Baiting Hollow man, a firefighter who survived WTC collapse on 9/11, stars in play about the aftermath of the attack 

Every year on Sept. 11, Kevin Shea travels from his home in Baiting Hollow to his old firehouse, on West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, to salute all those who died during the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Shea was 34 in 2001, and off-duty at the Engine 40/Ladder 35 firehouse when the north tower was hit. He volunteered to jump on Ladder 35 when it raced from the Lincoln Square firehouse to Ground Zero. When the buildings collapsed, Shea and the other 12 firemen from his firehouse who responded to the call were buried in the rubble; Shea was the only one who survived.

Shea will continue his tradition on Wednesday, the 23rd anniversary of the attack. But afterwards he will travel back to the North Fork and explore the aftermath of the attacks in a different way: as an actor. 

He’ll be performing in “The Guys,” playing Nick, a New York City Fire Department captain preparing the eulogies for eight firefighters who died under his command during the attacks. The play is written by journalist Anne Nelson, who based “The Guys” on her own experience helping a captain she knew write similar eulogies. 

It’s a deeply personal play, one Shea wanted to do and that he believes will “have an impact.” “The Guys” was first performed in December 2001, nearly three months after the terrorist attacks killed 2,977 people, including 343 members of the New York City Fire Department, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Shea said his experience after the attacks was unique, but also similar to Nick’s in the play. He was a junior member of his firehouse and experienced mixed emotions in the aftermath: happy to be alive but, like other firefighters in the house, dealing with the loss of friends. 

“I didn’t feel like I played my part well for them then,” Shea said. “So when this play came up, I said I really should do this play because I can actually give back, and the guys would understand that I felt the same feelings they had.”

Shea was stuck in a neck brace after the attack, recovering from a tragic event he couldn’t remember. (Shea’s journey to recall what happened after he left the firehouse was documented in a 2002 New York Times Magazine article.) After the attacks, other firefighters took on the responsibility of fundraising for the wounded and dead firefighters and their families, while Shea recovered. 

“I never had to be responsible for those guys,” Shea said. “I want to feel that [pressure] and give back to the guys that made the supreme sacrifice, and make up for the time that I didn’t get to spend with them.”

He feels a strong connection to Nick, who is aided in writing the eulogies by the character Joan, played in the production by Eileen Trilli. 

“It’s like I don’t have to be anyone else. I get to be me,” Shea said of the similarities between him and his character. He even speaks the same way as Nick is written, he said.

“I get to picture what it was like to be a captain, whereas we had a captain who had to do all the eulogies for them, and it was difficult for him,” he said.

Nelson, the play’s author, said that next week’s production is the first she knows of starring a firefighter who responded to the Sept. 11 attacks. She said she met Shea a year or two after Sept. 11, through a group of firefighters she connected with after her play became a success.

Nelson said her play’s purpose is to serve firefighters. It has been an outlet for them to process their feelings about the attacks and — for those who are more stoic — to share them with their families, she said. It’s been used to fundraise for rescue workers in the U.S. and all across the world, including in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, Nelson said.

“Kevin is an example of the best of that community and I so admire his values and his art and the way he’s lived his life,” Nelson said. “And I’m deeply honored that he’s chosen to perform in my play.”

Nelson said the play has been performed every year since the attacks. In 2002, it was made into a film starring Anthony LaPaglia and Sigourney Weaver. 

“There’s this long roster of Hollywood stars who performed in the play — Bill Murray and Tim Robbins and William H. Macy. I can go on.” Nelson said in an interview. “But it’s productions like Kevin’s that mean the most to me.”

The performance will take place at CAST North Fork on Main Road in Southold. It is being produced through the Corchaug Repertory Theatre and CAST Arts & Culture and is directed by Chris Lepore. All reservations for the performance are currently booked. The performance is also doubling as a fundraiser for the Ray Pfeifer Foundation, which helps cover medical bills for 9/11 first responders not covered by insurance, and U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine, which sends emergency vehicles to the country currently fighting off an invasion from neighboring Russia.