At the start of a moment: Diane Davies

I was recently squished between a friend and my nine-year-old on the orchestra level at the Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City watching a final performance of everyone's favorite musical Come From Away. I was scrolling through the show's Instagram feed just before the lights hit the stage when I saw a familiar face talking about her role in the show. I froze solid with confusion. 

This woman in the Instagram reel talking about what this 5-year Broadway run had meant to her was none other than 1982 MRHS graduate Diane Davis from Sturgeon!

By now, many of us know the story of this award-winning musical production based in Gander, Newfoundland during the week following the Sept. 11, 2021 attacks. It was there that 38 planes carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. Gander residents jumped into action with kindness and compassion while caring for these "plane people" for the next five days.

What on earth is Diane Davis doing in the middle of it all!? Soon you will read that it was quite a surprise to Diane as well. 

I met Diane a few years after she had taken her first teaching job at Gander Academy in the late 1980s. I was there as a newspaper reporter and she was there teaching French Immersion. My stay was short, whereas she has been rooted in the Rock ever since. 

When the show ended that night I went on a mission to track Diane down and find out how this

 incredible series of life events unfolded. How do you go from being the front desk clerk at the old Kingsway Motel at Poole's Corner to teaching French Immersion to Gander, NF, to being the toast of the town from Broadway to London to Melbourne, Australia? Finding her wasn't hard. She runs a couple of well-followed Facebook groups covering icebergs and of course, all things Come From Away.  

We quickly set up some time and jumped on a call. I wanted to know everything! 

Within seconds of the call staring, we're both in tears. "I'm crying early on," she proclaims with a hearty laugh before going on to add that she would be doing all the talking and I would be welcome to interrupt periodically with any questions. What prompts the tears? Diane remembers vividly working as at Gander Academy the day "the plane people" descended on Gander. "We were all here and I'm no different from anyone else. We did what we had to do to take care of those people. We just showed them our love." 

Fast forward and it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and Diane is asked to speak with a group from Sheridan College researching the possibility of a musical. Later she was invited to dinner to continue the conversation and "the Davis girls are always available for dinner!" Admittedly, she didn't realize there were playwrights and producers in this group because "if I had known who they were, I would have auditioned!" 

This was the incubation for what we now know as the record-breaking Come from Away musical production 

In 2016, the show made its way to Gander for a preview... at the hockey rink of course. Diane settled into her seat next to her husband Leo and eagerly awaited this artistic interpretation of a day that changed her life and that of millions around the world. 

Watching the show was "dizzying and surreal" as it was only at that moment she realized her experiences were being singled out in a composite character (two people in one role) who appears throughout the show. "I didn't know. I had no idea that my part in that day would in any way be used on stage in any way." 

And that became the start of her moment. 

Diane and Leo had their lives turned upside down. From Gander to Broadway with celebrity engagements, red carpet appearances, hair, make-up, and lavish parties in Toronto, London, Ireland, Australia, and the ultimate arrival for opening night in New York City. There were onstage appearances and standing ovations that led Diane to understanding "why these people do this." Again, she laughs hard at herself and the surreal nature of overnight becoming the focus of a global phenomenon. "It's pretty wild, she said, to be waiting for opening night reviews all night at a celebrity after party in NYC.!" Of course, those reviews couldn't have been more favorable and Diane and Leo continued to ride the wave. 

In the midst of describing all of the exciting details that became the norm for her life, she stops dead twice. First, she wants to make very clear that her role was not about her. "I am a representation of staff at Gander Academy and thousands of others that day. We are all one. We are friends and all connected." Secondly, she wants the world to know that the top she wore to the opening Australia and later resurrected for the closing in NYC was proudly purchased at Dow's Fashions when she was home in PEI for a visit.

She then goes on to remember an 8-day stay in London, having a handler, meeting political dignitaries from around the world, press events, standing on stage many times next to Astrid XX who plays Diane in the show. "It's all just silly stuff," she beams. What isn't silly are the countless passengers who were on those planes and others who were deeply impacted by 9/11, she adds. Again come her tears as she weeps describing how we all know where we were that day and with Diane, all are welcome to share their story. Many make pilgrimages to Gander where Diane often welcomes them in her tours of the town and its impressive Aviation museum. 

Diane knows her truth and she knows where those welcoming skills come from - her mother, Laura Davis, who passed three years ago. Laura was long recognized for her progressive approach to tourism in PEI, where she began her career in the 1970s at the Welcome Center at Poole's Corner. Of course, she also remembers -- and now we're both laughing -- one of her first jobs with the PEI Tourism Association. "I worked with Albert Roche and our job was to track down tourists in Kings County and keep them them there! Our strategy was to identify the tourists and get them to local events. On a slow day I would work the parking lot in Wood Islands!" Now we're both laughing of control. 

A video call with Diane just doesn't seem to be enough. There is so much more of her story to tell. While Come From Away recently closed on Broadway -- and Diane and Leo were onstage yet again -- the "movement of kindness" it energized is long from over. The show is now on another North American tour and Apple TV. 

When she isn't touring the world to appear on red carpets, Diane visits her father Ernie in Lower Montague and relishes in memories of her mother who taught her everything she knows about welcoming, kindness, and community. You can see video of Diane live in the Come from Away documentary. 

Diane Davis & Beulah Cooper with Emma Powell
Diane Davis + Beulah Cooper = Beulah Davis played by Emma Powell
 Fiona Hamilton

Diane Davis, Lisa Horner Olver, Astrid Van Wieren, Beulah Cooper. Lisa played Beulah Cooper in the Toronto cast, Astrid originated the role for Broadway.

Post show picture after seeing preview in Melbourne. Photo credit to Leo McKenna!

Ganderite and half (she claims the "bad" half) of the Beulah character, Diane Davis, meeting Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau at last night's performance. I had the good fortune to meet Diane at the Toronto premiere, keep in touch with her since and celebrate with her at the Broadway opening. She, her husband Leo and the entire group who came to NYC remind us that there is still lots of good and good people in the world. They fully deserve all the attention this hit show is bestowing on them and their community.