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Canadian Stars on Ice Review - Vancouver, BC - May 7, 2006
written by Tina
Having seen both the Canadian and American versions of the tour this
year, I have to say - the Canadian version is better. I don't know if
it's the higher energy level brought by the newer cast members (or
brought by the fact that they were two shows away from the end of
tour), or the tighter choreography/execution by the seasoned cast
members who had been doing this show for 50+ cities already, or what,
but the whole show seemed more seamless, with more of a dynamic energy
level than when I saw it in San Jose. The skaters looked like they
were having *fun* out there, goofing off and cracking each other up,
and when the skaters have fun, IMO, the audience has fun.
The Scott Hamilton videotaped intros were modified somewhat for the
Canadian show. The first thing we saw was Kurt Browning on the
monitors, welcoming us to the show and introducing Scott. Kurt
basically handed the show off to Scott, first sitting next to Scott on
his trunk while Scott talked about how when the Canadian show started,
both of them still had bangs and now they "part their hair in the
middle". Kurt's response was that Scott was his inspiration, but he
thinks he took it a little too far... Kurt then took off to "prepare
for the show" and Scott Hamilton proceeded to introduce the show, with
an edited intro that was more relevant to the Canadian tour.
"Loverly Spring" - Cast
The "fake" opening, especially if you were in on the joke that the
number was a gentle jab at the Ice Capades, was hilarious. All the
little flowers prancing around their gardener men, Kurt with his
butterfly net trying to catch the butterflies, etc, and the light
skipping around to "Loverly Spring", and especially the mock
seriousness with which the skaters performed the number, was
priceless. Maybe it helped to be closer to the ice (5th row versus
wherever it was up in the stands I sat for San Jose), seeing the
skaters' facial expressions (especially after Scott stopped the action
with his appalled cries and Todd (I think) sullenly tried to water one
of the flower skaters).
Scott's cries that this was NOT what he had in mind, that he would do
just about anything but he wouldn't do *that*, launched the "real"
opening, with Jeff Buttle skating out to "I'd Do Anything For Love" in
a simple black costume and stark music.
"I'd Do Anything For Love" - Cast
The "real" intro had each skater coming out and doing an extended bit
alone on the ice, and then the group coming out and skating together.
The number seemed to go out of its way to highlight simple, dynamic
skating that spotlighted and emphasized each skater or couple
individually, as opposed to faceless skaters in the group. Meatloaf
is hardly my favorite singer, but the energy and speed of this number
was great, and having Jeff Buttle kick it off worked really well.
Jeff's youthful energy, drama, and speed, just set things going on a
nice high note.
"Sing, Sing, Sing" - Jeffrey Buttle
And as Jeff kicked off the opening number, Jeff also kicked off the
show, skating to "Sing, Sing, Sing". Jeff's got a great energy and
rapport with the crowd, taking the time to grin hugely into the
audience and connect with them. Jeff seemed to be having a great deal
of fun out on the ice. I get the feeling that some of the eligible
skaters on the ice may have been having slight problems with the
lighting, since the landings on their jumps were sometimes kind of
wonky, but they pulled it together and kept the performance going,
which is what is really important on show ice like this.
"And the Beat Goes On" - Jennifer Robinson
Jeff's light, upbeat number, was followed by Jennifer Robinson's
light, upbeat number of a slightly different flavor. The girl who
sings the medley of songs Jen skates to to me sounds rather like Lea
Salonga (of Miss Saigon fame), which throws me off at times, but Jen's
got a light, flirtatious touch on this number. I'm not sure if the
Canadian skaters are taught how to connect with the audience, or what,
but somehow Canadian skaters just seem to have a great sense of
entertainment, of trying to reach off the ice and draw the audience
in, and Jen's no exception. This was a fun number.
