Written by: Kathleen (kruss)

I attended the Milwaukee Stars on Ice on February 26th.  This was the 
second of the three shows I will be seeing this year.

Having already provided a detailed review of the Chicago show, wherein I 
described the programs completely, I will make this review a collection 
of thoughts and impressions of the show overall.

I will start with the venue - the Bradley Center is one of the most 
beautiful arenas I’ve visited.  It is clean and comfortable, and not 
crowded despite the large number of people there.  My seats were center 
ice, 10th row, and the view was pretty good.  It also was not as stuffy 
and warm as the Horizon in Chicago.  I will definitely make this an 
annual trip.

This being the second show of the tour since the Olympic break, the 
skaters looked rested.  Katarina Witt has finished her first half of the 
tour, and now Torvill and Dean are back to complete the remainder of the 
tour.  Scott shaved his beard, and Elena’s hair is even shorter than it 
was.

The beginning program always gets me - it’s very thrilling to see the 
skaters skate so close to one another and not run into each other.  For 
those who have not seen the show yet, Paul is in the direct center of 
the group during the opening.  The lights are dim so it’s difficult at 
first identifying everyone.  The beginning of this part has every member 
of the cast minus Scott.

When Scott joined the group of skaters the crowd went wild with applause 
and cheers.  As Scott took center ice, the first of his several standing 
ovations took place.  Scott was definitely on all night.  Even though he 
doubled some of his triple jumps, he did not fall like in Chicago, and 
his enthusiasm was strong all night.

Kurt’s spot in the beginning on hockey skates was as thrilling as usual.  
His time during this part is all too short, but he makes the most of it, 
spraying the audience with ice and generally hamming it up.  He even 
exits the ice doing a funny imitation of a ladies’ spiral before doing a 
hockey stop towards Paul and spraying him slightly with ice.

Paul’s footwork portion to Moby Dick is as excellent as ever.  I don’t 
know how he does it.  The intricate steps, the squat eagles, the edges - 
Paul really shines in this portion of the program.  As much as I am not 
a fan of Led Zeppelin, I wish Paul had done some more rock music 
programs to showcase his unique talents in another musical form.

Bechke and Petrov - in my opinion they are the best professional pair on 
the ice today, and I am really going to miss them when they leave the 
tour next year.  They are very strong and exhibit that, as classical 
skaters, they are very capable of doing rock programs.

Katia Gordeeva shines in her Gershwin program.  Like the music or not 
(and I do like this music), this is an extremely fun and innovative 
program for Katia.  Her ability to connect with the audience has 
improved so much in the last year.  Katia is very playful with the 
audience, especially in this program, and her smile reaches to the top 
of the arena.  For those who are jump-conscious, she landed her triple 
toe beautifully, but sat down on another jump (I can’t remember which 
one).  She did complete a double lutz, which is a new jump for her this 
year.

Kristi’s “Kisses” program is cute.  She definitely has a rapport with 
the audience, being both fun and flirty.

Paul’s Sleepers program leaves me spellbound.  The music is beautiful, 
tortured, almost scary, and at times high energy.  This program is all 
about edges and line, with a little footwork combined.  The ending pose, 
in gray light, is reminiscent of a prison.  I think it’s probably one of 
the most serious programs he has done, in the league of Schindler’s List 
and On the Waterfront.

Scott’s tribute to us, “With One More Look At You”, reminded me of 
something Scott said to the audience two years ago on tour.  He told us, 
“there is no place that I would rather be, right now, than on this ice 
performing for you.”  I believed it then and I believe it now.  While 
it’s always more fun to see Scott be the funny entertainer, his style in 
this serious program reminds us all that this man is first and foremost 
a wonderful skater.

Torvill and Dean unveiled a new program that begins with Jane sitting on 
a large clothes trunk presumably in a train station of long ago.  She 
tries to move the trunk with no luck, then spots a gentleman reading his 
newspaper (Chris).  Her antics to gain his attention meet with no 
results, as Chris is clearly more interested in the day’s news than this 
lovely lady trying to flirt with him.  When Jane finally forces her way 
between Chris and his newspaper, he gives in to her charm and they skate 
together.  The final part of the program has Chris moving the trunk 
farther across the ice, whereby Jane resumes her sitting position, 
satisfied that she accomplished her only goal in getting a gentleman’s 
assistance in moving the heavy trunk.  Very cute, and lots of fun.

