Richmond, March 31, 1998
Hi everyone,
First of all may I say it was hot, hot, hot in that arena last night. And no, I'm not talking about the opening costumes the male skaters wore (though that did make it hotter in there. My many compliments to Jef Billings, my costume designer hero. Oh and the ladies looked lovely as well!<G>)
You'd think at $50 a crack and a sold-out house they could have turned the AC on in the arena after 4 days of almost 90 degree weather here.
I felt so sorry for the skaters. You could see the guys were sweating like crazy as the backs of their costumes were wet. Poor Paul Wylie in his giant "Michelin Man" coat in the parody, at one point ripped the coat off and threw it behind him and did the rest of the parody without it he was so hot. I felt like the heat was making the skaters have to work too hard. Though they were performing great, it seemed the heat (and probably mushy ice as well) would wear them down by the end of the routine.
Anyway, enough about that, now to the real show details. We had fabulous seats. Like Lisa, Row D was not fourth row, but 9th row (there were 5 rows of ice seats, then we were in the fourth regular row). The seats were perfection, we were dead center, right on the center line! And since the ice was small we could see every little thing, from end to end. Really wonderful seats.
As soon as the skaters came out for the opening, I could pick out Chris and Jayne's silhouette and from that moment on my eyes were glued to them. I was fortunate to have Chris at the end of the group on our side of the arena, so I could watch every move, every edge. I mean, why in the WORLD watch the other skaters when Chris and Jayne are on the ice? I saw the show without T&D in L.A., so I decided that I was only watching T&D in the ensemble number here (and I'm going to do the same thing in Fairfax. I other skaters are wonderful, but how can you NOT watch just Chris and Jayne when they're there?)
Jayne, because she's so tiny, does get lost in the crowd sometimes, but, as I said, Chris was right in front of us most of the time so I could easily watch him. I just love how he makes the moves a little dancier, makes the edges a little deeper, and add a finishing touch here and there. I also like watching how he was aware of his placement in relation to the other skaters. They were on rather small, hockey size ice in Richmond (which might be even smaller in Fairfax, if last year is any indication) It was wonderful to see them weaving in and out of each other in the patterns. I was in awe of all the skaters control and timing and balance in the opening number.
I love T&D's little intro and yes, if you have a camera, keep if focused to the corner near the skaters entrance as they do the jazz fish pose and hold it for awhile.
I must say I wish T&D had had a little special "spot" at the end of the opening like the other skaters do before B&P's "Whole Lotta Love." Ah well, I do love Paul's skate in the opening, those edges and spread eagles and spins are just too wonderful for words. Yeah Paul! I also really enjoy Kurt's "hockey boy" routine, lots of fun.
Quick run down of the other skaters numbers:
Loved, loved, loved Bechke & Petrov. Dang, they just keep getting better, it that's possible. As Lorraine said "why in the world are they thinking of just coaching next year?" Both of their numbers are so fabulous, just knock-outs. And they were VERY well-received in Richmond as they are coaching there at the SkateNation rink.
Paul Wylie skated great, both of his number had such emotion and power. He landed all his jumps, but lots of doubles. I get the impression he's doing doubles on purpose, which is fine with me. I like Paul and will really miss him next year, though I would LOVE to see him do more of the stuff he does in the opening and can the movie music stuff.
Kristi skated lovely, as usual and seems to be having lots and lots of fun with her numbers, which makes them fun for the audience. I still think her "SWAK" routine is at least one song too long, but she skated well. She hit most of her triples, but even she seemed to be doubling a lot of stuff. I'm telling you the AIR was heavy in that arena!<G>
Brian Orser seems to be really happy being in SOI this year and skated beautifully, whipping off some great triples and double axles. The audience LOVED him and gave him a huge partial standing O and he looked so very happy with the ovation, it was great to see.
Roca & Sur did a great skate to "Time to Say Goodbye." I really like this number and though the opening doesn't bother me like it bothers some, I do think it's kind of silly and wish they had a better opening than this for what is a really great routine. Some wonderful lifts in this, very inventive and skated well.
Kurt's "Antares" and his "Are You Lonesome" were both wonderful. I hate that he took out that open axel jump in the Elvis medley, I loved that. I wonder if the two footed landing hurt his back. His footwork didn't' seem as fast as usual, but I'm nitpicking and I'll bet it was because the ice was slow. I love the way he plays to the audience, smiles, grins and winks at the people on ice, it's fabulous, and the whole arena gets into his routines.
Roz's "Sweet Rosalyn" is a really great number for her and she put everything into it, it was just great. I like this number a lot and she looks fabulous doing it.
I really liked Katia's "Gershwin" number this time. This number has grown on me a lot. She was perfection doing it, lots of double jumps, and a popped jump here and there, but who CARES? Not me, I become mesmerized watching her skate -- it's so light, so pure, so effortless, so FAST, so joyous. She smiles at the audience and everyone smiles back. She was equally as lovely in the Elvis medley. All of us agreed we could just watch her skate and skate. She was the only one who didn't seem to be pushing through what was probably soft ice.
Scotty came out for his opening to a huge ovation from everyone. He seemed a bit slow and did lots of single jumps in the opening. I thought "uh-oh, he's really tired." I got really nervous when he did his backflip as it seemed a little low. He also seemed very sluggish in "With One More Look At You" but God bless him, he did that TRIPLE lutz!! This man has more guts than ten people put together, that's all I can say.
