Audiences can expect a deeply moving and immersive performance told through storytelling and music.
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COLLEGE STATION, TX: Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the day that changed our lives forever, OPAS will present Behind the Lines: a 9/11 Story on Sunday, September 13 at 7:30 PM in Rudder Theatre. The production, which features live storytelling, music, and theatre performance set against the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks and the war that followed, will be performed in Rudder Theatre as part of the Intimate Gatherings series. Tickets range from $78–$88 with special prices available for Texas A&M students. To purchase, visit www.OPAStickets.org or call the box office at 979-845-1234. The OPAS Intimate Gatherings series is sponsored by Comfort Keepers, The Corrier Group, and Sonic.
Created by internationally acclaimed jazz musician Dominick Farinacci and combat veteran Jaymes Poling, this immersive experience reveals the lasting impact of 9/11, taking audiences on a deeply moving journey of loss, resilience, and hope. World Trade Center firefighter Bill Spade, the sole survivor from FDNY Rescue Company 5, and Poling, a three-tour Afghanistan combat veteran with the 82nd Airborne Division, relive their experiences and find an unexpected bond in strength, meaning, and the weight of what they continue to carry after service.
“Every year on September 11th, I choose to leave New York City with my family,” commented Bill Spade. “For me, that day belongs to the families who lost loved ones and to those we lost. Being with my own family has become an important way to honor that perspective.”
Farinacci brings an international career shaped by Juilliard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, a TED Talk, and award-winning recordings, alongside a deep commitment to music and mental well-being. Poling brings a hard-earned firsthand perspective and a powerful ability to translate lived experience into meaning and purpose onstage. Spade—featured on CBS Sunday Morning and the BBC—brings audiences inside the lived reality of that day and the aftermath, sharing what he lived through with rare clarity, courage, and gravity.
The music serves as the internal voice of the piece—deepening the narrative and revealing the humanity beneath the events. Performed live by a full ensemble led by Farinacci, the score spans original compositions alongside reimagined works by Leonard Cohen, Gnarls Barkley, Tom Waits, and more, heard through the emotional lens of the story. The production unfolds in a cinematic world where light, image, and space translate feeling into color. Inspired by synesthesia, the multimedia and lighting design maps each shift in Bill and Jaymes’ psychological states, creating an immersive environment that elevates both the storytelling and the music.
Behind the Lines: a 9/11 Story is the first performance on the OPAS 2026-27 “True Colors” season. More music is in store with the fall programs on the new season which includes Aiden Ross: Homecoming (September 18 • Rudder Auditorium) and The Phil Collins Story (October 7 • Rudder Auditorium). All tickets to all performances are on sale now at www.OPAStickets.org.