Monday, Sept. 21 update:
The Station Theatre has added an “encore performance” of its production of “Come From Away” at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4 at Centennial High School.
“This special, one-night only performance will be in Centennial’s Aldridge Auditorium, with a seating capacity of over 600,” the theatre company shared on Facebook. “If you missed your chance to see Come From Away at the Station, or even if you just want to see it for a second (or third!?) time, this is your opportunity.”
Tickets are available at stationtheatre.ludus.com. Tickets went on sale Sunday night; as of approximately 9:45 a.m. Monday, there were 218 seats left.
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URBANA — Jaclyn Loewenstein with The Station Theatre has seen the organization’s productions sell out before.
But for a show with roughly 15 performances to sell out a week before opening night?
“This has never happened before,” she said.
The Station Theatre’s production of “Come From Away,” directed by Loewenstein, opened Thursday night and will run for about two weeks, with 17 shows scheduled from Sept. 10-27.
The musical is based on the true story of 7,000 airline passengers who were diverted to the small, compassionate town of Gander, Newfoundland, after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the theater company said.
Loewenstein described the show as “basically a docu-musical with a few liberties taken.”
“It’s a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish,” she said. “… The show is very funny on top of being poignant and sad at times. It really surprises people, I think, that it’s written in a way that brings a lot of humor and humanity to this really confusing, tragic situation.”
Single-show tickets for The Station Theatre’s 54th season, as well as season tickets, went on sale July 7. On Aug. 21, the theater announced the addition of a Sept. 19 matinee of “Come From Away” due to “unprecedented advance sales,” and a Sept. 26 matinee was announced on Sept. 3.
Lowenstein said that tickets for the Sept. 26 matinee sold out in one day, and there are “huge waitlists” for every performance, with individuals signing up for notifications in case other playgoers end up cancelling their tickets.
This Wednesday, individuals on the waitlist were notified that a Sept. 20 evening performance had been added. Tickets went on sale the next morning and were gone in just an hour or two.
“I’m watching the seats fly away,” Loewenstein said at approximately 10:45 a.m. Thursday. “Right at this moment, we have 27 seats left. And we had a little glitch at 10 a.m. … It didn’t really open until closer to 10:20.”
By 11:37 a.m., only one ticket was left; by 12:10 p.m., there were none.
The Station Theatre doesn’t plan to add any more performances of “Come From Away” at this point, Loewenstein said.
“Unfortunately, we’ve maxed out what, the days and times that we can reasonably expect humans to do,” she told The News-Gazette, adding that next week’s slate of seven shows is “practically a Broadway schedule.”
The idea of finding a larger venue for additional performances has crossed her mind — The Station Theatre is configured to offer about 70 seats for this particular production — but the theater company hasn’t had time to explore the possibility.
“It’s a popular title among — at least, among some people. Some people have never heard of it. But between the popularity of the title and the timing coinciding with the 25th anniversary (of 9/11) and a really powerhouse cast that we have of some of the most popular musical theater actors in town, it all added up to a lot of advance ticket sales,” Loewenstein said.
According to Playbill, “Come From Away” opened on Broadway in 2017. Music Theatre International announced in November 2025 that the show was available to license for local productions in the U.S. and Canada.
“I personally have been waiting nine years to bring this show to The Station Theatre and have had my eye on directing it ever since I saw it on Broadway,” Loewenstein said. “So it’s a pretty magical experience for me.”
