Playwright Donald Rupe didn’t intend to write a musical about the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida. What he wanted to write about was his friends. But the more he dug into it, the more he returned to his hometown’s 2016 trauma. What the playwright has crafted is the powerful, moving “From Here,” which explores the complex feelings and community reactions in the days after a lone gunman killed 49 people at the gay-friendly club in Orlando. The musical is making its off-Broadway debut this summer. Rupe thinks it can be appreciated by any community that has suffered mass trauma.
