This article originally written by Antoinette for The Hearthstone Press
I was prepared, and willing to forgive, the skaters for not being up to their usual standards. The recent death of cast member Sergei Grinkov has devastated the skating community and left its mark on the cast of "Stars On Ice". This season was supposed to be a tribute to Grinkov, and I could well understand that the cast was skating with a heavy heart. But there was not a routine, not a mention, not a word of Sergei Grinkov during the show. In the opening ensemble number there are a few seconds in which the cast solemnly stands in a circle around an empty spotlight, after that the show degenerates into sophomoric hi jinx with not a mention of the man the show is supposed to be dedicated to.
Four time World Champion Kurt Browning opens the show with a routine to "Hey Pachuco" which is supposed to be fast and fun, but is neither. Browning seemed to be skating in slow motion and he fell twice. In the second act he skates to The Commodores "Brick House" in what is absolutely the worst routine he has ever done. The routine is nothing more then posing and posturing, with Browning hamming his way through ridiculous, allegedly funny moves.
For a wonderfully brief time the show picks up, starting with the introduction of Canadian Pairs Champions Christine Hough and Doug Ladret. They are the least famous skaters in the show and the most consistently entertaining. They have never won an Olympic or World medal, but they combine edge of your seat, daring lifts with a sensual style to create some of the best pairs routines I have ever seen.
After Hough and Ladret, the other most unappreciated skater in the show World Champion Rosalynn Sumners skates to "Remember Me This Way". This is a beautiful and emotional routine, wonderfully skated. She has a wonderful line, and great footwork and puts them together in a very moving piece. It is inexplicable to me why Sumners only has one solo in the show, the quality of the show would improve greatly if this elegant skater was given her due.
Olympic Silver Medalist Paul Wylie does have two routines in this show, and he almost manages to save it. Paul Wylie could make chopsticks emotional and in his new routines this year, unlike in years past, he has chosen music that is worthy of his powerful interpretation. His first routine to the music from "Apollo 13" is a gorgeous portrayal of the joy of flight and the excitement of exploration. His routine in the second act is to the song "Pennies From Heaven", he is heartbreakingly romantic and sweet. He doubles most of his jumps, but with artistry like his it doesn't matter at all.
Olympic Champion Kristy Yamaguchi performs an elegant, if unspectacular routine to "The Season". She jumps well, but even she is not up to her usual standards. She misses the triple lutz, as did every other skater in the show who attempted one.
Alas I have come to the end of the brilliance in this show. The first act ends with an ensemble piece called "A Spaghetti Western", skated to a variety of western themed music. The whole purpose of this routine seems to be to give Scott Hamilton a chance to wrestle with Katarina Witt, undoubtedly a dream come true for Hamilton, but the whole routine is boring and bad. Two time Olympic Champion Witt does one of her trademark "I'm too sexy for my skates" routines, wiggling and flirting as if she were auditioning for a part in "Showgirls". Halfway through the whole Western mess I was looking at my watch. There is no ensemble in this ensemble, none of the precision skating that has been so thrilling to watch in past shows. It is just a chance for Hamilton, Witt and Browning to mug, which they do interminably.
The second act begins with Finnish Skating Champions Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko performing one of their patented cartoonish waltzes, which could only work if they were dressed as Goofy and Donald Duck. Yamaguchi performs a very strange, disjointed routine dressed up like a little girl. Olympic Silver Medalists Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov do a very exciting routine to the music of "Spartacus". Their lifts are spectacular.
The heart and soul of Stars On Ice is Scott Hamilton, it was his idea, he is the co-producer, this is his baby. His two solo numbers follow one after the other at the end of the second act and perfectly demonstrate what is wrong with the show. His second routine "One More For The Road" is an eloquent blend of music and motion. It is breathtaking when he performs a series of falling leaves into rapid footwork. But we came to the sublime through the ridiculous, his first routine to the theme from "Hair" is the most offensive piece of skating I have ever seen. Dressed in a fright wig and hippie gear, he stumbles around the ice acting stoned, in what amounts to three minutes of glorifying drug use. Worse yet Hamilton has a theme to this piece, he ends the routine by switching his hippie outfit into a three piece suit. Hamilton thinks that all the hippies of the sixties ended up in boardrooms, someone evidently never explained to him about drug overdoses. I was tempted to boo Hamilton for this routine, but what he really deserves is a month at Betty Ford's listening to people who find nothing amusing in substance abuse.
The show ends with another disjointed and dull ensemble piece this one to a variety of Beatles songs. Christine Hough and Rosalynn Sumners shine in the ensemble, they are the best dancers in the show and their personalities leap right off the ice. But the end is too much of a mess to work. Clearly there was not enough time to work on a precision ensemble routine, because of Grinkov's death. The cast was thinking that the show must go on, even when their hearts are breaking, which is all very well and good, except this show only ends up breaking the hearts of the audience.
How much better this show could have been if the cast had not tried to ignore their sorrow over their friend's death.. Instead of the chaotic ensemble pieces the cast could have each in turn skated a tribute to Grinkov. Two years ago five cast members who all won medals at the Sarejvo Olympics skated a tribute to that war torn city. That routine was deeply moving and brilliantly skated. Art does not always require that the artists be happy. In trying to overcome their sadness the cast of Stars On Ice created not art, but a terrible mess.
