If you’ve seen a Broadway show in the last six months or so, there’s a significant chance you saw a surprise double bill: the play or musical you paid for and a celebrity cameo by Hillary Clinton, smiling politely as the audience gave her another standing ovation. On Thursday, the former Democratic nominee, her husband Bill, and her daughter Chelsea attended a performance of Come From Away, a musical about the roughly 7,000 air travelers grounded in Gander, Newfoundland, after planes were rerouted following the aerial attacks on 9/11. Christopher Ashley took home a Tony for Best Direction for the production earlier this month.
The musical’s co-writer David Hein later praised the Clintons, who posed for photos with the cast, on Facebook. Hein wrote in part, “So many lines in the show resonated differently — especially the scene where passengers try to vote for a different destination and are told, “this is not a democracy.” Afterwards onstage, they were so gracious, taking pictures and speaking to each of us. President Clinton told Caesar one of his 9/11 stories, when he met a Muslim man who was afraid his countrymen would never trust him again. We and Sharon got to introduce our daughters to Chelsea. And Hilary told us, ‘this is a show that the world needs now.’ So honoured to have this story of Newfoundland kindness recognized and celebrated by them.”
