NAdancefan
12-21-2002, 09:18 PM
Thought I'd post a quick review of the Celebration on Ice show that was held in Newmarket yesterday... I was at the 8 p.m. show, which was completely sold out - I'm talking sold out, meaning all the seats and the bleachers were full, not the faux sold-out that larger shows in big arenas often stake claim to.
The only notes I took were occasional scrawled music and jump IDs, so the rest is entirely relying on my memory... so if anyone else was there and can correct me if I'm wrong, please, go right ahead.
OPENING - Cast
The music was a medley of Xmas tunes - Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells and The Little Drummer Boy, and the guys were in royal blue with white trim, and the girls were in red with white trim. It was a pretty generic opening... all I really remember is that everyone got a cold spot (B&K did a piece of their straightline footwork and the Shae Crusher in theirs) and there was one part where the four guys (Kurt, Brian, Jeff and Ken Rose) skated alone without the rest of the cast.
Joannie Rochette - She skated to a slow Xmas song with female vocals... something about "my grown-up Christmas wish"? She was wearing a gorgeous crimson velvet dress with rhinestones scattered across the bodice and landed (I believe) a 3S, a 3T and a 2A. The way she uses her arms in her skating has improved particularly since last year, and she looks wonderful and in great shape for someone who's been out with an injury.
LaRiviere & Faustino - The music was operatic male and female vocals with a chorus in the background... in Italian, I believe? Or, well, not in English, at least. ;) My sister dubbed the program "very conceptual", but she wasn't so sure what the concept actually was. Hee! Jazz wore a gorgeous lavendar chiffon dress with silver sparklies, and Lenny was in black with a white turtleneck. They weren't totally on - Jazz stepped out of the throw 3S and they had a scary slip coming down from a carry lift in which Lenny was on one foot. Their chemistry is wonderful, though - I noticed many people sitting around us asking each other if they were an off-ice couple. (FYI - They're not.)
Nicole Trach - Nicole is a Newmarket local who skates at the novice level, and was the pre-Novice silver medalist in Canada last year. She's a very pretty girl - quite petite, with long blonde hair - and was wearing a gorgeous cherry pink velvet halter dress. She skated to Christmas is Here Again and landed a 2Z, a 2A and I believe a 3T.
Jeff Buttle - Aside from Kurt and B&K, Jeff was definitely the star of the show. He skated to Angel by Robbie Williams dressed all in grey and was spectacular - gorgeous spins, wonderful ease of movement and musicality, and some lovely jumps, including a 3Z. Huge crowd response.
Jen Robinson - Jen was wearing a green sequined halter dress that I highly suspect had a former life as a dress from an SOI group number. Someone mentioned that the dress she wore at the Canadian Open was probably an old SOI dress belonging to Christine Hough - I think this one probably was, too. Anyhow, she skated to Jingle Bells and despite the fact that the program was kinda blah (looked like she made it up in about half an hour just for the Xmas shows she's been doing), I was proud of her for including, and landing, a 3Z (also a 2A and 3S).
Josee Chouinard - Josee skated to Los Pajaros Perdidos wearing a short-sleeved black chiffon dress over a red underlayer. She didn't look quite over her feet throughout the program, and had trouble with both her triple jumps, falling on one and catching an edge and tripping on the second.
Brian Orser - Brian looks way too good for his age! He skated to The Most Wonderful Time of the Year in a green vest and pants over a white shirt and landed a 1A, 2A, 3S and, of course, a backflip.
Bourne & Kraatz - The crowd went crazy when they were announced (by Rod Black, who was doing the announcing for the show, btw). The review posted at FSU has already covered most of the details, so I won't go into costume/music stuff except to say the first part of the music is a technofied version of Adagio (Anytime, Anywhere without the vocals) with a heavy beat before it goes into the Sarah Brightman version. The costumes are total Tarasova Classics <TM> and the program itself is, for lack of a better description, extremely voidy. Overall, I was very impressed, especially at how good they looked for a team that hasn't competed yet and has lost a good deal of training time due to injury. My problems with the program are that I thought the first third was lacking content - there was quite a bit of SBS stuff and progressives into fancy lifts (and yes, some of the lifts are definitely quite spectacular and very interesting), as well as toe steps in the circular sequence. Also, there are two lifts that I thought might get dinged for violating the indecency rule, one in particular in which Shae is in an upside-down split position while Victor carries her in a one-foot shoot-the-duck. Needless to say, they received a partial standing ovation.
