Alumni Profile: Tim Tuttle '81

Tuttle Musical Finds Light and Hope After 9/11

Until recently, no one had debuted a musical about 9/11. The topic may be too sacred. The creator must possess the musical talent and the grit to persevere emotionally. The creator must be someone who experienced Ground Zero.

Tim Tuttle '81 fits the bill. His personal journey to healing after 9/11 gave birth to 44 Lights, which premiered Off-Broadway in workshop form in New York City for 10 performances in May. Tim was overwhelmed by the nightly standing ovations.

"I had a nice world in 2001. I had a wonderful wife and a good job. But everything changed that tragic Tuesday morning. There was no turning back or denying it. I decided to start doing something that fed my soul and put something good into the universe. I needed to honor the friends I lost. Music became my messenger."

Tim had gone to work on that beautiful September 11, 2001, at his office across the street from the Twin Towers. "I saw the planes hit the Towers. I watched them collapse," he says. "I was at the base of the North when the South fell. It took me about nine hours to get home to Hoboken, one mile across the Hudson. There weren't any words to describe it."

That evening, Tim took out his guitar. "I began to strum and sing. It was so soft my wife thought I was praying. I don't know where it came from. Something poured out of my soul."

He had a difficult time processing what happened. "It didn't seem real," he says. "I kept hoping I'd wake up from a terrible dream."

But Tim found the creative process to be therapeutic. "After sitting in my apartment playing the song for a week, I called my friends and asked if they wanted to go into a studio. I hadn't sung with other people since I was a child in the choir, but I needed a way to express my pain."

In Tribeca, just blocks away from Ground Zero in 2001, several musicians joined Tim as he recorded his song "I Never Knew." That song turned into 67 songs, CDs, and 20 9/11 memorial concerts. It took more than two decades to decide to create the musical. After months of writing, readings, and working to secure backing, 44 Lights debuted.

"The number 44 was always special to me. I don't know why. It was just mystical. It was my lacrosse number in high school and at Ohio Wesleyan," Tim says. "When I saw that each memorial beam at Ground Zero was lit by 44 halogen lamps, I felt I had been sent a signal. The friends I lost were reaching out to let me know they were all right. It inspired a song and, ultimately, the title of my musical."

"The play is about bringing light to the darkest day," he says. "At first, I didn't know how people would embrace it, but the feedback after the run has been amazing. It's been done with grace, dignity, and honor for everybody we lost. It's taken over 20 years. It comes from a place of compassion, remembrance, and love."

Learn more at 44Lights.com and musicfromgroundzero.org. Email Tim at tim@44lights.com.

– Written by Ericka Kurtz