Evening with Champions - Updated with Reviews | Golden Skate

Evening with Champions - Updated with Reviews

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Hi all!

Drawing is over but please feel free to disucss the event/skaters!

We are having a drawing for two free tickets to the Evening With Champions show on Sunday, September 30 at 2PM at the Bright Hockey Center in Allston, Massachusetts.

If you'd like to participate in the drawing, simply post a favorite moment of yours from one or more of the skaters (from the cast below) and/or what you like about their skating. The winner will be chosen on Sep 23 and announced in the thread utilizing their forum username. Personal information for the tickets will be conducted via email.

An Evening With Champions is a public charity non-profit committee dedicated to fighting cancer by raising money for The Jimmy Fund, the fundraising arm of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Cast (Updated and still subject to change):


Ladies:
Christina Gao, 2009-10 Junior Grand Prix Final Bronze Medalist, 2009 U.S. National Junior Bronze Medalist
Emily Hughes, 2007 U.S. National Silver Medalist, 2006 Olympian
Kimmie Meissner, 2006 World Champion, 2007 U.S. National Champion, 2006 Olympian
Agnes Zawadzki, 2012 U.S. National Bronze Medalist, 2010 World Junior Silver Medalist, 2011 World Junior Bronze Medalist

Men:
Jeremy Abbott, Three-time U.S. National Champion, 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion, 2010 Olympian
Ryan Bradley, 2011 U.S. National Champion, 2007 U.S. National Silver Medalist
Jason Brown, 2012 World Junior Bronze Medalist, 2011 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion, 2010 U.S. National Junior Champion
Harrison Choate, 2012 U.S. National Junior Pewter Medalist, 2011 Gardena Spring Trophy Champion
Ross Miner, 2012 Four Continents Bronze Medalist, 2011 & 2012 U.S. National Bronze Medalist
Douglas Razzano, 2011 Finlandia Trophy Silver Medalist, 2012 U.S. National Championships 5th Place

Ice Dancing:
Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus, 2011 U.S. National Junior Bronze Medalists, 2012 U.S. National Championships 6th Place
Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre, 2008 & 2009 U.S. National Bronze Medalists, 2008 Four Continents Bronze Medalists

Pairs:
Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir, 2009 World Junior Bronze Medalists & 2009 U.S. National Junior Bronze Medalists, 2012 U.S. National Championships 5th Place
Kylie Duarte & Colin Grafton, 2012 U.S. Junior Bronze Medalists
Melanie Lambert & Fred Palascak, Professional Adagio Pair Team & U.S. National Medalists

Synchronized Skating Teams:
The Haydenettes, 2010 & 2011 World Synchronized Skating Championships Bronze Medalists, 20-time U.S. National Champions
Team Excel Collegiate, 2012 U.S. National Synchronized Skating Championships 5th Place

Theatre on Ice:
Act I of Boston, 2012 U.S. National Silver Medalists, Three-time International Champions, Two-time International Silver Medalists
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Wait and minute, wait a minute. The Protopopovs are performing!? :love: :rock:

I was about to write up my favorite Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes moments, but now I will have to re-think this. :)
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
Wait and minute, wait a minute. The Protopopovs are performing!? :love: :rock:

I was about to write up my favorite Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes moments, but now I will have to re-think this. :)

Wait a second mathman - here is another team from the 1968 Olympics also named " The Protopopovs"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwyITGJcTuQ

Who is this new team that dares to take the names of these legendary Russian skaters? ;)
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Well, I would like to remember Kimmie's incredible free program, that won the Worlds one year out of Juniors! She was amazing!. At 16, she did 7 triples, skated with incredible speed and flow, and managed two excellent 3x3's! She did all the triples, and she was just wonderful. I love Kimmie as she was so humble. I am still sad for her injuries and growth spurts that changed things, but she was an incredible athlete and I think one of the nicest US ladies champions.

And I love the legendary Protopopovs. They were the original madly in love G&G. I love how they still look at one another, skating as one. And the way he is so careful in presenting her every move. They remind me of ballet dancers, and they are extraordinary in that they still skate at their ages, wearing costumes from their youth. They come every year, which is so generous of them. Simply the best, better than all the rest, as Tina Turner would say!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I have never seen as sweet a debut for a brand new dance couple as Navarro & Bommentre at Nationals in St. Louis, skating to Michael Buble songs; the part to "Feeling Good" was particularly :love: (2006, US Nationals)

Brent looked so happy! The audience couldn't stop cheering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=664k3L1ym3E

Despite not finishing on the Podium, Kim & Brent won the PSA award for best dance program at US Nationals for this free dance!.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
And I love the legendary Protopopovs. They were the original madly in love G&G. I love how they still look at one another, skating as one. And the way he is so careful in presenting her every move. They remind me of ballet dancers, and they are extraordinary in that they still skate at their ages, wearing costumes from their youth. They come every year, which is so generous of them. Simply the best, better than all the rest, as Tina Turner would say!

Yes, the generous Protopopovs have been cast members of An Evening with Champions every year since 1989 (with the exception of 2009-10).
http://www.aneveningwithchampions.org/cast.html

Last week, the ISU Facebook page posted a nice photo of the Protopopovs as spectators at JGP Austria. According to the comments section, they also recently attended JGP Lake Placid. (Sorry if all this had been mentioned already on GS JGP threads.)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f....266691110022504.73457.255007411190874&type=1

BTW, it's especially nice that this year Christina Gao is performing as a Harvard freshman, because An Evening with Champions is run by Harvard students. (She performed last year as well.)
A fun photo that she tweeted of a specialty from the Harvard dining hall:
http://twitter.com/christina_gao/status/247388405321854977
[Bkgd: Veritas is the motto on the Harvard shield. http://www.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/user13/harvard_shield.png]

[Am not entering the GS drawing because I don't live in the area. Hope the winner has a great time!]
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
My two favorite Emily Hughes skates were (a) the short program at 2005 Skate America (I was there, in the front row :)) and the 2007 U.S. Championships, where she came within one doubled jump of grabbing an upset victory. (She got silver).

