New York Chelsea Piers -- Ice Theater of New York
I've seen people asking for write-ups, so I'm c/ping from my personal LJ here. :) It isn't the most eloquent description, but here are my thoughts on the show.
First, the biggest lesson that I learned last night is that apparently [the small town that I'm from] has an terrific ice program, because, aside from Johnny Weir, who was amazing, the rest of the show was not that much better than the Nutcracker on Ice was in [the small town that I'm from]. In fact, it was all ice dancing and no one aside from Johnny even jumped. At least in [the small town that I'm from], the skaters did jumps! But, last night there were a few very pretty/beautiful programs, and I did enjoy most of it, though there were some that didn't work for me at all, and a few that were like student-art, but whatever.
Yesterday, as scribblinlenore and I were walking toward the rink, I was discussing my (completely idiotic, wrong-headed, and unfounded) worry about being the debut audience for the Clayderman piece, and that I'd rather see him do something he'd done four or five times. (So, so, so wrong.) Lenore made a comment like, "At least we'll see him in a new sparkly outfit." And my reply was, "Unless he wears all black," because for some reason, I just had this weird thought that he'd be in all black. Heh. So, yeah, the Clayderman piece was done in all black with a kind of mime-looking make-up and white gloves. It's called "Heartbreak", and it was lovely, powerful, sad, and strong. (Also, surely I was not the only one to make the "French mime music" connection? aka a foreign film in English? I think it was rather overt.)
From Lifeskate:
It was interesting seeing JWeir with all the other skaters for the New York Ice Theater because he always looks so incredibly tiny on the show, but in person, on the ice, he looked really strong, powerful, and he was bigger than the other skaters, more athletic and very strong. His muscles on his shoulders, arms, and chest were somehow more noticeable in person. He looked very masculine, even with the make-up, the glitter, the gold lame.
Amusingly, there was an accidental pair of tickets to get into the reception where you could meet him, and all of the fan girls I was with were all arguing about who was going to have to go because none of us wanted to meet him in person, and finally no_detective agreed to go and watched him being adored by fangirls. Later she said that it was so crowded around him that she would never have dreamed of trying to approach. He was completely swarmed.
I feel like I should sound more enthusiastic, but I mainly just wish I could see him skate again and again and again. So, in a weird way, I feel a bit melancholy about it. I'd like to see him skate once a week for the rest of my life. That would work for me. Sadly, I don't have the money to command that kind of constant performance. I should have been born a nobleman with money to burn and a really big pond in my back yard that I keep frozen over by special cooling machines, and then I could make Johnny Weir my pet skater, and give him sugar cubes as a reward for especially good performances.
Oh, and at the end of the show, they played that pop song "Tonight's gonna be a good night" and Johnny came out with the other skaters to receive his applause and did some very adorable dancing along to the song and lip-syncing, too. Then he gave a bonus...um, you know that thing where he slides across the ice on his knees? He did an extra of those, and got so much scuffed up ice in his hair that he spent the next several minutes trying to shake it out. Very cute. I need that money, power, and pond. Dang it.
::::
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Tara Modlin accidentally poured coffee on either a small child or the child's mother, though it is hard to be certain from where I was sitting, but that it how it looked. She definitely apologized repeatedly for something and had her hand over her mouth in horror. It looked like the mother said, "Oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH" in this mean sarcastic way. Tara's a mess.
Johnny's mother and aunt were there and they looked just like they do on television. LOL!!!! Just typing that makes me laugh. How cliche! Anyway, I looked but did not talk or stare. Too creepy.
::::
I would like to say, that even the good quality videos don't seem to capture the actual power of the performances live. The "Bad Romance" performance is so much less awkward in person. I have no idea what is lost in the medium, but something is. Perhaps it is his raw power to captivate. He commanded the ice and made it seem too small to contain him, while the dance troup would sometimes have ten people on the ice and still be unable to take command of it. It was interesting -- most of the time when the other skaters were performing, the ice was a character or the stage for their performance. When Johnny Weir was on the ice he was the performance so completely that the ice was just a fuzzy background for his energy. There's something to be said for star-power and it-factor, and Johnny Weir has it in spades.
Oh, also, I want to say that the costumes the other skaters wore looked so incredibly cheap next to Johnny's costumes -- even his all-black practice-skating costume. Obviously, the "Bad Romance" costume looks like money, but I've spent some time trying to decide if the difference was also due to Johnny's energy itself -- maybe it was also that his very vibe is money. I don't know. But when he'd leave the ice, the other skaters just seemed like pale, wan, too thin, though sometimes beautiful, and very poorly dressed creatures.
[On my LJ I also posted my terrible videos with incredibly awful camera work, but I'll spare you. :P ]
Also, I loved all the fangirls I met! Too bad they all ended up talking about...wait for it...BASEBALL half the night, but fangirls are still the best people ever! yeats was incredibly a) beautiful and b) not intimidating. Apparently, she has a rep for being intimidating? LOL! :) Not so much. I also met rubyfruit and someone with spring in the user name. I'm bad at names. If I met you, please add me as a friend! :D (Or if I didn't and you just want to add me because I strike you as your kind of crazy!)
