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Stars on Ice Review - Ft. Wayne, IN - Mar. 25, 1998
written by "C"
KURT DOES THE QUAD *EXACTLY* 10 YEAR AFTER THE FIRST ONE
The first thing I noticed when I finally found the Memorial arena was that,
first, Ft. Wayne needs to invest in signs and second, the arena was still
trying to sell tickets as late as 7:15. As I sat down, with three empty seats
surrounding me, I couldn't help but think it was sad that the WWF wrestling
plays to sell out crowds in this auditorium - I suppose there is no accounting
for taste...Then the show started and rest assured, any thought of pro
wrestlers quickly evaporated.
The opening of the show was every bit as awesome as people had been promising.
The highlights were seeing Torvill and Dean in their solo, Paul Wylie slipping
to the ice in his solo and reassuring the audience that all was fine (you
could just tell that he knew there were only two more weeks in his career) and
of course Kurt coming out in his hockey skates moving so fast that I was sure
that he would fall flat on his face (a continous fear of mine whenever I skate
in skates of any type).
The rest of act 1 was pretty much exactly like what has already been said
numerous times. Katia was really on in 3 Preludes and Torvill and Dean were
ice dancing perfection ( Pasha who?!) in Tango. I think that this stop was
one of the few on the tour where Scott did not receive a standing O for "With
One Look at You", but this Ft. Wayne crowd was determined to stay in their
seats.
Then came the Fun and Games skit. Little did I know that I would be seeing
something that would be making the air waves days later. The majority of the
skit was identical to what has been shown on television, with a few '98
Olympic references made. Then Kurt came out as Cyril Lutz. Watching him go
into what was supposed to be a triple toe, I thought to myself, "that was
humongous!" and then, Scotty shouted with the enthusiasm he normally reserves
for particularly special Olympic moments, "WOW, LOOK AT THAT!! A QUAD TOE!!!"
For those that are morbidly curious, the landing was dead on - no hand down,
no kamikaze exit, not even a tiny wobble. And though the audience applauded
vigorously, I doubt anyone truly knew the significance of that move until it
was mentioned at The Great Skate Debate a few nights later.
The skit seemed to rejuvenate the skaters, who all frankly looked like they
could use a good night's sleep, as well as the audience who, prior to the
skit, seemed to be in the midst of a good night's sleep. Roz had quite a few
fans in the crowd and B&P seemed to make some new ones. Kristi, Kurt, and
Katia (apparently to be in the Elvis medley, your name has to start with K)
did a wonderful job in the medley - even better than on the television
coverage - it seemed to gain a bit of polish. Katia was skating brillantly
until I jinxed her by thinking exactly that as she zambonied on a double axel.
By this point, the audience was in love with Kurt. His Tragically Hip was
amazing and you could start to see the signs of the audience feeling inspired
to possibly move out of their seats to applaud although no one actually
received a full standing O that night.
At the end, during the bows, I really was amazed to see the visible affection
this group of people have for each other and after realizing they were in
Nashville only hours before (let me tell you, even by plane, Tenn. is hardly a
short jump away) and that the majority of the skaters would be competing in
Chicago, I suddenly knew that I was watching a group of "super humans" at
their best.
C -
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