CityView Magazine

36 September 2021 A Triumph of Spirit W here were you? It's a place, time and sentiment preserved in the memory of every American who was alive on Sept. 11, 2001. As a nation, we heard and watched terror unfold in real time, apart but together. In the Cape Fear region, we cried out for those lost but knew that, within hours, we would say goodbye to our own brave family members and friends as they embarked to defeat the unknown. We would never be the same. FEATURE BY COURTNEY PHILLIPS - what they remembered about the morning, who they turned to, who they reconnected with and where they caught glimpses of grace and beauty amid the rubble. From many moving submissions, a panel selected stories to record and showcase on the night of the show. Intermingled with music from the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, the 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus, Cumberland Choral Arts and others, the accounts will weave a tapestry of the region's unique experience. Ashley Owen, CFRT's marketing director, is confident that the chronicle represents an accurate cross-section of the community, as the panel that chose the stories is affiliated with CFRT, the symphony and the military. "We wanted to make sure there are people with different backgrounds and experiences," she said. From its inception, creators endeavored to treat the subject with the respect it deserves and unite us in a time when America is divided on many issues. "Of Where Were You is a collaboration between Cape Fear Regional Theatre, The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Bragg that remembers and honors the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and celebrates the triumph of the American spirit through story and song. Nearly 20 years later, the pain ebbs and flows and people still ache to tell their stories. Last year, Mary Kate Burke, artistic director of the Cape Fear Regional eatre, was inspired by a Kiwanis Club of Fayetteville meeting that fell on Sept. 11. In lieu of a guest speaker, the group took time to share their memories of that day. "It was an incredible meeting where they grew closer together as citizens," said Mary Kate. When it became clear that Fayetteville both wanted and needed an event for the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, CFRT and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra were ready to answer the call. is year, on Sept. 11, the two powerhouses of entertainment will partner to lend a platform for community members to honor heartache and celebrate triumph through storytelling with a free performance in Fayetteville's Festival Park aptly titled Where Were You? For months, CFRT has promoted the cathartic opportunity, using social media to seek personal narratives, poems and spoken words of residents who wanted to share their perspectives of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Organizers asked participants to delve into difficult memories

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