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Simpler show lets skating shine
Browning made 21st appearance at Stars on Ice
| Source: |
Halifax Chronicle Herald |
| Date: |
April 23, 2011 |
| Author: |
Andrew Nemetz |
Sears Stars On Ice had a retro feel on Thursday night at the Halifax
Metro Centre.
It wasn't only due to the performances by stars of days gone by -
including Toller Cranston, Katarina Witt, and Scott Hamilton -
broadcast on the big screens in each corner of the ice.
Or the crowd-pleasing, hip-shaking '50s medley group number that
recalled Elvis, Grease and Happy Days, which closed the first act and
opened the second.
Or the hits from the '80s that the stars skated to like Loverboy's
Working for the Weekend and Cyndi Lauper's True Colours.
It was an air of simplicity and a focus on the skating instead of
over-the-top costumes and props and high-concept group
numbers.
The show was celebrating its 25th anniversary in the U.S. and the look
back was extended to Canada where the annual ice extravaganza is in
its 21st season - all of them featuring Canadian icon Kurt
Browning.
Browning, who served as host, was clearly the fan favourite, earning
the first standing ovation of the night for his theatrical Steppin'
Out of my Mind number.
The audience was privy to Browning's humorous thoughts laid over the
music, like "knees don't fail me now," "keep smilin' - oh that hurts"
and "go for the triple," which was followed by an exaggerated wiping
of the brow, though he accomplished all his jumps and the program's
tricky footwork with admirable ease and style.
In the second half - introduced by a video segment in which Scott
Hamilton called Browning a genius and his son's favourite skater - his
elegant skate to Supertramp's Downstream showcased an entirely
different range of abilities with his grace and heartfelt
lyricism.
And the comic Party in the Park with Browning, Sasha Cohen and David
Pelletier was a hoot with the skaters dressed as clowns in patchwork
top coats, tumbling over each other, playing with bright red
balloons.
Cohen - sporting a new, short hairdo - was a scene-stealer, skating to
Mein Herr from Cabaret with bowler hat, black short-shorts and sheer
stockings and garters, camping it up while showcasing her astonishing
flexibility and awe-inspiring spirals.
Pelletier and his partner Jamie Sale, winners of the 2002 Olympic gold
pairs medal, invoked gasps with their gorgeous overhead lifts and
ingenious spins, many of them featuring Sale in a perfect split
position. They awed the crowd with their performance to the Rolling
Stones' Wild Horses and had a riot skating to Prince's Let's Go Crazy,
earning a standing ovation for the last solo number of the
night.
Joannie Rochette, the 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, was at her best,
covering the ice with speed and demonstrating the fluid spirals,
intricate spins and powerful, technically excellent jumps that helped
propel her to the medal. She cut loose in a fuchsia costume with
feathered skirt and tight, silver-laced bodice as she shimmied to
Christina Aguilera's Show Me How You Burlesque.
Jeffrey Buttle, 2008 world champion, had the girls in the crowd going
wild with his pelvic thrusts and rock star sexiness. Wearing a
space-age black costume and cool shades, he managed to make his
robotic movements and soaring jumps flow in a futuristic skate to
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk.
Besides dazzling with his backflips, Shawn Sawyer, who gave up a trip
to the worlds to skate in Stars On Ice, demonstrated his fabulous
showmanship in Working for the Weekend. First dressed as an office
drone in a suit, sitting on a briefcase and typing madly, he then
ripped off the jacket to reveal a neon green shirt, mussed his hair
and slid across the ice on his stomach on top of the briefcase, before
playfully swinging the briefcase as he leapt and spun and placed it on
his back during a spiral.
Olympic ice dance silver medallists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were
elegant and romantic ballroom dancers skating to Kings of Leon's Use
Somebody, but it was their fiery, passionate flamenco - which included
a flirtatious segment in which they played with Belbin's long chiffon
scarf - that set the audience on fire.
Olympic champ Evan Lysacek also went Latin with a red-hot sexy program
to El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge.
By the time the skaters took to the ice for the finale Simply the
Best, showcasing individual and group talents, the audience - only
half full at best on the night before a long weekend - could agree the
skating they'd seen was Simply the Best.
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