Theatre: Skaters Tribute to Broadway at First Union Center (October 1998)



From Playbill:


Faith Prince and Dorothy Hamill, along with actor Alan Thicke (Chicago) and seven Olympic gold medalists will all appear in a special one-night event, "Skaters' Tribute To Broadway," Oct. 6 at Philadelphia's CoreStates Center.

Prince and Thicke will perform Broadway tunes, and the skaters will offer their own numbers, many created specifically for this event. Robin Cousins is directing and choreographing the Tribute, which will be taped for broadcast on ESPN cable network Oct. 12 (8-10 PM EST).

While Prince has belted a number of classics in her roles in Falsettoland, The King And I and Guys and Dolls, Hamill has undoubtedly ice-skated to numerous Broadway songs throughout her career.

Said Cousins in a statement, "We are excited to...unite Broadway and skating into a truly spectacular evening for everyone to enjoy."


Act I

The cast for the show included Todd Eldredge, Nancy Kerrigan, Lu Chen, Caryn Kadavy, Robin Cousins, Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, and Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko. Everyone came out and skated to “Opening Production” from Ragtime.

  • Nancy Kerrigan skated to "Tomorrow" from Annie while dressed as Annie.
  • Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev skated to "Take Me As I Am" from Jekyll and Hyde.
  • Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko skated to "Hello Young Lovers" from The King and I, while Faith Prince sung live.
  • Lu Chen skated to "No Man Left for Me" from Will Rogers Follies.
  • Robin Cousins skated to "I'll Cover You" from Rent.
  • Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze skated to "Luck Be a Lady" from Guys and Dolls, while Alan Thicke sang live.
  • Caryn Kadavy skated to "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables.
  • Todd Eldredge skated to "Any Day Now, Day" from Baker's Wife.

 Intermission


  • Melitta Brunne, the oldest living Olympic figure skating medalist, skated to “Rhapsody in Blue”.
  • Caryn Kadavy skated to "Take Back Your Mink" from Guys and Dolls, while Faith Prince sang live.
  • Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze skated to "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha.
  • Klimova and Ponomarenko skated to "Carousel Waltz" from Carousel.
  • Lu Chen skated to "Will He Like Me?" from She Loves Me.
  • Todd Eldredge skated to "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables.
  • Kazakova and Dmitriev skated to "Bolero" from Grand Hotel.
  • Nancy Kerrigan skated to "I'd Give My Life for You" from Miss Saigon.

 Then, the most unexpected program of the night. Alan Thicke spoke about good memories at the Spectrum (the older arena next door) playing in celebrity hockey games against former Flyers. For this number, he came out with hockey skates on, and he started skating around before Robin Cousins stepped on the ice, Alan sang "All I Care About" from Chicago.

Everyone came onto the ice for the finale to "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel. After each skater did an individual move, they skated to a specific part of the ice. After they had each skated, Caryn, Lu, and Nancy did an illusion in time, the pairs all did the same move at the same time, and then Todd and Robin did unison moves. Then, they all skated to center ice, formed a circle, and received a standing ovation.


The following photographs are attributed to Heather Winfield:


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