Pittsburgh March 8
Fantastic! Very exciting! This is the third year I have seen the show. The others were good, but this was better yet. Some things surprised me. First of all, I liked the muses. They were an interesting addition. Furthermore, I didn't think the Zeppelin music would work, but it did.
I don't have one bad thing to say about any performance. Everyone was good. I will say that I think Bechke & Petrov become more fun to watch each year. I really look forward to them now. In addition, I am not a huge fan of ice dancing, but I loved Gorsha & Sur and Torvill & Dean. Obviously, Torvill & Dean are superb skaters, but I never really was a fan. However, I loved both of the numbers they did. As for Gorsha & Sur, that routine is a must see in person because when I saw it on TV I didn't care for it. Beautiful skating and music. The individual skaters were great. I can't praise Scott, Paul, Kurt, and Kristi enough. Katia, Roz, and Brian were also enjoyable to watch. I have never seen a better performance by Roz than her routine this season. Scott got a standing O for his Wizard of Oz. Most wonderful skating number I've seen. Excellent! I was sad knowing that Paul is retiring. Inspiring as always. Kristi's SWAK was very fun and flirtatious. Kurt's Antares number should've been longer. Awesome!
The whole crowd really seemed to enjoy the Fun & Games. Exceptionally humorous with references to Pasha (yuck!!), and Kurt doing Philippe's swashbuckling from the Olympics. Everyone loved it when Scott mentioned Jaromir Jagr and his gold medal. Right before our intermission was over, Scott came out onto the ice. He said a good friend of his was from Pittsburgh, and they'd had a bet. He said if he lost, he had to skate around the ice dribbling a basketball and wearing a pink tutu. If his friend lost, he had to skate around the ice wearing a sandwich board. He went on to say something like "aw, come on, you've won 4 and we've only won 1" in reference to the Broncos winning their first Super Bowl. His friend turned out to be Lynn Swan, a former Steeler. Lynn did skate around the ice, and the sandwich board read on the front "Scott Hamilton is the greatest skater ever" and on the back "gambling doesn't pay." The crowd loved it!
The whole cast got a standing O for the closing number which they certainly deserved. A fabulous cast. Definitely THE figure skating show to see!!
Providence March 10
Dawn, Teresa and I made an LKK road trip this week to attend the Stars on Ice show in Providence, Rhode Island. We met up with Bea, Editor from WAWW, and her friend and long-time reader Barbara. We had a great time together and I'm really looking forward to our next SOI adventure in Hershey.
About an hour before the show, we had a bit of excitement at the hotel. We were watching the SOI cast "live" on TV (Scott Hamilton was meeting up with a Make a Wish child with cancer) when suddenly the fire alarm started going off. We grabbed our tickets and rushed down the 22 flights of steps to the lobby ... with Teresa and her barely healed broken toe trailing behind us (LOL). By the time we got to the lobby, we could see all the fire engines in front of the hotel. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was a false alarm from the 22nd floor ... I'm sure it had nothing to do with "someone" in our group smoking in their non-smoking room! (LOL) After nabbing a passer-by to snap a photo of the 5 of us in front of the fire trucks, we walked to the arena for the show.
The opening ensemble, "Get the Led Out" was great. Kurt's cameo on hockey skates was MUCH too short, though. They announced all of the skaters. You can imagine the roar when Scott Hamilton FINALLY came out! I think everyone in the arena was on their feet ... and you could see a tear in Scott's eye as he looked out into the crowd. I think there were many tears in the audience as well.
Bechke & Petrov's "Whole Lotta Love" got a great response from the audience. They did SBS triple toes and alot of unique moves. Great new look for them :-)
Katia then came out and skated to "3 Preludes". She 2 footed a triple toe, but landed a nice double lutz, double flip(?) or toe(?) and a single axel-turn-turn-turn-double toe.
Kristie skated to her "SWAK" number. We were in the lutz corner so we got to see her great triple lutz, a triple toe/double toe sequence, a double loop with her hand over her head, a double axel and a triple toe or triple flip. I have a hard time differentiating between these 2 jumps. I guess if Kurt adds this to his repertoire next year, I'll have to start paying a little more attention :-)
Paul Wylie then skated to "Sleepers". He doubled all of his jumps in this program.
Scott Hamilton skated to "With One More Look at You". Everytime I hear this song, I think of "A Star is Born". Indeed ... Scott is a "Star". He did a single axel with his arm over his head, a double lutz, triple sal, lots of circular footwork, scratch spin and 2 double axels (one which he used his toe nails to hang on to the landing). This was really the only full standing ovation of the night ... the crowd was pretty stingy :-)
Next - Torvil & Dean's "Tango" number. This is a cute number with Chris doing a flip over the trunk on the ice and then reading a newspaper while Jane tries her best to get his attention. She finally skates under his legs and takes the newspaper. Christopher Dean looks great in Purple :-)
Fun and Games was a hoot! I was really looking forward to seeing this in person and I wasn't disappointed in the least. We were in the corner right by the "skaters bench" so we had a great view of Kurt et all the whole time. Paul was a riot as the skating coach ... but I had a hard time paying attention to Paul because Kurt was standing there :-) At one point Kurt was waving at someone in the crowd just as R&S (Gorky & Park) were getting ready to skate ... Paul grabs him and sits him down on the bench. Kurt's expressions are priceless. Never thought he'd be able to pull off playing the "nerdy" type, but he did it very well.
