with breathtaking speed. That casting challenge alone makes the work of the attached casting directors especially complex and consequential for this show, and it signals that auditions will prioritize versatility, stamina, and strong ensemble chemistry over star power.

Sankoff and Hein, a real-life married couple who spent time in Gander conducting interviews with residents and survivors, wrote the book, music, and lyrics together. Their score blends Celtic folk traditions with contemporary musical theatre in a way that has proven both immediately accessible and technically demanding. Companies licensing the show through Music Theatre International, the licensing house handling Come from Away's regional rights, are required to maintain fidelity to the original's spare staging concept, which means both productions will lean heavily on their musical directors and choreographers to carry the emotional weight of the piece without the crutch of elaborate scenery.

At Red Mountain Theatre in Birmingham, Artistic Director Roy Lightner is taking on triple duties as director and choreographer in addition to his leadership role at the company. Lightner has built Red Mountain into one of the most ambitious mid-size musical theatre organizations in the American South, consistently producing work that punches well above its regional weight class. He is joined by Musical Director Matt Smart, and the production is being cast by Michael Cassara of Michael Cassara Casting, one of the most active and respected names in New York-based theatrical casting. Cassara's involvement signals that the Birmingham production will likely conduct auditions in New York as well as locally, and performers in both markets should be reaching out to his office now.

The Chance Theater production in Anaheim, operating out of its home venue, brings in director Markus Potter and Musical Director Lex Leigh, with casting being handled by Lindsay Brooks. Chance Theater, under Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen, has cultivated a strong reputation in Southern California for producing intimate, character-driven musical theatre with a commitment to inclusive casting and community storytelling. That ethos aligns naturally with Come from Away's themes of radical hospitality and human connection. The Anaheim production will benefit from the region's deep pool of musical theatre talent, though the ensemble demands of this particular show mean casting will be competitive regardless of market.

For production professionals beyond the performing company, both stagings will require tight, experienced creative teams. Come from Away's signature aesthetic, bare stage, shared chairs, and fluid movement, demands a strong scenic and lighting design sensibility. While the show is intentionally minimalist, that minimalism is precisely choreographed, and lighting designers in particular carry an enormous storytelling burden in any production of this piece. Sound design is equally critical given the folk-heavy live band score. Stage managers, production managers, and technical directors comfortable with intimate regional theatre budgets and ambitious artistic expectations will find both shops worth contacting.

The Birmingham run at Red Mountain Theatre and the Anaheim run at Chance Theater are both scheduled with production starting December 12, 2026, and running through January 23, 2027, giving both organizations roughly a year and a half of lead time from now. That runway suggests casting calls and design team hiring are in relatively early stages, but the presence of attached casting directors means the performer search is already underway in a meaningful way. Getting in front of Michael Cassara's office for Birmingham or Lindsay Brooks for Anaheim sooner rather than later is the practical move for any performer whose work fits this ensemble.

Full production listings for both the Red Mountain Theatre and Chance Theater productions of Come from Away are available now on ProductionList.com, including production office contacts, casting director information, and scheduling details as they are updated. If you are a performer, music director, or theatre production professional with regional musical theatre credits, bookmark both listings and check back frequently as both companies move deeper into their pre-production timelines.

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