Kurt Browning - Kurt skated his old Rag-GID-don clown program and was as adorable as ever... landed 2A, 3S, 3T-2T and the crowd ate him up as usual. Gotta love Kurt. :D My sister remarked that he is one of those rare one-in-a-million gems who is Brilliant with a capital B... a natural performer and good at absolutely everything he does. (She also added, "Pity about the hair, though. ;))
Iced Energy - Newmarket's synchronized skating team. I know nothing about synchro, so no commentary for me here except that when the girls skated out, Kurt skated out alongside them in his Raggy costume and cracked everyone up. :D
- INTERMISSION -
Newmarket Timbits - This was a group of tiny tot skaters who skated around wearing hockey jerseys and hockey skates - seemed to be an excuse to promote one of the sponsors (Tim Hortons, the famous Canadian donut chain made legendary in skating circles by Lenny Faustino ;)) and let the kids, who were adorable, show off a bit. Josee skated around with them and the kids seemed to love her - she'll make a fantastic mother one day.
Zat You, Santa Claus? - Jeff, Kurt, and Brian came out dressed in Santa suits and skated around for a bit tossing out candy canes to the audience. Josee was their elf and flirted with all the santas before Santa Brian showed 'em all up by doing a backflip, fat suit and all. ;)
Jeff - Again, Jeffy was marvelous, skating to Lonely Christmas Eve and landing 3T, 2A and 3Z and tossing off a wonderful straightline footwork sequence with flair. You go, boy!
Joannie - Skated her short program in a gorgeous dress - graduating shades of pink with spaghetti straps and a draped, gathered skirt. Landed a 3F, 2A and I believe she replaced the combo with a 3S or a 3T (didn't write it down). Her MITF have really improved and I think she may well be the second member of our women's world team if she keeps it up.
Jazz & Lenny - Skated to Run, Run, Rudolph with Jazz in red with white furry cuffs and Lenny in red and black with a green toque that had antlers on it. Hee! Again, they had some problems... Jazz looked a little shaky throughout and took a big splat on the throw 3S, which was badly tilted in the air.
Ken Rose - Another Newmarket local who skates at the Junior level... he was fourth in Canada last year and is a favourite to win the Jr. title this year. He skated to Let it Snow and something else wearing a sparkly shirt a la Todd Eldredge and landed a 2A and a triple something.
Jen - Teach Me, Tiger... the same program she skated at the Canadian Open, dressed in pink sparkles. Again, landed a clean 3Z - good for her to include the lutz in both show programs! - a 1ft. axel into a 3S, and a 2A.
Brian - Skated to Hallelujah (not sure whose recording of it, though... not the usual Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright)... a lovely program, vintage Brian with jumps out of nowhere and gorgeous footwork.
Josee - Skated to Santa Claus is Coming to Town in sparkly red top and red chiffon skirt... landed a 2A and a double Tano lutz, but had problems with the 3T.
Shae & Victor - Again, the FSU review linked in the other Newmarket thread pretty much covered it... they skated their OD and unlike the FD, which I had some reservations about, I was totally blown away by this. It is stellar. Very traditional, very ballroom, wonderful edges, footwork, use of levels, expression... I haven't seen L&A's OD yet, but of the ODs I have seen, this is definitely the best so far.
I had to leave right after B&K to catch a bus home, but I know that Kurt skated his new program to My Favourite Things since he was starting to skate just as we left. Anyone who was at the show who can fill in with notes on the finale or anything else, please do! All in all, it was a great show - definitely worth the money and the treck out to Newmarket from the city. It left some "professional" shows I've seen recently, such as the Sk8 With Elvis tour, in the dust in terms of skating quality and cast, and I hope the show comes back to Newmarket next December!