First, the biggest lesson that I learned last night is that apparently [the small town that I'm from] has an terrific ice program, because, aside from Johnny Weir, who was amazing, the rest of the show was not that much better than the Nutcracker on Ice was in [the small town that I'm from]. In fact, it was all ice dancing and no one aside from Johnny even jumped. At least in [the small town that I'm from], the skaters did jumps! But, last night there were a few very pretty/beautiful programs, and I did enjoy most of it, though there were some that didn't work for me at all, and a few that were like student-art, but whatever.
Yesterday, as scribblinlenore and I were walking toward the rink, I was discussing my (completely idiotic, wrong-headed, and unfounded) worry about being the debut audience for the Clayderman piece, and that I'd rather see him do something he'd done four or five times. (So, so, so wrong.) Lenore made a comment like, "At least we'll see him in a new sparkly outfit." And my reply was, "Unless he wears all black," because for some reason, I just had this weird thought that he'd be in all black. Heh. So, yeah, the Clayderman piece was done in all black with a kind of mime-looking make-up and white gloves. It's called "Heartbreak", and it was lovely, powerful, sad, and strong. (Also, surely I was not the only one to make the "French mime music" connection? aka a foreign film in English? I think it was rather overt.)
From Lifeskate:
Click to viewIt was interesting seeing JWeir with all the other skaters for the New York Ice Theater because he always looks so incredibly tiny on the show, but in person, on the ice, he looked really strong, powerful, and he was bigger than the other skaters, more athletic and very strong. His muscles on his shoulders, arms, and chest were somehow more noticeable in person. He looked very masculine, even with the make-up, the glitter, the gold lame.
Amusingly, there was an accidental pair of tickets to get into the reception where you could meet him, and all of the fan girls I was with were all arguing about who was going to have to go because none of us wanted to meet him in person, and finally no_detective agreed to go and watched him being adored by fangirls. Later she said that it was so crowded around him that she would never have dreamed of trying to approach. He was completely swarmed.
I feel like I should sound more enthusiastic, but I mainly just wish I could see him skate again and again and again. So, in a weird way, I feel a bit melancholy about it. I'd like to see him skate once a week for the rest of my life. That would work for me. Sadly, I don't have the money to command that kind of constant performance. I should have been born a nobleman with money to burn and a really big pond in my back yard that I keep frozen over by special cooling machines, and then I could make Johnny Weir my pet skater, and give him sugar cubes as a reward for especially good performances.
Oh, and at the end of the show, they played that pop song "Tonight's gonna be a good night" and Johnny came out with the other skaters to receive his applause and did some very adorable dancing along to the song and lip-syncing, too. Then he gave a bonus...um, you know that thing where he slides across the ice on his knees? He did an extra of those, and got so much scuffed up ice in his hair that he spent the next several minutes trying to shake it out. Very cute. I need that money, power, and pond. Dang it.
::::
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Tara Modlin accidentally poured coffee on either a small child or the child's mother, though it is hard to be certain from where I was sitting, but that it how it looked. She definitely apologized repeatedly for something and had her hand over her mouth in horror. It looked like the mother said, "Oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH" in this mean sarcastic way. Tara's a mess.
Johnny's mother and aunt were there and they looked just like they do on television. LOL!!!! Just typing that makes me laugh. How cliche! Anyway, I looked but did not talk or stare. Too creepy.
::::
I would like to say, that even the good quality videos don't seem to capture the actual power of the performances live. The "Bad Romance" performance is so much less awkward in person. I have no idea what is lost in the medium, but something is. Perhaps it is his raw power to captivate. He commanded the ice and made it seem too small to contain him, while the dance troup would sometimes have ten people on the ice and still be unable to take command of it. It was interesting -- most of the time when the other skaters were performing, the ice was a character or the stage for their performance. When Johnny Weir was on the ice he was the performance so completely that the ice was just a fuzzy background for his energy. There's something to be said for star-power and it-factor, and Johnny Weir has it in spades.
Oh, also, I want to say that the costumes the other skaters wore looked so incredibly cheap next to Johnny's costumes -- even his all-black practice-skating costume. Obviously, the "Bad Romance" costume looks like money, but I've spent some time trying to decide if the difference was also due to Johnny's energy itself -- maybe it was also that his very vibe is money. I don't know. But when he'd leave the ice, the other skaters just seemed like pale, wan, too thin, though sometimes beautiful, and very poorly dressed creatures.
[On my LJ I also posted my terrible videos with incredibly awful camera work, but I'll spare you. :P ]
Also, I loved all the fangirls I met! Too bad they all ended up talking about...wait for it...BASEBALL half the night, but fangirls are still the best people ever! yeats was incredibly a) beautiful and b) not intimidating. Apparently, she has a rep for being intimidating? LOL! :) Not so much. I also met rubyfruit and someone with spring in the user name. I'm bad at names. If I met you, please add me as a friend! :D (Or if I didn't and you just want to add me because I strike you as your kind of crazy!)