A rare second weekend, looking back at the first
'Come From Away' began its Stepinac run with special guests
Only a handful of schools in our area run their musicals for two weekends: Pleasantville, North Rockland, Westlake, Nyack and Stepinac.
As Stepinac preps for its second weekend of “Come From Away” (with performances tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.), I thought I’d look back on their Opening Night and two special guests they welcomed.
Q. Smith created the role of Hannah in the original Broadway company. Hannah is a mother whose plane was diverted to Gander on 9/11. There, she anxiously awaits word on the fate of her FDNY firefighter son, bonding with Beulah, a firefighter mom from Gander.
At the pre-show reception, I asked Smith if there was a lyric or a word that sums up Hannah.
“Hope,” she said. “Hannah represents hope. She never gave up hope. I feel like crying right now. I met … Me and Hannah were friends until the day she passed. She was feisty. A strong little Irish woman. When she hugged you, she hugged you fiercely, like she didn’t want to let you go.”
Those hugs fueled Smith as she created the role of Hannah that the world would come to know in “Come From Away.”
“I held on to her strength, her hope, and her kindness,” Smith said. “Her doors were always open. She invited me and my family over, just treating us like family. And that’s the way I live my life too, my doors are always open.”
But at first, Smith said, she wasn’t sure at all about a show about one of the world’s darkest days. Here’s what she told the Stepinac pre-show reception about her initial reaction when she was told producers wanted her for a role in a 9/11 musical.
Later, she caught the cast backstage in their pre-show prep and told them about Hannah’s song, and how it took shape late in the process. Then she said this about her Opening Night hopes for them, that the message of “Come From Away” would make them kinder, better listeners.
As Smith spoke, Ben Power, who played pipes in the Broadway pit and is doing the same at Stepinac, entered the room and he and Smith had a reunion.
Power had also helped music director Chloe Sasson to build her orchestra, which includes other members from the Broadway and national tour bands.
The cast then included Smith in their pre-show routine, when they closed their eyes and sent a hand-grip pulse around the room, passing their characters’ energy from person to person until it came to rest on one lucky student. Stepinac senior Sebastian Noriega led the pulse.
A stage moment
Minutes later, moments before the show met its first audience, Stepinac director Frank Portanova introduced Smith, and retired FDNY Battallion Chief Jack Oehm.
Earlier, Oehm had addressed the cast in the school’s chapel. He told them about the 20 men from his Battalion 32 fire house in Red Hook, Brooklyn, who answered the call on 9/11 and never returned.
Battalion 32 is at the base of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, through which firefighter Stephen Siller ran — with 60 lbs. of gear on his back — to get to the Twin Towers, even though he was off-duty. He never returned, but his effort, going above and beyond, inspired the Tunnel to Towers foundation, which helps 9/11 families and disabled veterans.
Proceeds of the ticket sales from the run of “Come From Away” will be donated to the foundation.
Season’s end nears
There are just two more openings on my trek to cover 65 musicals in the 2025-26 high school season in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties.
Denzel Washington School of the Arts in Mount Vernon has a one-night-only performance of “Once On This Island” on May 9.
Charter School for Educational Excellence in Yonkers stages “The Addams Family” May 15 and 16.
Theater kids, parents and grandparents: Get your swag for Pedro’s Open Mic
Don’t forget about Pedro’s Open Mic, at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 16 at Harrison High School. More than a dozen shows and 23 schools will be represented in a celebration of the season.
Scheduled to appear: “Come From Away” (Stepinac); “Les Miserables” (Harrison, Rye, Nyack); “Chicago: Teen Edition” (Blind Brook, Horace Greeley, Edgemont, Port Chester, Sleepy Hollow, Somers, Carmel); “Anything Goes” (Mamaroneck); “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (Briarcliff); “The Prom” (Rye Neck); “Mamma Mia!” (Valhalla); “Guys and Dolls” (Pleasantville); “Into the Woods” (Putnam Valley); “Once Upon a Mattress” (White Plains, Tuckahoe); “The Little Mermaid” (Scarsdale); “Sister Act” (North Salem); “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (Brewster); and “Pippin” (Pelham).
There will also be surprises. And cake.
Tickets are now on sale at bit.ly/pedros2026.
You will want to look the part, theater kids, so be sure to check out the merch on my website. In particular, be sure to pick up a 2025-26 Musical Season T-shirt, which you can have your friends autograph at the Open Mic. Supplies are limited, but you can order them in advance and take delivery on the night of the Open Mic.
Mention of the shop gives me the opportunity to unearth this blast from the past. Enjoy!
If this coverage matters to you
This substack exists because readers choose to support it.
💛 $7/month: Support the coverage month-to-month, including the “Lights Up” podcast.
🔥 $70/year (Best Value): Full access + helps sustain this work long-term.
🌟 Pedro’s Angels ($200+): Leadership tier for high school theater fans who want to actively champion this work. Includes recognition, occasional swag, and early access to special projects.
🌟 Underwriter/Sponsor: If you and your company want to partner with Pete to sponsor positive, affirming coverage that celebrates collaboration, creativity and where we live, email Pete at petekramermedia@gmail.com.
Thanks for believing that high school theater deserves this level of attention, and doing your part to see it continues. — Pete
Will write soon.