Scott Hamilton's baby is all grown up

January 26, 2006
Written by Tina Tyan with special thanks to Brittany Summers
Photos by Tina Tyan

Twenty years ago, Scott Hamilton was an unemployed skater, recently fired from the Ice Capades and wondering what to do next. Male figure skaters didn't sell tickets, he'd been told, and he had been growing increasingly disillusioned with the options available to him.

Twenty years later, Scott Hamilton is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stars on Ice, a show created from his vision of a place where elite-level, sophisticated, creative skating and entertainment took center stage, and where top skaters could do what they do best. The show has grown from a small, five-city tour to one of the most prestigious and well-known figure skating tours today, traveling to up to 60 cities in America, and with affiliated tours in Canada and Europe. It has also featured some of the biggest names in figure skating of the last twenty years, skaters such as Dorothy Hamill, Katarina Witt, Kristi Yamaguchi, Paul Wylie, and Kurt Browning.

The 2006 Smucker's Stars on Ice tour continues the tradition of great skaters with a cast that features 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexei Yagudin, 2002 Olympic Gold Medalists Jamie Sale & David Pelletier, 2002 Olympic Gold Medalists Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze, World Champion and 6-time US champion Todd Eldredge, 8-time British Champion Steven Cousins, 6-time Canadian Champion Jennifer Robinson, World Champion Yuka Sato, US Pairs Champion Jason Dungjen, and World Bronze Medalists Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman. It also features a virtual Scott Hamilton, narrating the show from video screens and taking the audience through the development of the show that was his brainchild and home for 15 years. At 47 years old, Scott no longer skates with the tour, but he is still very much a part of the show as producer, and as the "father" of the tour, is the perfect guide to the ins and outs of Stars on Ice.

The theme of this year's tour is "A Show about the Show". It takes us from Scott's original idea through rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and opening night, with choreographic callbacks to past numbers, nods to past jokes, and a tribute to the members of the tour who have passed on. However, the show's references to its twenty-year history do not exist solely on the ice. Music from past tours plays as the audience shuffles in and finds their seats, and videos from past tours featuring past cast members and group numbers play on the video
screens throughout intermission.

The show opens with a callback to the Ice Capades, with the cast in overly cute costumes; the ladies dressed as flowers or butterflies, and the men dressed as gardeners, complete with gardening implements. Scott freezes the action with a horrified cry from the video screens, declaring that this is not at all what he intended. Alexei Yagudin then skates out in a simple black costume as Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love" begins to play. The cast quickly sheds their "Ice Capades" costumes and joins him to skate a simple, strong ensemble number showcasing each of them by turn. The contrast between overly cutesy costumed Ice Capades and the more simple, stark, strong skating to rock music of Stars on Ice is clear, and serves as a visual depiction of Scott's original concept for the show.

The full cast ensemble numbers throughout the show are meant to give the audience a look at the different stages of the tour. The first act closer "Dance Medley" is intended to represent rehearsals, where everybody has their own ideas of where the show should go, and different ideas are thrown out and discarded. Scott Hamilton provides narration from the video screens as the skaters transition through different groupings, costuming, and music, ostensibly showcasing their ideas of what the show should do. The second act opener "Overture/Comedy Tonight" explores dress rehearsal, with all the attendant mishaps and mistakes that have happened on tour over the years. Skaters are out of sync and missing their cues, props are dropped, and costumes malfunction all over the place. The "Too-Me Tango" of the second act is an ensemble that acts as a look at life on tour, and is purportedly inspired by an actual past member of the cast who always got the other skaters to carry her bags for her. Later, Yuka Sato comes out on the ice to pay tribute to the lost members of Stars on Ice - Brian Pockar, Rob McCall, Sergei Grinkov, IMG founder and CEO Mark McCormack, Scott Hamilton sponsor Helen McLoraine - as well as to welcome the newest members of the Stars on Ice family - Aidan Hamilton, Keara Hedican, Gabriel Browning Rodriguez, Jack Sand, Daria Grinkova, Elizaveta Kulik, Hannah Wylie. Finally, the finale of the show, to "Sing, Sing, Sing", is meant to be the "opening" of the show - opening number on opening night, with Scott Hamilton welcoming us to Stars on Ice, and the skaters being introduced on ice.