"Come What May" - Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao
After two light numbers to kick things off, Shen & Zhao changed the
mood a bit with their romantic, wistful skate to "Come What May" from
Moulin Rouge. I have never seen these two skate before - at least not
a whole number - and they were entrancing to watch. Their
choreography and interpretation of the song was lovely, but it was
their huge double twist that drew audible gasps and cheers from the
crowd. Every pair seems to have their own out-of-this-world lift, and
Shen & Zhao's had Shen suspended upside down, out in front of Zhao,
which was quite exciting to watch. I think Shen & Zhao were a great
addition to the Stars on Ice cast, and I hope they come back in future
tours - American and Canadian.
"Resolution" - Elvis Stojko
Following Shen & Zhao, the lights came up - partly - on the seated
figure of Elvis Stojko on a folding chair, wearing a hat and reading a
book. This is the program he did for the Celebration on Ice tour this
year, with the EXIT sign and the low lighting. The music had the sort
of feel of "All Alone" (Kurt Browning's old program) - simple slow
electric guitar - but a more low key feel. I'm pretty sure the
program tells a story but I have to confess to not being sure what the
story is, and what the significant of the Exit sign is. The program
has an interesting mood to it, and Elvis skates it with conviction,
but it ends oddly, with Elvis just standing by the Exit sign for a
while, looking around, and then skating off the ice.
"Vole" - Joannie Rochette
As a fan of professional skating who almost never watches eligible
skating, I've also never seen Joannie Rochette skate. The Stars on
Ice tour this year was a nice introduction to her. Joannie's "Vole"
program was a beautiful, fluid, and passionate skate to a fairly
pretty Celine Dion song. Joannie was one of the skaters who
occasionally seemed to have problems with the spots and the jumps, but
she more than made up for it with her skating. Just a pretty, nice
skate.
"Peace Frog" - Kurt Browning
After a few low-key, soft songs, Kurt Browning came out to punch
things up a bit with "Peace Frog", a program that's all about attitude
and footwork. Kurt fills this self-choreographed program with
incredible footwork, fast, to the beat, edgy, and unlike any other
footwork I've ever seen him do. As a fairly devoted fan who's seen
practically everything Kurt's done, I would expect that by this point
in his career, Kurt would have exhausted the possibilities of footwork
by now, but he's constantly coming up with new ways to move that just
blow me away. It's harder to get a sense of that in person than with
closeups on TV, but even though my camera lens, I was impressed. Kurt
exudes attitude on this number, and seems to have a ton of fun doing
it. And his jumps were pretty well on and came out of nowhere.
"Elite Syncopations" - Jamie Sale & David Pelletier
While both Jamie and David have a lot of personality and are skilled
at performing, Jamie Sale has really found her niche in professional
skating, I think. She seems to absolutely love being out there and she
just beams at the audience while she skates. But she also stays
perfectly in character - if her character is supposed to be upset,
she's got the facial expressions for it. "Elite Syncopations" really
brings to mind the "Red Hat" Stars on Ice group number from the '96-96
tour, and I recognize a lot of familiar elements of Christopher Dean
choreography, but Jamie and David really make the program theirs.
The program was a personality-filled, fun, quirky skate, and I really
enjoyed it.
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" - Todd Eldredge
I have to confess that after seeing this program three times, I just
can't get into it. I think it's the music. Nothing to do with Todd
Eldredge's skating, which is fantastic. I just find it hard to get
into the music and therefore it's hard for me to find a connection to
the program. I do think that Todd seemed a bit tired in Vancouver -
after the whole US tour and the Canadian tour with scarcely any time
to recuperate his injuries, who could blame him - and therefore his
jumps were off and his spins slower than usual, but he still tried to
give it his all in the performance. A nice program, but I much
preferred his second program.
"Dance Medley" - Cast
I don't know if the show has tightened up since I saw it last, or if
being closer to the ice helps a lot in terms of seeing people's facial
expressions, or if I was just in a bad mood in San Jose, but I really
enjoyed the hell out of the "Dance Medley" act I closer in Vancouver.
