Black Box “Come From Away” Cast Gives Priceless Gift to Director
There are so many special, spine-tingling moments in the musical “Come From Away” – which sold out its 10-performance run at Black Box Theatre, Moline, and had an especially emotional, significant one last night (after the actual show), on the exact 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
While the musical was inspired by this horrific tragedy, its main message is a boundlessly uplifting one of kindness, hope, compassion, generosity and togetherness. The true story tells how the small town of Gander, Newfoundland responded over five days to the diversion of 38 Sept. 11 flights at its airport, and the care its residents took of the 7,000 stranded passengers. Not all the passengers were human, however.
Among 19 animals on those diverted flights was the bonobo ape Unga, who was being transported from Belgium to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. Unga and another bonobo, Kosana, spent five days there, accompanied by their keepers, while Gander’s residents showed extraordinary compassion to everyone on board.
Unga found her forever home at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, where she lived until her passing in March 2021 at age 29. But her legacy lives on in the most touching way. Two years after arriving at the zoo, Unga gave birth to a baby boy, named “Gander” by the Columbus Zoo team in honor of the town that welcomed the bonobos with open arms, which is noted in the musical by Bonnie Harris (played by Becca Johnson), who cared for the animals in Gander after 9/11.
After the bows last night, the entire cast brought director Lora Adams on stage and Em Schwartz, who plays Hannah (“I Am Here”) in the show, explained how she arranged for the zoo to have a painting done by Gander the bonobo, created for Lora, at no charge.
“Since being cast in ‘Come From Away,’ I kept having little videos about the show and the real stories behind it pop up on my Facebook feed. I’d watch one, learn something new, and then another would appear. That’s how I learned about Unga, a bonobo who was among the animals stranded in Gander after 9/11,” she said before Friday.
“I had also seen adorable videos from another zoo of penguins walking through paint and across canvases to make artwork. The two things clicked and I thought, ‘I wonder if Gander does anything like that?’” she recalled.
“We were looking for meaningful gifts for our creative team, so I took a chance and emailed the Columbus Zoo asking if Gander could possibly create something for our director, Lora,” Schwartz said. “Their first response was basically, ‘I’m not sure if he’s a painter, but we can check.’ Somehow this crazy little idea actually worked! His care team created the painting with him and the zoo sent it to us.”
“One of my favorite moments was telling my castmate Shana Kulhavy, who plays (pilot) Beverley Bass, that the painting had arrived. She asked, ‘How does it look?’ and I immediately said, Well… it looks like a monkey did it!’” she said (and she repeated that story last night at BBT). “Technically he’s a bonobo, but we were dying laughing. I absolutely love it, and the fact that it looks like Gander made it is what makes it so special.”
She also noted it’s extra cool since the painting was done with bright yellow and blue, the colors of the show’s Broadway logo.
“What I love most is the full-circle connection,” Schwartz said. “25 years after his mother unexpectedly landed in Gander and was cared for there, something created by her son made its way to our little production of ‘Come From Away’ here in the Quad Cities.
“And honestly, even getting the painting feels a little like the message of the show,” she added. “I reached out to complete strangers with a pretty unusual request, and instead of just saying no, they took the time to see what they could do, and then they did it.”
What made last night’s gift even more extraordinary, on 9/11’s 25th anniversary, was that music director Amy Trimble, arranged to have the painting put on hard-stock paper on copies for everyone in the cast, crew and audience – noting the place, date, and what was the painting was.
The story of Unga and Gander
Amidst the chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, a small town on the island of Newfoundland became a beacon of hope—not just for humans, but for two very special bonobos on a journey to their new zoo homes in the United States. That day, Unga and Kosana, two bonobos flying from Belgium, were only an hour away from U.S. airspace when American skies were closed. Their plane, along with 37 others, was redirected to the small town of Gander, Newfoundland. With only 10,000 residents, the community rallied to provide food, shelter, and care for 7,000 stranded passengers—and the bonobos were no exception.
While Bonnie in “Come From Away” refers to Unga as a kind of chimpanzee, bonobos are a species of great ape native to the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Columbus Zoo. They live in complex social groups that can change throughout the day, separating into smaller groups and coming back together in what scientists call a fission-fusion society. The Columbus Zoo has cared for bonobos for decades, and Gander remains among the bonobos guests may see today.
The zoo website has a blog about Gander (from Sept. 7, 2026), noting on 9/11, several of the aircraft carried animals, including Unga and Kosana, two endangered bonobos who were traveling from Belgium. Unga was headed to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, while Kosana would eventually continue to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Their plane had been approximately an hour from U.S. airspace when it was redirected to Gander. For five days, Unga and Kosana remained with their assigned zookeepers as the community worked to meet the needs of thousands of passengers, crew members, and animals stranded there. The people of Gander made sure the bonobos and the staff traveling with them received the care they needed during an extraordinary and uncertain situation.
Then, after five days, the skies reopened, and the journeys resumed. Both Unga and Kosana finally made it to Columbus. While Unga remained in Ohio, Kosana’s destination remained Milwaukee, and she traveled there following a quarantine period at the Columbus Zoo.
Unga was born February 22, 1993, at the Planckendael Zoo, part of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp in Belgium. She was 8 years old when she arrived at the Columbus Zoo in 2001 following her unexpected detour through Newfoundland.
She would spend nearly 20 years in Columbus. In December 2003, Unga gave birth to her first baby at the Columbus Zoo. For the Animal Care team, there was a name that carried special meaning, as a thank you to a community hundreds of miles away that had been asked to care for strangers during one of the most frightening moments in modern history and had responded with extraordinary compassion. The town that had temporarily sheltered Unga became part of the story of her son.
