__NOTOC__ Irene Sankoff is a Canadian librettist and composer–lyricist, best known for co-writing the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

Come from Away ''Come from Away'' is a Canadian musical, with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carryin ...

'' with her writing partner and husband,

David Hein David Hein is a Canadian librettist, composer-lyricist, musician, and actor best known for co-writing the Broadway musical ''Come from Away'' with his writing partner and wife, Irene Sankoff. Hein was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and was educ ...

Biography

Sankoff was born in North York,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and double-majored in psychology and creative writing at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, where she met Hein. After graduating, the couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1999 where he worked at a music studio and she studied at the Actors Studio and performed in theatres. They were in New York City during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. After spending several years studying and working in New York the couple returned to Toronto where Hein wrote a song, "My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding", about his mother and her later life partner. Sankoff and Hein expanded the song into a play that became a hit at the

Toronto Fringe Festival The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been ...

in 2009 and then picked up by

Mirvish Productions Mirvish Productions is a Canadian based theatrical production company and promoter. The company was founded in 1987 by David Mirvish, son of Toronto retailing icon and owner of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Ed Mirvish. The first assets acquired ...

for a run at Toronto's Panasonic Theatre before touring Canada. As a result of ''My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding'' success, theatre producer Michael Rubinoff approached Hein and Sankoff with his idea about a show based on

Operation Yellow Ribbon Operation Yellow Ribbon (french: Opération ruban jaune) was commenced by Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001 on the United States. Canada's goal was to ensure that potential ...

in which residents of

Gander, Newfoundland Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on the nor ...

, housed 7,000 airline passengers who had been stranded at Gander Airport as a result of the grounding of all North American air flights following the September 11 attacks. The couple visited Gander in 2011 during the 10-year reunion of passengers and locals, and subsequently wrote ''Come from Away'' based on the stories they learned there."From Gander to Broadway"
. ''Toronto Star'', November 13, 2016, Page E2. Tony Wong.

Awards

Sankoff and Hein won two

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

awards, one for Outstanding Musical and one for Outstanding Book of a Musical, for ''Come from Away'' in 2017. That same year, they were nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics. They were also nominated for the 2017

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. ''Come From Away'' also won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Music at the 2019 Laurence Olivier Awards.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankoff, Irene Living people 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Actors Studio alumni Canadian songwriters York University alumni Musicians from Toronto People from North York Drama Desk Award winners Canadian musical theatre librettists Canadian musical theatre composers Women musical theatre composers Canadian musical theatre lyricists Women songwriters 21st-century Canadian women musicians Canadian women composers 21st-century Canadian composers Year of birth missing (living people)