Maybe it's because it was the second to last show and the skaters were
loose and goofy during the number. At any rate, I frequently laughed
out loud at various skaters' antics (as did the skaters - I saw them
cracking each other up quite a bit) as I watched this number. "The
Safety Dance" was utterly hilarious - I know I'm biased, but I think
Kurt Browning added a great deal to this number with his goofy facial
expressions and movement - and I got the whole concept of the singles
skaters all being individualistic better than before. "I Can't Dance"
was similarly hilarious, with Hongbo Zhao filling in neatly in Anton's
role as the skater who was just a few steps behind. When the skaters
got into their pinwheel, with Kurt as the overwhelmed and being pulled
to the stretching point middle, I laughed out loud. This number was
just fun, fun, fun, and a great way to end the first act.
Before intermission started, a video with Jennifer Robinson talking
about World Vision came on. And throughout intermission, the video of
past Stars on Ice skaters was shown. The only thing was, they hadn't
changed the video for the Canadian tour, so most of the skaters shown
were from various past American casts.
"Overture/Comedy Tonight" - Cast
Five minutes before the end of intermission, Scott Hamilton came on
the videoscreen to tell the skaters "five minutes" before dress
rehearsal, and five minutes to the audience as well to get back to
their seats. As the lights came down, Scott introduced the dress
rehearsal and the act II opening number began. This was a cute
number, full of various mishaps. The main central joke was Jamie Sale
continually losing her hat in various moves, but all sorts of side
jokes were going on, like Kurt and Jennifer skating together, and then
him dropping her (and her punching him in retaliation), missed cues,
costume mishaps (David splits his pants and runs off the ice, only to
return with a huge wad of tape on his butt), etc. At the end of the
number, Kurt runs off the ice backstage, only to appear in the
videoscreen next to Scott, who's trying to find the words to describe
dress rehearsal. Looking apologetic, Kurt tells Scott "bad dress
rehearsal, good show?" and then runs back off the video, reappearing
out of the tunnel on the ice. I heard some people around me
whispering to each other, wondering if Scott was actually there at
this point. It was a nice little effect.
"The Impossible Dream" - Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao
Shen & Zhao got things going in the second act with a dramatic and
lyrical skate to "The Impossible Dream". These two are beautiful and
powerful skaters to watch, with a quite different style than either of
the other pairs, which provided for a nice contrast and variety in
numbers. And they brought out their incredibly high and delayed
double twist again (she looks like she's just hanging there looking
down at him before she starts rotating), as well as the upside down
lift I described earlier. It was a fantastic skate.
Some song by Justin Timberlake - Emanuel Sandhu
Kurt Browning had said earlier that they had a special, skating
surprise for the audience... well, his voice came over the loudspeaker
to announce "Vancouver's own" Emanuel Sandhu. The lights came up on a
very much in his element, confident, and clearly having the time of
his life Emanuel Sandhu. However Emanuel may do in competition, it's
clear that the guy is born to perform, and absolutely thrives in front
of an audience. It's also very clear that the guy can *move*,
utilizing his body to the fullest effect, writhing, and bending, and
dancing with real conviction and skill. He did take an abrupt fall on
some footwork, but moved on from it quickly, commanding the audience
and just bringing some real fun and energy into the arena. It was a
real treat getting to see him skate.
"If It Wasn't For Your Love" - Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Robinson continued the white costume, slow song style of Shen
& Zhao with her skate to "If It Wasn't For Your Love". This program
was just a pretty, flowy skate - a little on the generic female ballad
side, but a lovely skate. The program didn't give Jen as much of an
opportunity to showcase her playful personality, but she presented a
lovely figure on the ice, and it was nice to watch.
"Bolero" - Todd Eldredge
It probably helps that I can't actually remember if I've seen Torvill
& Dean's famous "Bolero" skate, but I really really enjoy Todd
Eldredge's program to Bolero. From the opening figures moves to the
spins at each end of the ice and the jumps punctuating the music, I
love how the music and the program just builds and builds in intensity
as it progresses. And how the build is a slow build, where you can
just feel the energy and intensity gathering underneath Todd's slow,
deliberate movements. I think Todd does a fantastic job skating to
this program, and it's definitely my favorite of his in a while.
