Theatrical Diplomacy, And Other College Majors I Proposed
I’ve gone on a podcast purge. This morning, while I boiled water and thought about which show to listen to while hand grinding my coffee, I realized that I had 10 (ten!) separate podcasts in my queue focusing on Trumpcare. I realized I may have a problem.
I've had a request from my bestie and Missive reader Haley to provide my ever-so-astute observations on Justin Trudeau taking Ivanka Trump - and, it should be noted, more than 125 UN Ambassadors - to a Broadway show centered on, as our Haley pointed out, "welcoming people from other countries in their time of need.”
The show, “Come From Away,” is “a big bearhug of a musical” that "pushes so many emotional buttons that you wind up feeling like an accordion,” and as the New York Times pointed out, that’s a good thing. Based on the true story of how Gander, Newfoundland welcomed thirty-eight flights diverted from American airspace on September 11th, 2001, this ensemble piece opened to near-universal acclaim and may spur another 90s-nostalgia moment in re-introducing Celtic music to the masses - Mummer’s Dance, anyone?
I’ve mentioned this story before because I cherish it so much as a Canadian: this tiny town of 10,000 welcomed 6,579 stranded passengers into their homes - not metaphorically, they literally gave them beds and showers and food and care. As the Washington Post wrote in September 2016, "as Sept. 11 reminds America of the unfiltered evil in our world, it’s also necessary to remind ourselves of the human capacity for kindness, selflessness and generosity." Canadians are rightfully proud of this moment in our history, one that only reinforces our international reputation for being nice - one I intentionally fight everyday, one “not sorry” at a time ;)
In taking the daughter and advisor of a man who has banned refugees from entering the US, the polite shit-stirrer in me would love if Justin Trudeau, whom TMZ has called “bae of the north,” wasn't just engaged in politics as usual. I’d love if it was a masterful troll by a politician who is dancing on the sharpest political edge in our brave new world, someone who must navigate new American policies hostile to many of Canada’s values - as the proposed budget oh so deliberately demonstrates - to serve Canadians while maintaining an historic governmental friendship between the two nations.
Before the show in a speech, Trudeau remarked, "the world gets to see what it is to lean on each other and be there for each other through the darkest times.”
I sure hope Ms. Trump took the Playbill home for Daddy.