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Created by internationally acclaimed jazz musician Dominick Farinacci and combat veteran Jaymes Poling, Behind the Lines: A 9/11 Story is a live story, music, and theater performance set against the tragedy of the September 11 attacks and the war that followed.

World Trade Center firefighter Bill Spade — the sole survivor from FDNY Rescue Company 5 — and Poling, a three-tour Afghanistan combat veteran with the 82nd Airborne Division, relive their experiences and find an unexpected bond in strength, meaning, and the weight of what they continue to carry after service.

Farinacci — described by The New York Times as “a trumpeter of abundant poise who plays beautifully, with expressive control and brings true musicality” — brings an international career shaped by Juilliard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, a TED Talk, and award-winning recordings, alongside a deep commitment to music and mental well-being. Poling brings a hard-earned firsthand perspective and a powerful ability to translate lived experience into meaning and purpose onstage. Spade — featured on CBS Sunday Morning and the BBC — brings audiences inside the lived reality of that day and the aftermath, sharing what he lived through with rare clarity, courage, and gravity.

The music serves as the internal voice of the piece — deepening the narrative and revealing the humanity beneath the events. Performed live by a full ensemble led by Farinacci, the score spans original compositions alongside reimagined works by Leonard Cohen, Gnarls Barkley, Tom Waits, and more, heard through the emotional lens of the story.
The production unfolds in a cinematic world where light, image, and space translate feeling into color. Inspired by synesthesia, the multimedia and lighting design maps each shift in Bill and Jaymes’ psychological states, creating an immersive environment that elevates both the storytelling and the music.

Behind the Lines: a 9/11 Story is the latest production from Modern Warrior, the nationally recognized organization founded by Farinacci and Poling that unites real stories, live music, and theater to explore loss, resilience, and the unseen aftermath of life-changing experiences.

Modern Warrior’s flagship production, Modern Warrior LIVE, has toured extensively throughout the United States. Deeply integrated within veteran and mental health communities, Modern Warrior has become a trusted cultural partner for organizations and leaders focused on resilience, service, and reintegration — bringing lived experience to the stage in a way that expands public understanding and reduces isolation.

Modern Warrior is a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, has been featured on NPR and Fox News, presented at Amazon Headquarters, opened for Brené Brown, and earned praise from national leaders including two U.S. Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and General James Mattis, who called the work a “necessary and worthy mission.”

The views and opinions expressed in the performance do not necessarily reflect those of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Trust is committed to its core values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, including freedom of expression. Prices, shows, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.