"Like a Prayer" - Joannie Rochette
"Like a Prayer" provides an interesting musical backdrop for Joannie
Rochette's program, since it starts off slow and melancholy, but then
speeds up with as the song progresses. The version Joannie used
seemed to be extra dance mixy in places, building to a quite fast and
dancy rhythm, and Joannie changed style right along with the changing
music. This was a nice program for her. I think Joannie isn't quite
the extroverted entertainer as her Canadian compatriots on this tour,
but I can see the potential for it.
"Too-Me Tango" - Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, David Pelletier, John
Zimmerman, Jennifer Robinson
I found this program charming before in San Jose, but it was even more
fun here in Vancouver. For one thing, the skaters seemed to not be
taking it that seriously, providing cute mock-serious attitude and
playing up the over-dramatic tango from time to time. Jennifer
Robinson, for her part, seemed to be getting a real kick out of
playing the bossy diva, while kind of winking at the audience under
her diva-exterior. The choreography had the guys do stuff like caress
their suitcases longingly - I'm not sure if it was intended to be
serious but the guys were less than serious doing it. I was cracking
up watching John Zimmerman, who seemed to be overplaying things, and
Kurt Browning, whose facial expressions are just fun to watch. He was
totally playing up the "oh geez" disgust at Jennifer's diva behavior
to the audience. And Jennifer throws a good tantrum at the end. It's
quite funny.
"When September Ends" - Elvis Stojko
I love the music. I think Elvis' performance to it for the most part
was quite dynamic and exciting. I could have *really* done without the
pointing. One of my least favorite things about Elvis' exhibition
skating in the past has been the segments of choreography where he
does nothing but point into a corner until he gets applause, or open
his arms to another part of the audience until he gets applause. I
had thought he was doing a good job eliminating that from his programs
until this one, which was a bit of a disappointment. I was gratified
that the audience didn't really play along - it took a while for the
applause to come, and it was fairly minimal when it happened. My
other problem with the pointing in this particular program is that I
didn't feel it fit. "When September Ends" is a fairly melancholy song
- what's with the pointing and smiling into the audience? Around the
pointing, however, Elvis skated a fast, dynamic, high energy program
that was fun to watch.
"The Suite" - Kurt Browning
For the Canadian tour, Kurt Browning took on the role Yuka Sato played
in the American tour, skating a brief tribute to the tour-related
people who had passed away, and transitioning into the "new additions"
to the Stars on Ice family. Unlike with Yuka's tribute, the skating
wasn't mixed with the videos - they played the entire memorial video,
then Kurt came out to skate, then he spread his arms to indicate the
videos, and glided quietly off the ice as the skaters kids were shown
on the video. I think this worked better, personally - the attention
could be given where it should be given and the tribute still worked,
with Kurt acting as linking element between past and present. In
fact, now that I think about it, having Kurt skate this was *really*
fitting because he really does represent that transition - he was
skating with the tour when Sergei, at least, passed away, and he was
one of the parents showcased in the skaters' kids video. The one
problem with the memorial video is I think most of the audience has no
clue who anybody but Sergei is in it. But at least they were
respectfully silent during the rest of it. Kurt's skate was
beautiful, as well. Wearing a flowy long-sleeved white button shirt
with really faint stars on it, Kurt skated a nice, edgy, heartfelt
tribute. Beautiful spread eagle, Ina Bauer, spiral... and then the
children's video made everyone smile, especially when Aidan Hamilton
kissed Keara Hedican.
