Homegrown ‘Come From Away’ musical to be America’s most-produced show for ’25-’26

“Come From Away,” the heartwarming musical that made its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in 2015, will become the most-produced play or musical in America during the 2025-26 theatrical season.

The upbeat musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein was inspired by the true story of how the residents of a small town on the Eastern Canadian island of Newfoundland took in and cared for nearly 7,000 U.S. airplane passengers (and their pets) after 23 passenger planes were diverted and grounded in the chaotic hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The planes finally departed five days later.

Critics and theatergoers have praised “Come From Away” for its themes of acceptance, hope, healing and the kindness of strangers.

Each year, the industry trade organization Theatre Communications Group analyzes the announced season lineups for theaters nationwide and comes up with a list of the top 10 shows. “Come From Away” topped the list with a planned 23 productions. Locally, Moonlight Stage Productions in Vista has announced it will close next year’s summer season with “Come From Away” Sept. 9-26, 2026.

After a smashing debut at La Jolla Playhouse, “Come From Away” opened on Broadway on March 12, 2017, and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

After a pandemic-related shutdown, the musical resumed production on Broadway and closed Oct. 22, 2022 after nearly 1,700 performances. It carried on with touring productions worldwide until earlier this year. And a 2021 live-capture film version of “Come From Away” is still available for streaming on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.

Ashley, who will step down as the Playhouse’s artistic director at the end of this year after 18 years, told the Union-Tribune on Friday that he is gratified that the show continues to speak to audiences today.

“Since its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse 10 years ago, ‘Come From Away’ has touched the lives of so many audiences and artists, and I’m incredibly proud to see the message of this deeply moving musical resonate throughout communities across the country,” he said.

Rounding out the list of the top 10 most-performed shows for 2025-26 are: “Primary Trust” by Eboni Booth, with 21 productions; “Eureka Day” by Jonathan Spector, 14; “Fat Ham” by James Ijames, 9; the musical “Frozen,” 9; “The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh, 8; the musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’,”  7; the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” 7; different versions of “Little Women,” 7; and “The Roommate” by Jen Silverman, 7.