But Scotty saved it ALL for Wizard of Oz. I don't know if he sat in a refrigerator backstage or took vitamins, but he was very on and having a great time with it and it was the best I've seen this number. The audience jumped to it's feet at the end and he looked SO happy, just kept waving and pumping his arms in the air. It was great.
Yes, I've saved the best for last, T&D. But what can I say, they really are perfection, truly. When Jayne came out with the trunk there were a smattering of polite applause and laughter as she looked for someone to help her move this big trunk. Then Chris came out and more applause and a big cheer when he somersaulted over the trunk. People laughed and applauded a lot during the play with the newspaper and cheered when Jayne took the paper away from him. The whole audience was into this number from the beginning and really loved it.
The tango itself was danced perfectly and was such fun to watch, even more fun than in Ice Adventures as it was just Chris and Jayne on the ice, not lots of other people and luggage scattered all over like in IA. The look on Jayne's face throughout was priceless, as if to say "ha, I've got him now!" Chris had this look on his face like "you little minx, you think you're going to put on over on me! I'll show you my pretty." Every move had just the right facial expressions and everyone chuckled throughout the number. And the tango was skated in a sultry yet playful manner. A real delight, the audience loved it. I especially loved the ending with Jayne patting Chris on the head, ruffling his hair and looking smug while he pulls that great face like "how did she get me to do this?". Big cheers from the audience.
The audience was ready for another T&D number by the time of Still Crazy. When T&D came out, lots of applause and I got the impression that everyone in that arena admired and respected them. I said to
Lorraine later "it was like, oh my, there are the kind and queen of ice dancing, we can't believe we're seeing them skate." It was a lovely feeling that I hope they felt from the audience while they skated.
I loved Still Crazy and though there are not a lot of changes, the things that have been changed make it even better. The moves positively melt, one into another, even more now than when I saw this at World Pros. Some nice variations on lifts and some other little improvements to make it even better. I did feel about 3/4 through that Chris was having some problems with slow ice, as he couldn't seem to get the speed up on the "In Trutina" spin during the trumpet solo and I saw Jayne throw a little glance at him when I thought he put her down a tiny bit soon. But they are just SO in tune, they never missed a beat, not a hesitation. The kiss on the hand was lovely and the audience cheered with a partial standing O for this. Chris and Jayne looked very happy with the ovation and the huge crowd at the arena.
And may I just take a moment here to say how absolutely stunning Jayne is looking? I have always thought Jayne lovely and that TV sometimes did her no favors. But was radiant everytime she was on the ice. I want to ask her what kind of vitamins she's taking and order a barrel full. And when she smiles, you are sure the lights in the arena just got brighter.
The Olympic Parody was lots of fun. The audience laughed like heck and I think that different people enjoy different part of it so that it's lots of fun for everyone. I LOVED Chris and Jayne as judges! I lucked out again, having Chris on our end as the Judge. Here he is, in a full black robe covering move of him and he absolutely made the ROBE dance!!! The look on his face is slightly goofy which is just perfect.
And Jayne has a "haughty judge" look, which I also loved and which played very well to the audience. When Kurt grabs her butt at the end, it's TOOO funny. She feigns shock while looking like she liked that very much, thank you!<G>
We also had the judges bench facing us and I used by binoculars to watch Chris and Jayne look HORRIFIED when the "Red Ant" was being danced. Chris keeps covering his face in shock and horror. HA! And yes, the audience cheered when Scott said the "changed their name to Pasha" line. EVERYONE gets that joke!<G>
During the "Stairway to Heaven" closing I again decided "why watch anyone else but Chris and Jayne?" And was well-rewarded for doing so. Chris was on my side (boy, was I lucky or what?) again and he was really having a great time, really into the whole mood of the number.
And, as he does, he was just a big deeper in his moves, finishing off everything with more of a flare. I could just watch him do edgework for hours.
Jayne looked fabulous in her costume, but I think my costume design hero Mr. Billings fell down in the costume on Chris -- and frankly on most of the guys. Chriis had some funky looking dark pink pants and a shirt in a darker orchid and they didn't match at all. IMHO, if you couldn't get the top and bottoms to match, then don't try to, use contrasting colors. I don't like the guys costumes in this last number. The women look so beautiful and the guys look dull and the costumes are ill-fitting. Just IMHO.
Now, the question you've all been waiting to have answered? Can Chris "get down and boogey"? Well, he boogies pretty well, and he tries really hard to "get down" but there is just something a tiny bit stiff when they are all in the center just kind of "bopping along" to the drum beats. I think all the skaters look a big stiff doing this. They are having a great time, but it's not "disco-worthy", IMHO.<G>
Much more fun is watching Chris and Kurt at curtain calls, with both of them wrapping their arms around the ladies and Chris tip-toeing into place before bowing. The skaters stayed on the ice and smiled and waved a long time at the end. Though the arena was very hot, the show was so good, that the audience really was energized and responded accordingly. I think the skaters knew this and were very appreciative.
Whew! Well, didn't mean to go on and on so long! I can't wait to see it again on Friday in Fairfax and only wish I could get up to one more before the end of the U.S. tour. Oh and don't I wish I could see one in Canada!
Must run and get some work done as I'm taking Friday off as "SOI Fairfax Day"<G>
Marge
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