Olympic spoof time:  As always, I still recommend that you pay attention 
to Paul during this program.  He gets better and better with the 
“coaching” as the tour progresses.  There are five judges now with the 
addition of Torvill and Dean.  I truly wish TBS had shown the judges’ 
little dance, because it is so funny!  Roz (as the skating mom) is there 
as always trying to flirt with the judges to better her daughter’s 
chances of winning.  Kurt plays an awestruck singles skater who waves 
and smiles at the judges with a rather goofy grin, like a star-struck 
kid.  

Scott as the narrator has added something to the dialog since the 
Olympics.  When the dance team of “Gorky and Park” scored low after 
their first program, Scott announced that they switched to “Plan B - 
Change their name to Pasha!” - The crowd roared at that!!

Katia is sweet as Lily Pureheart, and yet plays the little cat well 
during the “skating diva” practice session with Kristi.  When Kurt does 
his Elderedge/ Hamilton/ Wylie/ Browning program, he successfully 
completed both his triple axel and his triple/triple combination.  As 
the program ended and Kurt “won”, instead of the group celebrating with 
cheers and shouts, they all followed Kurt’s lead and “cried” with joy, 
throwing their arms around each other and laying their heads on each 
other’s shoulders.  So funny!

After intermission, the muses walked down one aisle and up another, 
disappeared out of the arena, and came down one more aisle and onto the 
ice.  In Chicago I had missed the skating that came after everyone laced 
up their skates, so I paid particular attention this time.  As usual, my 
eyes stayed on Paul and I was glad, because his part of this ensemble 
consisted of nothing but spread eagles all over the ice.  The ice had 
been cleaned during intermission, so the numerous inside and outside 
spread eagles that Paul performed made wonderful swirls into the ice 
surface.  Then Denis Petrov exited the ice and came out with Renee Roca, 
setting her down center ice to prepare her for the next program.

“Time to Say Goodbye” - I have already mentioned previously that I love 
this program, but this evening held a special poignancy for me.  My 
cousin passed away from black lung disease (he had been a coal miner) 
the same day as the Milwaukee show.  He was born and raised in Sicily, 
and spent his adulthood living in Belgium.  Giovanni spoke only Italian 
and French, but the language barrier meant nothing to us - his winning 
personality shone through.  The song itself is sung in Italian with a 
few lines in English, and summed up my thoughts so much that I found 
myself crying.  This night it felt like a tribute to Giovanni, and I am 
extremely pleased that the beauty and grace of Roca and Sur were used, 
in my eyes, as a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man.

Brian Orser’s tribute to his mother is beautiful.  I think that the joy 
is back in Brian’s skating and performing, and his strength and presence 
on the ice are something great to have back with this tour.  I, too, 
cannot believe it’s been ten years since Calgary.  Brian has only 
improved with age.

Rosalyn’s program to “Sweet Rosalyn” is a nice change from the slower 
things she has been doing the last couple of years.  I think this is a 
fun program for her and it shows every time she performs it.

Kurt’s “Antares” - In Chicago my bad seats would not allow me to enjoy 
this program (probably because I could not see some of it).  The effect 
was quite different in Milwaukee - very mesmerizing.  This is Kurt as 
his best.  He has it all - the footwork, the jumps, the artistry, the 
style, the line - Kurt is truly better now than he has ever been.  This 
is definitely a signature piece for him.

Torvill and Dean skated to Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These 
Years”.  They have added even more innovative lifts and spins to their 
talents, and prove that they are one of the few dance teams that truly 
still DANCE on ice.  

Again, Bechke and Petrov’s French program is cute - lots of their tricks 
and strength.  Their connection to the audience is fun also, and again I 
will truly miss them.

“Go the Distance” - Love it, love it, love it!  Thank you, Paul, for 
your years of dedication, hard work, diligence and beauty on ice.  You 
have truly gone the distance in your career and your life, and we truly 
love you for it.

The Elvis Presley Medley - This is a fun concept.  Three different 
styles in Kurt, Katia and Kristi, but all connected in a great way.  
This program grows on me every time I see it.

“The Show Must Go On” - Scott’s Wizard of Oz program is as fun as ever.  
He really puts his all into this program, and it’s funny and innovative.  
I keep wondering what Scott and Sarah Kawahara will come up with next.  
At the end, Scott took his bows (to another standing O), and 
demonstrated that his legs were very wobbly.  This was the first 
indication to me that he was tired, but fatigue never took away from the 
performance.  Scott, you’re the best!

Finale - Once again, this is too short for me, but skated wonderfully.  
When you think about it, “Stairway to Heaven” is not a typical piece of 
music that one would think of skating to, but this great cast can pull 
off anything in my opinion.  The worst part of it is that it signals the 
ending of one of the best Stars on Ice shows ever done.


Kathleen (kruss)

to the reviews page!