Stars on Ice living up to name

LAKE PLACID - In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, "Stars on Ice" will begin its annual tour with an opening show in Lake Placid one week from today.

As always, the show boasts an impressive roster of figure-skating names: Katarina Witt, Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge and the Russian and Canadian pairs who shared gold medals in this year's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, to name a few.

This time around, however, there are perhaps a few more question marks leading up to opening night than normal.

For eight of the 12 cast members, this is the first "Stars on Ice" tour. Typically, the show has just two to three new skaters each year.

Also, injuries to some of the show's biggest stars, Tara Lipinski, Steve Cousins and 2002 gold-medalist Alexei Yagudin among them, served to steepen the learning curve for the whole cast.

For some, like Browning, an eight-year veteran of "Stars on Ice," those challenges just add to the excitement of kicking off the tour.

"Lake Placid always gets to see kind of an adventure," Browning said. "You do 60 (shows per tour), but you never forget the Lake Placid show. Every single step is new."

Browning, Witt and the others have been in town for a week, studying their cues and practicing their routines incessantly, leaving as little to chance as possible.

Every second of the show, a skater's every move, Browning explained, must be coordinated with a computer-operated lighting system.

"We never really get time to relax," said Witt, who's toured with "Stars on Ice" several times since turning pro after a gilded Olympic career.

Like most of the other stars on the tour, Witt is skating through a variety of projects. She just finished filming "Divas on Ice," a show she shares with Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Gloria Gaynor and Miami Sound Machine.

In Germany, she's got four shows to produce, a jewelry line to manage and a series of anti-aging beauty products to oversee.

But "Stars on Ice" stands out, she said.

"It's unique. We're an ensemble, but everyone is a star by themselves, too.

"I always enjoy coming up here and skating. You think time stood still because the Eastern flag is still up there," she said, referring to the flag from East Germany that stands among the dozens of flags surrounding the Olympic Center.

Witt said the injuries and high turnover rate have put added pressure on the show's creative team. But organizers have made sure to bring in a ringer for the Lake Placid show.

After taking a year off from skating, Scott Hamilton, one of the founders of "Stars on Ice," will appear as a guest star.

"I thought I would not be a part of Stars on Ice again, but this felt right," he said in a phone interview.

Hamilton plans to appear in just a fraction of the tour's 60-plus stops, an arrangement he said should give him more time to focus on starting a family - he's getting married next month - while keeping him involved in skating.

It will also allow the show to redefine itself.

"The new cast needs to make (the show) theirs - put their stamp on it," he said. "It's their opportunity to take it to the next level."

According to Jaime Sale, one half of Canada's golden duo, the cast will take advantage of that opportunity.

"Everyone's numbers are awesome," she said. "I wish I could get up in the stands and watch."