(I can't attend, so if I win the drawing I'll donate the prize to someone in the Boston area. :) )
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
My two favorite Emily Hughes skates were (a) the short program at 2005 Skate America (I was there, in the front row ) and the 2007 U.S. Championships, where she came within one doubled jump of grabbing an upset victory. (She got silver).

Oh man, I remember that episode...That was crazy, you really don't get much closer to the title than that.

____

I would go for it, perhaps pointing out Zawadzki's SP at Nationals this past year as a highlight (and also her most recent performance at the US skating classic, finally showing signs of overcoming her FS mental block)...but even if I were to win (I never win anything :p ) not sure if I could make the logistics work out. The cost of travel would far surpass the cost of the ticket no matter which method I chose. At least I went to Weiss's show - that one was pretty close to my neck of the woods. :yes:
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I have never seen as sweet a debut for a brand new dance couple as Navarro & Bommentre at Nationals in St. Louis, skating to Michael Buble songs; the part to "Feeling Good" was particularly :love: (2006, US Nationals)

Brent looked so happy! The audience couldn't stop cheering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=664k3L1ym3E

Despite not finishing on the Podium, Kim & Brent won the PSA award for best dance program at US Nationals for this free dance!.

I was there!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
It sounds marvelous.

I live too far away to be able to use the ticket, but I hope that the winner will give a full report.

Since I'm not a contestant, I can bring up two people who don't really count. One is a former participant, Katherine Healy. She turned pro at the age of fourteen or so because she didn't want to take up her time training school figures, since she also took ballet. I love this montage of her, which shows her both as a dancer and a skater. You can see what she brought to skating that no one else, not even Sasha, brought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_QhuJrDVW0

The other Jimmy fund stalwart is Paul Wylie, an alumnus of Harvard undergrad and also of its business school, who is usually the emcee. Really, I can hardly think of a skate of his that I haven't enjoyed. I'm sure I'm part of a crowd when I say that. My favorite is probably still his star-making Henry V long program at the Albertville Olympics. Anyway, I just thought I'd mention him, since he's practically the face of the Jimmy Fund.
 
Last edited:

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
As a competitor, Jeremy Abbott often falls short. But as a skater, he is sublime. Whatever his results, his actual skating is always interesting, always original, often simply inspired. Jeremy is unique. There is no one quite like him on the ice. He has his own style; a distinctive way of moving on the ice, which is completely his own. Within the rigid requirements of IJS, it's difficult for skaters to really stand out and show their own identity on ice. But this is never an issue with Jeremy. He is his own man out there. I never felt this more than in his Exogenesis long program last year. In that program, every movement seemed so organic, so natural. Sometimes the jumps were better, sometimes worse, but regardless, the program was mesmerizing. Watching it, I would almost forget that Jeremy was in a competition. It felt like he was simply expressing himself on the ice, so purely, with nothing extraneous or forced. Maybe it's because he helped choreograph the program himself. It was very special.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
As a competitor, Jeremy Abbott often falls short. But as a skater, he is sublime. Whatever his results, his actual skating is always interesting, always original, often simply inspired. Jeremy is unique. There is no one quite like him on the ice. He has his own style; a distinctive way of moving on the ice, which is completely his own. Within the rigid requirements of IJS, it's difficult for skaters to really stand out and show their own identity on ice. But this is never an issue with Jeremy. He is his own man out there. I never felt this more than in his Exogenesis long program last year. In that program, every movement seemed so organic, so natural. Sometimes the jumps were better, sometimes worse, but regardless, the program was mesmerizing. Watching it, I would almost forget that Jeremy was in a competition. It felt like he was simply expressing himself on the ice, so purely, with nothing extraneous or forced. Maybe it's because he helped choreograph the program himself. It was very special.

What a really nice post about Jeremy. :clap:

I couldn't agree more with you and think Jeremy is a true artist on the ice.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I had Ski draw numbers out of a hat.

eyria won the tickets!

eyria, if you can use only one ticket, please PM me. I had Ski draw a second ticket just in case.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Congrats, Eyria!!! I'd beg you to take me with, but I'd have to sell an organ to afford to fly there lol
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I live in Central Mass, don't drive, am disabled, love skating. Anyone going and could take a rookie to all that area, please pm me. Oh, BTW, what are tix costs ?
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
Poster eyria is the winner. Congrats, eyria!

We would love to go to this show - such an amazing cast, and for such a great cause. If we lived much closer to Boston we would go in a heartbeat. Looking forward to reports from the show!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's the ticket info

Tickets are now on sale at the Harvard Box Office in the Holyoke Center (1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA) and online at the Harvard Box Office Website (http://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu).

General Admission student tickets will be available at the start of the school year from any EWC board member.

Ticket prices for An Evening with Champions 2012 are as follows:
Regular Admission: $25
Group Rate (10+ people): $20/ticket
Children (under 12 years old) & Seniors (over 65): $12
Undergraduate/Graduate Students with Harvard ID (2 tickets per ID holder): $8
 
Top