Nicholas Philip O'Neill (January 28, 1985 – February 20, 2003) was the youngest of the 100 victims of The Station nightclub fire, which occurred in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
[3] O'Neill also authored a play, They Walk Among Us, which was produced in various cities after his death, and was adapted into a screenplay by novelist Jon Land.
[3] O'Neill was at the Station nightclub for the concert by the band Great White on February 20, 2003, with his bandmate from Shryne, Jon Brennan, and another friend, Albert Dibonaventura (1984–2003).
[7] Shryne was scheduled to perform at the Station the following night, and O'Neill had reportedly befriended Great White lead singer Jack Russell in the days before the fire.
[3] O'Neill left behind voluminous journals, poems and songs, many of which are considered by his family to contain prophetic messages indicating that he knew he would die at an early age.
[3] Other memorial services were held by theater companies that O'Neill had performed with, and numerous feature articles were published by the local press centering on his life and works.
The event, called A Night of Angels, was directed by O'Neill's brother Christian and featured musical tributes as well as a fully staged production of They Walk Among Us.
O'Neill made this event the basis of an Emerson College master's thesis, The Song of Nick, and later created a film version of They Walk Among Us.