Held at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, “Towering!!” (the two exclamation points are a nod to the World Trade Center) celebrated the 50th anniversary of Philippe Petit’s legendary (and illegal) 1974 walk between the two towers, 1,350 feet above the Manhattan streets.
Told in 19 scenes, “Towering!!” was written and directed by Petit (with creative input by Judith Friedlaender) to evoke his World Trade Center performance which fascinated the world and was documented in the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary “Man on Wire.” The two-night engagement featured numerous knock-out performances including Anat Cohen on clarinet, a short film by James Marsh (the director of “Man on Wire”), young dancers from Ballet Tech, Michael Miles, Molly Lewis’ amazing whistling, singer Shawn Conley, puppeteer Ralph Lee, singer Sophie Auster and the evening’s headliner: Sting who performed three songs while Petit walked, strutted and (even lied down) on a wire across the inside of St. John, the largest cathedral in North America.
Petit, who is an artist in residence at the cathedral, is even carved in limestone on the front of the cathedral, along with other Saints. – PETER DAVIS
Petit carved, with his balancing pole, in the facade of St. John the Divine
Read Ted Hildner’s interview with Petit here