The only notes I took were occasional scrawled music and jump IDs, so the rest is entirely relying on my memory... so if anyone else was there and can correct me if I'm wrong, please, go right ahead.
OPENING - Cast
The music was a medley of Xmas tunes - Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells and The Little Drummer Boy, and the guys were in royal blue with white trim, and the girls were in red with white trim. It was a pretty generic opening... all I really remember is that everyone got a cold spot (B&K did a piece of their straightline footwork and the Shae Crusher in theirs) and there was one part where the four guys (Kurt, Brian, Jeff and Ken Rose) skated alone without the rest of the cast.
Joannie Rochette - She skated to a slow Xmas song with female vocals... something about "my grown-up Christmas wish"? She was wearing a gorgeous crimson velvet dress with rhinestones scattered across the bodice and landed (I believe) a 3S, a 3T and a 2A. The way she uses her arms in her skating has improved particularly since last year, and she looks wonderful and in great shape for someone who's been out with an injury.
LaRiviere & Faustino - The music was operatic male and female vocals with a chorus in the background... in Italian, I believe? Or, well, not in English, at least. ;) My sister dubbed the program "very conceptual", but she wasn't so sure what the concept actually was. Hee! Jazz wore a gorgeous lavendar chiffon dress with silver sparklies, and Lenny was in black with a white turtleneck. They weren't totally on - Jazz stepped out of the throw 3S and they had a scary slip coming down from a carry lift in which Lenny was on one foot. Their chemistry is wonderful, though - I noticed many people sitting around us asking each other if they were an off-ice couple. (FYI - They're not.)
Nicole Trach - Nicole is a Newmarket local who skates at the novice level, and was the pre-Novice silver medalist in Canada last year. She's a very pretty girl - quite petite, with long blonde hair - and was wearing a gorgeous cherry pink velvet halter dress. She skated to Christmas is Here Again and landed a 2Z, a 2A and I believe a 3T.
Jeff Buttle - Aside from Kurt and B&K, Jeff was definitely the star of the show. He skated to Angel by Robbie Williams dressed all in grey and was spectacular - gorgeous spins, wonderful ease of movement and musicality, and some lovely jumps, including a 3Z. Huge crowd response.
Jen Robinson - Jen was wearing a green sequined halter dress that I highly suspect had a former life as a dress from an SOI group number. Someone mentioned that the dress she wore at the Canadian Open was probably an old SOI dress belonging to Christine Hough - I think this one probably was, too. Anyhow, she skated to Jingle Bells and despite the fact that the program was kinda blah (looked like she made it up in about half an hour just for the Xmas shows she's been doing), I was proud of her for including, and landing, a 3Z (also a 2A and 3S).
Josee Chouinard - Josee skated to Los Pajaros Perdidos wearing a short-sleeved black chiffon dress over a red underlayer. She didn't look quite over her feet throughout the program, and had trouble with both her triple jumps, falling on one and catching an edge and tripping on the second.
Brian Orser - Brian looks way too good for his age! He skated to The Most Wonderful Time of the Year in a green vest and pants over a white shirt and landed a 1A, 2A, 3S and, of course, a backflip.
Bourne & Kraatz - The crowd went crazy when they were announced (by Rod Black, who was doing the announcing for the show, btw). The review posted at FSU has already covered most of the details, so I won't go into costume/music stuff except to say the first part of the music is a technofied version of Adagio (Anytime, Anywhere without the vocals) with a heavy beat before it goes into the Sarah Brightman version. The costumes are total Tarasova Classics <TM> and the program itself is, for lack of a better description, extremely voidy. Overall, I was very impressed, especially at how good they looked for a team that hasn't competed yet and has lost a good deal of training time due to injury. My problems with the program are that I thought the first third was lacking content - there was quite a bit of SBS stuff and progressives into fancy lifts (and yes, some of the lifts are definitely quite spectacular and very interesting), as well as toe steps in the circular sequence. Also, there are two lifts that I thought might get dinged for violating the indecency rule, one in particular in which Shae is in an upside-down split position while Victor carries her in a one-foot shoot-the-duck. Needless to say, they received a partial standing ovation.
