Special Events Reviews

Nov 15, 1999 - "StarSkates Goes Country" Also Goes Dull

By Jack Neal

"StarSkates Goes Country" skated into Reno and out with iimpeccable accuracy Saturday night at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by everyone but me.

Keep reading, please.

The show's first level of skaters were sensational. Kristi Yamaguchi still skates with the sharp edge of an Olympic gold medalist. Kurt Browning remains a superb artist and a fabulous showman of dazzling ice-skating feats. Jenni Meno and Todd Sand continue as the pert perfectionists of pairs skating, while Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur become only more radiant and rapturous in the pairs skating business as time winds on.

The show's second level of skaters were terrific, but not equally so. I know, how can the likes of Olympic gold medalist Victor Petrenko be relegated to second eschelon status, or Brian Orser, or the sheer physicality of Surya Bonaly or the tried and true presence of Rosalynn Sumners?

How, too, can the show's singing stars, the lovely Martina McBride and the boyishly handsome Bryan White - two of country's hottest young stars, be anything but captivating?

It's called lack of workable concept.

"StarSkates" aristic director and choreographer Robin Cousins and producer Nicky Slater have attempted to combine two of show busness's most popular properties - country music and figure skating (not a bad idea) - without the leg work that might have made the enterprise take off as an entertainment piece (not a very good idea).

Think of all those fabulous movie musicals choreographed by Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse, Fred Astaire and Michael Kidd. Think of all those thrilling stage musicals choregraphed by Susan Stroman, Agnes DeMille and Gower Champion. And those are but a few of the major choreographic talents that have graced both screen and stage.

Now imagine all of those talents being stuck with nothing but the simplest versions of songs without wonderful collaborations with inventive orchestrations that allowed dance to take flight. The recordings of Orbison ("Crying"), Twain ("From This Moment On"), McBride (a sung live "Valentine" with recorded backup) and White (a sung live "Heaven Sent" with recorded backup), to name but some of the 18 songs used in this "StarSkates" presentation, are wonderful in themselves but not necessarily made-to-order for the excitement or expressiveness of either dance or skating. What's wrong with "StarSkates Goes Country" is the absence of inventiveness, creativity, the willingness to take music - in this case country - and re-arrange it for the beauties, peculiarities and subtleties of figure skating as balletic show-business art.

Only rarely were any of the performers given the materials they needed to thrill, although thrill they often did in spite of great odds. McBride and White were presented in the most lackluster way. No presentation whatsoever that had anything to do with the genre within which they were working. Undoubtedly they will come off better on television, the medium for which the show was staged and videotaped here in Reno.

My problem with Victor Petrenko's work as a country western skater is that the star spent so much of his time looking like a cowpoke (he's not bad) he had little time left for doing what he can do best and that's skate brilliantly. And so it was with Rosalynn Sumners who was given the evening's least acceptable choreography short of the line-dance finale that was duller than Roy Rogers sans Trigger and Dale.

Also in the less than acceptable category is charging skating fans $46 and $56 for an evening without any noticeable attempt at pacing for a live audience. It was also an evening with one plug after another for one sponsor after another. Save the ads for commercial television. Then there was the 15-minute late start for the convenience of latecomers. How about paying customers who arrive on time for the inconvenience of being kept waiting?

And so the show went, standing ovation and all. America has become such a wonderful place to be a star. Fans who dole out the cash are so dutiful in fulfilling their duties to idols.

For those who want to see how all this pans out, "StarSkates Goes Country" will be telecast on NBC Sunday, November 21. Check local listings for times.