"Vertigo" - Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman
After several false starts that recalled several Stars on Ice
transitions in the past (Jeff Buttle as the message boy, looking for
his tip, John being called on his cell phone by Scott as he and Kyoko
prepared to skate to some pretty classical piece), Kyoko and John
finally stepped out on the ice to crank the energy in the arena up
about 1000 notches. Forget this classical number, Kyoko and John were
there to dance and do exciting tricks to the pounding rhythm of
"Vertigo" by U2. And with their thrilling fly high and say bye,
candle lift, throw twists and jumps, and other fun tricks, they
completely grabbed the audience and drew them in. The Canadian
audience, for their part, proved what many skaters have said about
their ability to appreciate and cheer for non-Canadian skaters, giving
Kyoko and John the loudest applause of the evening thus far.
"Higher" - Jeff Buttle
Jeff Buttle's program to "Higher" had no set up, pose, and then music
start...instead he stepped out onto the ice moving as "Higher" started
up, and then just never stopped. And while "Sing, Sing, Sing" was a
fun skate, "Higher" was a beautiful, interpretative skate, with real
emotion and angst, that Jeff performed beautifully. James Blunt's
voice is not my favorite, but this was a nice blend of skater and
song. Jeff is a great show skater, and I hope he continues with Stars
on Ice for quite some time yet.
"The Blower's Daughter" - Jamie Sale and David Pelletier
I love, love, LOVE this number, and was thrilled when I found out they
were performing it in the CSOI tour. I find the music just really
compelling - kind of eerie, kind of romantic, and captivating in its
simplicity. And Jamie and David do romantic programs fantastically
well - helps that they're in love, but they're also quite good actors
on the ice, and can really evoke the emotion of the choreography.
Given that the song repeats "Can't take my eyes off of you", it's no
surprise that Jamie and David spend about 80% of the program staring
into each others' eyes (which, IMO, is no mean feat when they need to
be skating and keeping track of what they're doing!). This is just a
wonderful program, and I'm happy I got to see it live.
"Brick House" - Kurt Browning
While in the US tour, Scott Hamilton made a big deal about what an
honor the last spot in the running order was (which, to me, sounded
incredibly rude to the other skaters by basically saying - Jamie &
David are *the* stars of the show), here he simply introduced Kurt as
his son's "favorite skater". The lights came up on Kurt in his
Brickhouse pants and a new white t-shirt, smiling into the audience,
and preparing to funk out to the old fan favorite, Brickhouse by the
Commodores. This was the program that by far received the most votes
in a recent poll of Kurt Browning fans, and it was a program much of
the audience immediately recognized and were thrilled to see. And boy
does Kurt get into it, reviving both the choreography and the feel of
the program and looking like he's having the time of his life out
there on the ice. Not only was the footwork and moves spot-on to the
music as usual, Kurt's jumps are still big and gorgeous in this
program, with wonderful height on his double axels and great triple
toes and triple sals. While I do have to confess wishing that Kurt
had done something new - and of a different style than Peace Frog - it
was a lot of fun getting to see the program that made me a fan live
for the first time in 10 years. And boy did Kurt sell it.
"Sing, Sing, Sing" - Cast
I remember being less than impressed with this finale/opening number
in San Jose, but there was something about the energy of the cast in
this number that really really worked for me in Vancouver. I felt
like the skaters actually were exuberantly about to get into a show, I
could feel the excitement in the air, and they just seemed to be
having so much fun to it. There was one amusing thing, though - after
all the jokes in the rehearsal and dress rehearsal number about
mishaps and costume issues, Kurt had a costume problem in the finale!
He has to do a quick change between BH and being introduced at the
beginning of the finale, and didn't seem to get his tie tucked in
properly. So during several in betweens, he kept trying to do
something with the tie, tucking it into his shirt, etc, before finally
ripping it off and throwing it into the on-ice seats and continuing.
It only served to drive home the whole "evolution of the show" theme,
rather amusingly. This was a fantastic, exuberant end to the show,
though, and IMO sent the audience home happy.
All in all, I'd say the Canadian Stars on Ice tour was a success, with
a fantastic cast and an improved execution of the theme. I had a lot
of fun, and really enjoyed the show.
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