Kurt Browning - Kurt skated his old Rag-GID-don clown program and was as adorable as ever... landed 2A, 3S, 3T-2T and the crowd ate him up as usual. Gotta love Kurt. :D My sister remarked that he is one of those rare one-in-a-million gems who is Brilliant with a capital B... a natural performer and good at absolutely everything he does. (She also added, "Pity about the hair, though. ;))
Iced Energy - Newmarket's synchronized skating team. I know nothing about synchro, so no commentary for me here except that when the girls skated out, Kurt skated out alongside them in his Raggy costume and cracked everyone up. :D
- INTERMISSION -
Newmarket Timbits - This was a group of tiny tot skaters who skated around wearing hockey jerseys and hockey skates - seemed to be an excuse to promote one of the sponsors (Tim Hortons, the famous Canadian donut chain made legendary in skating circles by Lenny Faustino ;)) and let the kids, who were adorable, show off a bit. Josee skated around with them and the kids seemed to love her - she'll make a fantastic mother one day.
Zat You, Santa Claus? - Jeff, Kurt, and Brian came out dressed in Santa suits and skated around for a bit tossing out candy canes to the audience. Josee was their elf and flirted with all the santas before Santa Brian showed 'em all up by doing a backflip, fat suit and all. ;)
Jeff - Again, Jeffy was marvelous, skating to Lonely Christmas Eve and landing 3T, 2A and 3Z and tossing off a wonderful straightline footwork sequence with flair. You go, boy!
Joannie - Skated her short program in a gorgeous dress - graduating shades of pink with spaghetti straps and a draped, gathered skirt. Landed a 3F, 2A and I believe she replaced the combo with a 3S or a 3T (didn't write it down). Her MITF have really improved and I think she may well be the second member of our women's world team if she keeps it up.
Jazz & Lenny - Skated to Run, Run, Rudolph with Jazz in red with white furry cuffs and Lenny in red and black with a green toque that had antlers on it. Hee! Again, they had some problems... Jazz looked a little shaky throughout and took a big splat on the throw 3S, which was badly tilted in the air.
Ken Rose - Another Newmarket local who skates at the Junior level... he was fourth in Canada last year and is a favourite to win the Jr. title this year. He skated to Let it Snow and something else wearing a sparkly shirt a la Todd Eldredge and landed a 2A and a triple something.
Jen - Teach Me, Tiger... the same program she skated at the Canadian Open, dressed in pink sparkles. Again, landed a clean 3Z - good for her to include the lutz in both show programs! - a 1ft. axel into a 3S, and a 2A.
Brian - Skated to Hallelujah (not sure whose recording of it, though... not the usual Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright)... a lovely program, vintage Brian with jumps out of nowhere and gorgeous footwork.
Josee - Skated to Santa Claus is Coming to Town in sparkly red top and red chiffon skirt... landed a 2A and a double Tano lutz, but had problems with the 3T.
Shae & Victor - Again, the FSU review linked in the other Newmarket thread pretty much covered it... they skated their OD and unlike the FD, which I had some reservations about, I was totally blown away by this. It is stellar. Very traditional, very ballroom, wonderful edges, footwork, use of levels, expression... I haven't seen L&A's OD yet, but of the ODs I have seen, this is definitely the best so far.
I had to leave right after B&K to catch a bus home, but I know that Kurt skated his new program to My Favourite Things since he was starting to skate just as we left. Anyone who was at the show who can fill in with notes on the finale or anything else, please do! All in all, it was a great show - definitely worth the money and the treck out to Newmarket from the city. It left some "professional" shows I've seen recently, such as the Sk8 With Elvis tour, in the dust in terms of skating quality and cast, and I hope the show comes back to Newmarket next December!