Since I live in Chicago, I went to see Superstars on Ice on Tuesday. It was the Skokie Skatium's annual club show. Now I have been in years past, and I have to say that even with the expanded line-up of "headliners" I don't think it was worth inflated ticket price of $50. Last year's ticket was $7, with Jenny Kirk and Evan Lysacek as headliners.

That being said, it was a pretty good show. I didn't take notes, so my comments on the cast at large (other than Todd) may be a bit vague.

Jenny Kirk skated very well. She did her Celine Dion number in the first act, and had a new program to music from "Chicago" in the 2nd act. I think this new number suits her very well. She obviously enjoys the music and the upbeat tempo, and it was very cute.

The acrobats from COI did their coalminer number, which I had never seen before. It was very entertaining as it had some actualy skating content along with their usual tricks. In the 2nd half they did their slow man routine. Now while I acknowledge their talent, if I have to see this number one more time, I think I'll scream. I wish they'd develop some new material.

Evan Lysacek skated to Time to Say Goodbye in the first act. While he skated well, and landed several beautiful triple lutz's, I thought the number was underchoreograped, and the song is overused. In the 2nd act he skated to Desert Rose, and this was much more successful. It had tons of wonderful, fast, intricate footwork, and really kept the feel of the music going. He also did several triple lutz's in this number, and some interesting spin positions. Oddly, I think the only jumps he did all night were triple lutz's, but I could be wrong.

Spielberg & Joeright skated to some ballad in the first act that I found pretty forgettable, but their 2nd act Aerosmith number was great fun. They did do one triple throw jump, but their side by side jumps were single axels.

Nicole Bobek used to be one of my favorite skaters, but I am disappointed in how far she has let her skills drop. She didn't complete anything harder than a single axel or a double toe. She two-footed her other double axel attempt. In the first act she skated to her ABBA medley from the COI tour. I hadn't seen this yet, but was surprised to see that this number didn't showcase her dancing skill as much as some of her other past upbeat numbers. In the 2nd act she skated to a ballad, which I admit I cannot remember the name of, and while she still has the most beautiful spiral and a nice canonball sit spin, she seemed slower than in the past, and her normal charisma wasn't as much in evidence.

Yuka Sato skated alone in the first act to an instrumental piece which I didn't recognize. Her skating always amazes me for how quiet her edges are! It was a lovely lyrical performace showcasing her speed, deep knees, lovely spins and a double axel and a triple loop. In the 2nd act she skated with Jason Dunjien to "Since I Fell for You". I love this number for them. It really showcases their connection with each other and brings out more charisma from Jason than we've seen in the past. They did a beautiful throw triple toe and split twist.

Now on to Todd.....

In the first act Todd skated to Buddy Rich's Channel 1 Suite. He had to do some significant reworking of the footwork sequences to fit the dimensions of the rink, which resulted in him never really going near the ends of the ice, which was a bit odd. However, he hit all his jumps, a triple axel, a triple salchow and two triple toes...all huge and on the money. He seemed a bit tired all night, but his spins were fast and centered as always. The footwork seemed a bit slower than normal, but that may have been from his trying to adjust to the rink dimensions.

In the 2nd act he skated to Miserere, but wearing his old Pity the Child all black costume.. This program was very well received. He hit a triple axel, triple loop, triple toe, but replaced his normal triple lutz with a triple toe at the end, which he stepped out of. Again, his spins were gorgeous, and he seemed faster in this number.

For the bows, each skater came out and did a final trick, and Todd hit another huge triple axel.

All in all, it was better than most club shows I've been to, but they oversold it, so the bleachers were packed, and the bottle neck at the autograph signing was insane. AS my friend Ann commented, if the Skatium wants to have that calibre of talent at their shows, they need to learn how to run the event so that it lives up to the professionalism of the cast.

Jen