Unga’s story also remained intertwined with the events of September 11. The extraordinary response in Newfoundland was chronicled in Jim DeFede’s book “The Day the World Came to Town” and later inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Come From Away.”. Unga’s experience was among the animal stories referenced in the production.
Twenty years after arriving in Columbus, Unga passed away on March 5, 2021, at age 29. Gander has grown into an adult male and a father himself, as the sire of young bonobos named Bob and Winstel.
The Columbus Zoo is one of only eight facilities in North America that currently house bonobos, the last ape species to be discovered. As a result, they are widely unknown to most people. Research has shown that bonobos and people share more than 98 percent of the same DNA; in fact, bonobos and chimpanzees are more closely related genetically to humans than they are to gorillas.
In December 2021, the zoo hosted “Bonobos to Broadway,” featuring a panel discussion with Bonnie Harris (manager of the Gander and Area Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that helped care for Unga during her time in Gander), Audra Meinelt (curator of the Columbus Zoo’s Congo Expedition region), Petrina Bromley (actress who originated the role of Bonnie Harris on Broadway), and Sue Frost (producer of Come From Away). During the discussion, they spoke of the show, Unga, and the incredible five days she spent in Gander.
Unga’s passing in March 2021 was noted on BroadwayWorld.com, citing ABC Columbus.
Officials at the Columbus Zoo revealed that Unga was being treated for heart disease, a condition which led to an overall decline in health. The 29 year-old ape passed away after suffering a possible stroke, which left her unable to move her right side.
A mother and daughter unite over show
QC theater veteran Becca Johnson, who plays Bonnie in the Black Box show, closely identifies with the role.
“Playing Bonnie feels incredibly personal to me because, honestly, I’m a Bonnie in real life. I’m the person who would be worrying about the animals when everyone else was focused on the people, and I get a lot of that from my mom, who may be even more of a Bonnie than I am,” she said before Friday. “One of Bonnie’s lines that has always stuck with me is, “ALL animals are affected badly by stress, NOT just humans.” I love that her story reminds us that while this incredible act of humanity was unfolding in Gander, there were other lives affected too, and Bonnie refused to let them be forgotten.”
“I was only seven on 9/11, and for most of my life I remembered that day simply as something terrible that happened,” Johnson said. “ ‘Come From Away’ changed that for me. It taught me about this extraordinary pocket of kindness, hospitality, and humanity happening in Gander in the middle of a tragedy, and I feel incredibly lucky to carry a piece of that story with me now. In a very personal way, this show also brought me out of some darkness of my own, it also gave me new friendships, brought old ones back into my life, and gave me a different way to remember a day I had only ever associated with sadness.
“When I found out Em had contacted the Columbus Zoo and that Gander, Unga’s baby, had actually made a painting for our cast, I cried,” she said. “There are very few opportunities when telling a piece of history to hold something in your hands that connects you so directly to the real story, and as Bonnie, that feels almost impossible to put into words. Getting to tell Bonnie and Unga’s story has already linked me to them forever; having something created by Gander himself makes that connection even more tangible. This show, this town, and these stories will stay with me long after I take my final bow.”
She and her family (Becca and her husband have two children) have four dogs and a cat at home, and Becca got her love of animals from her mom, Carrie.
“I grew up with animals and she rescues a lot of dogs too so I grew up learning how to acclimate rescue animals and it just became my nature,” Johnson said. “A few of mine are rescues as well. I just lost my senior chihuahua I rescued and I only had her for a year but she instantly became my shadow and I miss her so much. I have 3 tattoos for my animals on my arm which is actually why I make sure my sleeves are pulled up for the show. I don’t know if Bonnie has tattoos or not but I feel important for me as Bonnie to make sure my 3 I’ve lost are displayed while I perform.”
She’s even used stuffed animals on stage in the carriers, when she has a scene talking to Unga, who lost her own baby while in Gander. In a tender scene alone with the carriers, Bonnie says: “I’m sorry that you lost your baby. I’ve got three, and some days they’re more trouble than they’re worth…Well, anyway, you’re going to be okay.”
Becca’s mom, Carrie Meumann, was very moved by “Come From Away” and posted after seeing the show on Sept. 11 on Facebook:
“Seeing ‘Come From Away’ tonight at The Black Box was something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. And watching my daughter, Becca, play the person who cared for the animals made it even more meaningful. What a perfect role for her! But honestly, every single cast member was perfect. The entire show was a beautiful reminder that kindness and empathy are choices we should make every single day.
“From the moment I sat down and saw the outline of the Twin Towers incorporated into the theater, I was already emotional. Then the lights went down, the story began, and the tears just kept coming. And then came an incredibly special moment. One of the cast members, Emily who did an amazing job tonight, had contacted the zoo where Unga, the chimpanzee aboard the airplane and cared for by Becca’s character, lived after this event. They had Gander, her son paint a picture specifically for Lora Adams, the theater’s owner. And then, incredibly, they had made copies for everyone in the audience.
“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. How incredibly special!!! September 11 is a day we remember. We each have our own memories of where we were, what we saw and experienced in the days following. For me, tonight brought everything full circle.
“When Becca was 18, I took her to New York. We visited Ground Zero, the reflecting pool, the firehouse, and the memorial site. They were just beginning to build the new tower. I knew how important that trip was then, but I don’t think either of us could have imagined how much more meaning it would hold years later. Tonight, seeing her tell this story through ‘Come From Away’ made me realize how certain experiences continue to unfold and touch us in ways we can’t possibly understand at the time. Tonight wasn’t just a musical. No, it was a reminder of humanity. Of compassion. Of strangers helping strangers. Of choosing kindness. I am so grateful to this incredible cast for giving us this unforgettable experience.”
The Black Box production closes tonight, with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12. Full disclosure: I am the keyboard player for the show, and it has been an unforgettable, magical experience.