During Kurt's Cyril Lutz (Zero Lutz ... get it?) number, he landed his triple axel but it was pretty shaky and he did a triple-double combination instead of a triple-triple. It was a pretty small arena ... I think this probably had alot to do with it. Yes .. he added in the "Tara run to the middle" and the "Candeloro sword fighting footwork sequence". All he needs now is a giraffe shirt and a groin pull at the end of the performance to fully encapture the essence of the 1998 Olympics :-)
After intermission, R&S skated their "Time to Say Goodbye" number. I like this number alot, but it takes too long to get going!
Next up ... Brian Orser "The Story of My Life". This is the first time I've seen Brian Orser skate live ... and I must say I'm very glad that he's back touring with SOI in the US. You can feel the emotion when he's skating this number. I had tears welling up in my eyes after he skated. Great job Brian ... He landed 2 double axels, a triple toe, a double sal and a huge open axel. Very nice :-)
Next, Rosalynn skated her "Sweet Rosalynn" number. I really like this number for her. There for awhile she got trapped into the "mellow" type numbers. I like the new Roz :-) I hope she keeps exploring her artistic side. She landed a very nice double axel, double flip, and double toe.
Finally ... it was Kurt's turn for "Antares". I've seen this number "Live" before, but I enjoyed it even more this time with the lighting. His spread eagle started at the very corner of the opposite corner of the rink, and he came the full length of the ice ... across the corner and then around our corner .... and then started down the other side before crossing over for a huge double axel (darn! I was looking forward to a triple axel!!). He landed all of his jumps perfectly including the opening double axel ... which was HUGE ... a triple toe, spread eagle into a triple sal and another triple toe (not in combination) then about 1 1/2 minutes of footwork into a double axel. Very impressive. I really like the way he "feels" this music. He's very intense throughout. He got a few scattered standing O's and a huge applause. Nice job Kurt :-)
Next up, B&P with their "Joue Jusqu 'au Matin" number. I think I like this number even better than their "Whole Lotta Love" number. I really hope they reconsider retiring after this season. I'm really going to miss them. They are a very exciting couple to watch. They did a throw double something (sal?) and SBS double toes. Lots of creative lifts.
Next was Paul Wylie's "Got the Distance". After doubling everything in his "Sleepers" number earlier, I was impressed to see him fighting for everything in this one. He landed his double axel, stepped out of a triple toe, and fought like heck for his triple lutz. He was a little forward on his landed and had to pout his hand down, but he really fought for it. Nice to see him going for it :-) He got a very nice standing ovation for his effort!
Next was the Elvis Presley ensemble with Kurt, Kristi & Katia. The chemistry between the 3 of them is great. Knowing what close friends the 3 of them are, it's hard to imagine how they can possibly keep a straight face while during some of the pretty sexy moves :-)
Katia landed a double toe, double axel and a double lutz .... She got a few scattered standing O's from the audience. She really has such a presence on the ice. I like this number much better than the "3 Preludes" number.
Kurt's "Are you Lonesome Tonight" was perfection. He beautifully landed a double axel (out of absolutely nowhere!), triple loop, triple sal, triple toe, and his gorgeous double axel split variation. It's nice to see this new jump being appreciated by the audience and greeted with applause ... as opposed to getting the "collective Oh" that originally followed it when people thought he accidentally popped the jump. His jumps were picture perfect ... and there for a moment I thought I was watching Ilia Kulik. Awesome!
Kristi's "Trouble" - I got my notes a little mixed up here, but I think Kristi landed a double axel and triple flip. Then I have written a double toe with tail in mouth, but I think that one belongs to Scott Hamilton (LOL).
Next was Torvill & Dean's "Still Crazy After All These Years". Great number for the 2 of them.
Then .. the much anticipated, "Show Must Go On" by Scott Hamilton. He landed a double sale, double axel, double toe, double toe with tail in his mouth, double axel, double toe, double axel and 2 back flips at the end. This was highly entertaining and again received a huge standing ovation from the audience. When he was going "Down the Yellow Brick Road", though, I was envisioning Kurt's "That's Entertainment" version ... seemed a little weird seeing Scott do it :-) I like Kurt's footwork much better in this section :-)
The "Stairway to Heaven" finale was wonderful. Unfortunately, that meant the show was over :-(
Apparently Tuffy (who's husband plays hockey for the Bruins) was in the audience and some of the cast members went over and gave her a group hug, but unfortunately we weren't close enough to catch a glimpse. I'm sure she really missed being out there with all of her friends ... I know I missed seeing her and Doug :-(
Well folks .. that's it! Next stop for us is Hershey, PA :-) Can't wait!
Christie in PA
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