What a night, gang! It was one of those nights that ranks up there with the day I went tandem skydiving.....and the week I went to Branson, Missouri, to see "Broadway On Ice" and to meet Rosalynn Sumners.
I had already planned on attending the SOI show in Dallas and had a ticket for the show.....nothing else special planned for that night....UNTIL ......I visited the eBay website the late afternoon of January 13.
That day, I saw an auction item that offered "Behind The Scenes" at SOI, complete with a backstage tour from cast members Jenni Meno and Todd Sand....and also had on-ice tickets for the show!
After much debate within myself, I decided to bid for the item......and I won the bid on January 17.....and had it confirmed January 19. And it really didn't hit me until January 21.....I WAS GOING TO SEE THE CAST OF STARS ON ICE IN PERSON while they rehearsed for the show that night!
Needless to say, I was too excited during the entire week before the show......and just hoped I didn't bounce off the walls until the night of the show. And, to prove my point of being prepared, I bought 12 rolls of film for that night!
I arrived at Reunion Arena's main parking lot around 2:30 p.m. (taking advantage of parking at $2 for the remainder of the day and night) with the temperature outside at 39 degrees and raining quite heavily......but the cold, damp weather did nothing to dampen my spirits for that night.
After killing time by eating my lunch I had bought from a nearby McDonald's and listening to the radio, I headed to the main enterance around 4 p.m., with the official letter from Ultimatebid.com in hand along with my camera and a couple of special gifts for Tara Lipinski (in a Target shopping bag)....and some "thank-you" cards for the cast of Stars On Ice.
Prior to arriving at Reunion Arena, I stopped off at the Galleria Mall just to kill some time....and did a double take after seeing Yuka Sato and her husband, Jason Dungjen, heading to lunch at a restaurant within the mall next to the skating rink. For now, I didn't bother trying to bother them, especially since I had nothing for them to sign. :o)
Around 4:20 p.m., I got concerned that the contact for the show, Stars On Ice tour director David Baden, hadn't showed up at the main entrance.....so taking a chance, I showed the security guy the Ultimatebid letter....and he allowed me in. (Especially since 30-40 others who had free passes to watch rehearsals prior to the show had gone in ahead of me.)
Upon entry, I tracked down another security guy and, after explaining the situation, he went to find Mr. Baden. A few minutes later, David Baden came up the siars and, after exchanging pleasantries, gave me two VIP passes and two on-ice tickets for the show.....plus two gift bags a few moments later. (I was a little embarassed by having the extra items, since my date cancelled out on me about a half hour before going inside to watch rehearsals.)
Once inside, an SOI official reminded me that no zoom lenses were allowed (EVEN for rehearsals!) and that I needed to put my VIP badge on. So, after putting it on, I went about watching (and photographing) rehearsals!
Kristi Yamaguchi warming up during rehearsals (this was taken BEFORE I was told to put the zoom lens up).
Yuka Sato warming up prior to the show.
Steven Cousins working on his moves during warmups.For more about the show and more photos, click here.
My Favorite Web sites
Angelfire Home Pages
A Salute To Rosalynn Sumners: Remember Me This Way
Scott's Personal Page
Scott's Shack
My Trip To Branson (Review of
Angelfire HTML Library
