Philippe Petit recreates high-wire walk between World Trade Center's twin towers on 50th anniversary

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years after his iconic high-wire walk between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, Philippe Petit recreated the death-defying stunt with a performance about 7 miles north of the trade center at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The artist, 74, sought to celebrate the “glorious days of the twin towers” rather than focus on their tragic end in a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I don’t have to remind people of the doomed day,” Petit told The Associated Press after Wednesday's performance.

Petit said he aimed to honor both his remarkable feat and the legacy of the towers.

“It adds a certain significance when you discuss a legend or a piece of history, even when the object of that history is no longer present. That’s the miracle of memory,” Petit said.

The performance, titled “Towering!!,” recreated Petit’s unauthorized walk between the towers on August 7, 1974. After ascending to his perch inside the cathedral and reflecting on the day’s memories, Petit took to the wire while Grammy-nominated jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen played beneath him.

As Petit continued his daring walk, Sting took the stage to perform “Fragile.” Later, Petit donned a sequined gold tunic while “Fields of Gold” played in the background.

Petit harnessed the stunning visual and acoustic splendor of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral to recreate the grandeur of his historic walk 1,300 feet (400 meters) above the ground. Conceived and directed by Petit himself, the production featured a series of short scenes that brought his 1974 feat to life.

Petit was arrested after crossing the towers and depicts that in the performance, which continues for a second night on Thursday.

At one point in the show, while reflecting on the success of the Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire,” which chronicled his famous walk, Petit admitted that he handled success poorly, including distancing himself from his friends.

“I was really bad to my best friend Jean-Louis Blondeau, who has been the mastermind more than me on this adventure,” Petit said.

After the performance, Petit received a proclamation from the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams designating the day as Philippe Petit Day.

Petit has been an artist in residence at St. John the Divine for over 40 years and has performed 23 times to support the cathedral.

Sting performs in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Philippe Petit's World Trade Center Twin Towers high-wire walk at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Philippe Petit lies on a tightrope inside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine to mark the 50th anniversary of his World Trade Center Twin Towers high-wire walk, on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Philippe Petit walks a tightrope inside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine to mark the 50th anniversary of his World Trade Center Twin Towers high-wire walk, on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Philippe Petit walks a tightrope inside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine to mark the 50th anniversary of his World Trade Center Twin Towers high-wire walk, on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Philippe Petit walks a tightrope inside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine to mark the 50th anniversary of his World Trade Center Twin Towers high-wire walk, on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Known for their shot volume of putting the puck on net from just about every angle, the Carolina Hurricanes moved on to the Eastern Conference final by keeping the Washington Capitals from doing anything of the sort.

The Hurricanes eliminated the Capitals in five games with a tight-checking defensive effort that was a masterclass of the kind of hockey coach Rod Brind'Amour wants his team to play. They limited their second-round opponent to under 20 shots a night, including seven or fewer in 11 of the 15 regulation periods in the series.

“We’re a lot of just on top of guys," captain Jordan Staal said Thursday night after winning 3-1 to advance. “We just kind of give them the least amount of room and make them turn the puck over so we have the puck, and then when we have the puck, we try to move it as quick as we can into their end and grind them out.”

Carolina grinded through to a second East final appearance in three years in a total of 10 games. That certainly won't hurt 35-year-old goaltender Frederik Andersen, 40-year-old hulking defenseman Brent Burns or any players who might be nursing some bumps and bruises, such as Jalen Chatfield, who missed Game 5 with an undisclosed injury.

“Obviously, guys are getting banged up this time of year," defenseman Sean Walker said. "It’s a hard game, so rest definitely isn’t a bad thing.”

Brind'Amour hockey is a hard game in itself, requiring aggressive pressure without the puck to get it back. The captain when Carolina won the Stanley Cup in 2006, he is glad to get that kind of effort from a seasoned bunch willing to sacrifice and skate the extra few inches to take them away form the other team.

“What allows us to do that, I just think, is a high compete level,” Brind'Amour said. “That’s really all I can say about this group is just I’m proud of how they prepare and how much they play for each other.”

The praise was effusive from Capitals counterpart Spencer Carbery, who pointed to the shot totals as evidence of how dominant the Hurricanes were. Aliaksei Protas, a 30-goal scorer and Connor McMichael a 26-goal-scorer during the regular season, had three shots apiece.

Washington put nearly 27 shots on net during the regular season when it was the top team in the East. Same thing in the first round, beating Montreal in five games.

Facing Carolina is an entirely different animal.

“It is a great learning experience to feel what that just felt like because it was suffocating and guys had no space, could barely get shots off in that series,” Carbery said. “They are just relentless with their pressure and their ability to break plays up with their sticks. There’s no team in the league like it."

That's taking nothing away from Andersen, who allowed six goals on 95 shots in the series and made big saves when needed. But the Hurricanes also limited the quality scoring chances he had to face.

“The guys did a hell of a job,” Andersen said. “They support unbelievably hard with our game plan in mind as much as possible. I think that’s our game plan every night: to make it hard on the opponent to get anything going in our end.”

It's a game plan that has served the Hurricanes well making the playoffs in each of Brind'Amour's seven seasons behind the bench. But the difficulty level gets ratcheted up from here, potentially against defending champion Florida next, and Walker believes he and his teammates will maintain the same mindset that has made them successful.

“It’s just kind of the buy in, top down: the four lines, the three D-pairs, we’re all playing the same system and that’s a really suffocating game," Walker said. "We want to play in the O zone as much as we can, and when you’re doing that, you’re going to limit the amount of shots they have. I think we did that really well all series, and that’s going to be something that’s really important for us going forward.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) stops the puck in the third period of Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Washington Capitals Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, left, and Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov, right, greet each other after Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, right, celebrates with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (4) and defenseman Sean Walker (26) after Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Washington Capitals Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)