Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/791562
f you're eager to score the next hot Broadway ticket, all bets are on for Come From Away. e show captivated audiences at Seattle Repertory eatre last year with its September 11 narrative about what happened when 38 planes were diverted to the remote Newfoundland town of Gander, where the citizens cared for the stranded international passengers. "What happened there, in one word, is love," says Kenny Alhadeff, who together with wife and producing partner Marleen brought the pioneering play to the Rep. e show opens this month on Broadway. Kenny and Marleen's production work takes place through their New York–based firm Junkyard Dog Produc- tions. e couple strives to promote the arts as a force for social change and also serves as producing partners with e 5th Avenue eatre. "e arts are a primary mode of education," Marleen says. "ey change lives, and they change the world." e Alhadeffs won a Tony Award in 2010 for Memphis, a musical based on Dewey Phillips, one of the 1950s' first white disc jockeys to play music recorded by black artists. e musical premiered at e 5th Avenue during the 2008–2009 season and later on Broadway, closing there in 2015. "We see our role as honoring and creating access to the art," Kenny says. e couple credits the WAC for its hospitality—many Alhadeff guests in show business have stayed at the Inn at the WAC—and for providing a stage for creative thinking. "e best work usually does happen at the dinner or lunch table," Marleen says with a nod to Torchy's. e WAC is an Alhadeff family tradition. Kenny's father, who was also a Club member, oversaw Longacres racetrack starting in 1947. e track opened 14 years earlier and eventually became the oldest continually operat- ing racetrack on the West Coast. e Club also served as a pre- and post-wedding venue for Kenny and Marleen's daughter Alison. Says Kenny: "e WAC was center stage." I Alhadeff Marleen & Kenny —Michelle Feder is a Seattle-based freelance writer. 34 WAC Magazine | wac.net