IT'S THE SKATING MUSICAL YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR (AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT)

“Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera,” played six performances at the New York Musical Theater Festival in New York City this past week after a run of sold out performances in Boston, Portland and Los Angeles.

The 90-minute production endeavors to capture the media circus that played out following the backstage attack on Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

To its credit, the show is not just for cheap laughs. The production does not make fun of skating or the people who love it but rather has fun with it — and us. The creators of this production have taken the motivation and desires of the characters seriously.

“People tell me: ‘I was so obsessed with that story,’ like they want to tell a secret,” said Elizabeth Searle, the show’s concept creator and lyricist. “In terms of why, that’s something we ask at the end of the show. Tonya and Nancy have moved on. It’s us who haven’t. Even the recent Olympic coverage, closing night, they had an hour on Tonya and Nancy. Incredible! It was one of the most watched sporting events ever. People still remember. It really struck a chord.”

Were you one of the people obsessed with Tonya and Nancy back in 1994? (I was actually in Detroit when it happened, and I never dreamed it would become as big as it did). Then read the rest of my review at "International Figure Skating Magazine":  http://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/32788-tonya-nancy-a-lighthearted-take