They came carrying luggage.

Initially, some were heading home. Others were traveling for business or vacation.

Then the world changed.

On Sept. 11, 2001, as hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the United States shut down all airports for the first time in history. 

More than 1,000 miles away, in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, 38 planes were diverted to the local airport, bringing nearly 7,000 passengers whose flights were initially bound for the United States.

Gander’s population: 10,000. But overnight, that number nearly doubled as the town began hosting unexpected guests.

The people of Gander didn’t know them. They didn’t know how long they would stay or what they would need. But they cooked meals, offered their own beds and welcomed thousands who arrived frightened and uncertain.

For nearly a week, Gander gave the stranded passengers something they may not have found anywhere else: a community willing to take care of them.

“It gives you goosebumps to think about a whole community turning out for 7,000 people from around the world,” said Christopher Sheley, producing artistic director for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. “It’s really beautiful. In the face of something that tragic, the human condition still rises above.”

Twenty-five years later, that story of kindness is coming to Colorado Springs.

“Come From Away,” the Tony Award-winning musical based on the real people and events in Gander, will run Sept. 10 through Oct. 4 at 30 W. Dale St. 

The production arrives as “Come From Away” continues to resonate with audiences across the country. In the 2025-26 season, Broadway World considers it the most-produced play in America, with 23 productions nationwide.

The set? Filled with suitcases; a visual reminder of the thousands of passengers who arrived in Gander with few belongings.

When the production ends, that luggage won’t simply disappear backstage. It’ll be donated to Partners in Housing and TESSA of Colorado Springs as part of the Fine Arts Center’s community outreach surrounding the production.

“The show is about the radical kindness that human beings are capable of,” Sheley said. “We sort of felt like doing that same thing for the community. We thought, ‘Let’s engage in the same spirit as the people of Gander did to 7,000 strangers.’”

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the Fine Arts Center is offering 200 complimentary tickets to Pikes Peak first responders, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and other emergency medical personnel. 

The tickets can be redeemed by calling the box office for any performance during the run, all of which are also accepting donations of food, clothing, hygiene products and suitcases for Partners in Housing.

The Fine Arts Center is also partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to raise awareness about some of the heavy topics the theater produces throughout the year, including “Come From Away.”

For director Kenny Moten, the 25th anniversary adds another layer to a story that already carries enormous weight, he said.

“We all have our own relationship with Sept. 11,” Moten said. “I think there’s those of us who remember it vividly, and there’s a whole world of people who weren’t born yet. I think there’s a responsibility to honor the history, loss and really remember that day, but also remember how people cared for one another during that time.”

From 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, the Fine Arts Center will host a free live webinar featuring three of the real people from Gander whose experiences helped inspire the production.

Brian Mosher, Oz Fudge and Claude Elliott will join the conversation virtually, taking part in a live question-and-answer session about what happened in Gander.

For Moten, bringing those voices into the theater is part of keeping the story alive beyond the musical itself.

“Almost all of them continue to have a relationship with Gander and the community there,” Moten said. “It inspired this huge act of paying it forward. Not only is it continuing through the musical, but different nonprofits and different people have made it their life’s work to be able to give back the way Gander did.”

The Pay It Forward 9/11 initiative began the year after Sept. 11 when Kevin Tuerff, one of the real people featured in “Come From Away,” wanted to continue the kindness he experienced in Gander.

Each year, the initiative encourages people to complete three random acts of kindness in the 11 days leading up to Sept. 11. 

“Whether it’s buying the coffee for the person behind you or bringing a beverage to somebody who’s mowing your lawn, it can be simple or big,” Sheley said. “But it’s to get humankind to pause and say, ‘Oh, you know what, the world is a better place when we’re loving and kind to each other.’”

In Colorado Springs, the Fine Arts Center is hoping the same idea follows audiences out of the theater.

“I hope people leave thinking about what they have to offer,” Moten said. “Something as simple as a meal or a phone call can mean everything to a person. We all have opportunities to make another person feel less alone. I think that’s why the musical is powerful because you leave wanting to do acts of kindness and remembering what it’s like when someone stepped in for us when we thought we were at the bottom.”

IF YOU GO 

What: “Come From Away”

When: Thursday, Sept.10, through Sunday Oct. 4

Where: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St. 

Price: Free-$70, fac.coloradocollege.edu