While clever in concept, the execution of the theme, at least at the San Jose show in January, was not always as successful as it could have been. The concept of the closing number as opening number seemed to have been lost on many people, who wondered why the skaters were not introduced until the end of the show. The missing skater introductions in the beginning of the show also led to some confusion as people tried to identify skaters they were unfamiliar with. Despite Scott's narration, both the "rehearsal" and "dress rehearsal" numbers lacked clarity in their presentation of the theme. The "rehearsal" number felt like a collection of bits of different styles of choreography to different pieces of music, and somehow the idea that the skaters were throwing out ideas in the process of rehearsal was rather obscured. The "dress rehearsal" number, in particular, suffered from having too much going on on the ice at all times. A lot of the jokes and intended mishaps were lost in the shuffle, since it wasn't clear where the eye should go. Also, one of the inherent problems Stars on Ice has always had when trying to execute a single running theme is that the individual numbers in general don't fit the theme. When the theme is chronological in nature like with this year's tour, this particularly reduces the effectiveness and coherency of the theme.

On the flip side, the "Too-Me Tango" was a very clever callback to previous ensembles while remaining a strong group number in its own right. Those familiar with Stars on Ice may recognize shades of Katarina Witt in "Hotter than Blue" (a role Jennifer Robinson took over in Canada), Jamie Sale in "Sunscreen", and every guys-with-props ensemble since Christopher Dean took over. A familiarity with these past ensembles is not needed, however, to appreciate Jennifer Robinson's performance as the diva or to enjoy the concept of the number. Similarly, while there may have been issues in the execution of the theme in the ensembles, a recognition of the theme is not necessary to enjoy the ensemble numbers. The choreography and personality in both the "rehearsal" and "dress rehearsal" numbers is clever, and both numbers are infused with a great deal of humor.

Of course, the ensembles do not make up the entire Stars on Ice show. The bulk of the show consists of strong individual programs that were, on the whole, extremely enjoyable to watch. While the individual programs did not fit the running theme of following Stars on Ice from concept to opening night, many of them did fit into the overall idea of the "Show About a Show." Some of the skaters brought out past programs that had never been performed on Stars on Ice, but are considered to be personal classics, such as Alexei Yagudin's "Winter," Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze's "Chaplin Medley" (which recalled both their past Chaplin number and last year's "Dance Mix") and Steven Cousins's "Belfast Child." Others performed programs that recalled past Stars on Ice programs or programs by past Stars on Ice skaters. Todd Eldredge's "Bolero" utilized the music made famous by Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean, though he interpreted it in his own way. Jamie Sale & David Pelletier's "Elite Syncopations", choreographed by Christopher Dean, utilized the music and many of the same choreographic elements of the "Red Hat" Stars on Ice ensemble number from the 1997 tour.

The rest of the skaters, charged by Scott Hamilton to produce programs that emphasized "powerful, simple skating," played to their strengths. Yuka Sato's "Beanfields" program, an upbeat, fast-moving banjo number, fully utilized her abilities as a strong footwork skater and emphasized her joyful presence on the ice. She also skated pairs with her husband Jason Dungjen for the first time on tour, to the romantic "Get Here." Jennifer Robinson's "And the Beat Goes On" showcased her charm and personality as she executed some of the most difficult technical content of the night, while her "If It Wasn't For Your Love" allowed her to show her more lyrical, emotional side. Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman thrilled the audience with their exciting tricks and dynamic energy to U2's "Vertigo.

For twenty years, Stars on Ice has been the place to go to see some of the best skaters in the world perform some of the most creative and entertaining choreography, and this year's show is no exception. Despite some weaknesses, overall the show features strong skating and clever, entertaining ensembles that fit Scott Hamilton's original vision for the show. He may no longer skate with the tour, but Scott's influence can still be felt throughout Stars on Ice. Although his vision powers the show, the show has long since reached the point where it can stand on its own without him. Scott Hamilton's baby is indeed all grown up.

For more information on the tour, including tour dates, visit www.starsonice.com. The tour takes a break during the Olympics, but will resume in March. Kurt Browning guest stars for 15 stops on the tour before and after the Olympic break.