The Gateway's "Holiday Spectacular on Ice!" Is a Jubilant Treat for the Whole Family!

The Gateway's "Holiday Spectacular on Ice!" dazzles with a captivating mix of stellar vocals, athleticism, and artistry, ensuring there's something magical to behold for every audience member. This show overflows with heartwarming holiday classics, riveting ice-skating routines, and stunning costumes that showcase the cast and creative team's talent and dedication.

One of America's most beloved sports legends, two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan, hosts and performs throughout the show. During the opening number, "Where Are You, Christmas," the audience clapped enthusiastically, expressing their love and appreciation for Kerrigan as she skated onto the stage, graceful and gifted as ever.

I loved all the big production numbers, especially "Run, Run Rudolph," where the energetic Female Ensemble Skaters, donning poodle skirts, glided around Ian Lorello, whose fun, fabulous, and funky skating moves stole the show. During the solemn "Silent Night," the Female Ensemble Skaters appeared like graceful snow angels floating among clouds, and during the upbeat "Sleigh Ride," they performed like the Rockettes on ice! One of the show’s highlights featured the Female Ensemble Skaters, accompanied by two rising megastars, The Young Skater, Gabrielle Kanog Freeman, and Tiny Skater, MacKenzie Rowan, delivering a moving performance of "Chanukah, O Chanukah."

A showstopping number was performed by Aerialist Dayron Tondike during "Hangin' Round the Mistletoe." Tondike is a highly trained skater and athlete who held the audience in the palm of his hand with his gravity-defying moves. Another high point of the show was watching Kaleigh Linkous' "Code Name: Vivaldi," where the audience was captivated as she skated around the stage with flaming torches, which she also juggled!

This festive holiday show features many children's Christmas classics performed by the talented Youth Singers, including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which highlights Giavanna Neri as Santa's most famous reindeer, and "Frosty the Snowman," in which a larger-than-life Frosty entertains the audience as he skates across the stage.

This year's superstar pair skaters, Laura Seal and Ian Lorello, and the husband-and-wife dynamic duo Anita Hartshorn and Frank Sweiding mesmerized the audience with their precision-perfect routines. As singer extraordinaire Jennifer Brett belted out "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Seal and Lorello performed one of the most beautiful ice-skating routines you will ever see. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" was exquisitely sung by Bellport's own Shannon Gibbons, an American Idol Top 40 contestant, while Hartshorn and Sweiding wowed the audience with their exhilarating and masterful skating skills.

Act II opened on a high note with Female Soloist Courtney Hicks' awe-inspiring routine, dramatically choreographed to "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo."

Two other lead vocalists, Zion Middleton and Tyler Shore, brought their A-game to the production. An updated version of the song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," featuring Middleton and Brett, elicited some of the biggest laughs of the evening, and Shore, accompanied by the Youth Singers, delivered a heartrending performance of "O Holy Night," featuring an intricately choreographed skating routine expertly executed by Lorello.

The outstanding Skate Ensemble is composed of Marina Nelson, Alexis Hughes Parker, Ian Lorello, Laura Seal, Rachel Thomas, Courtney Hicks, Alivia Signorio, Giavanna Neri, Kayleigh Linkous, Dayron Tondike, Aaron J. Gutman, and Allen Shannon.

The Young Skaters, alternating performances, include Gabrielle Kanog Freeman and Reese Sophia Wustenhoff, while the Tiny Skaters, also sharing roles, are Alexandra "Lexi" Kononchuk and Mackenzie Rowan. Watching these talented and charismatic young skaters command the stage is worth the price of admission.

The dedicated Youth Ensemble includes Sonnie Betts, Sofia Da Costa-Wilson, Gavin Gronenthal, Avery Dawson, Chase Petrucci, Ella Rogacki, Kyle Walters, Abigail Pirozzi, Rosalie Kubacki, Anthony Scheifele, Emilia Gilligan, Samantha Hayes, Julius Lovelace, Kailyn Collins, Liam Valenti, Charlotte O’Leary, Moon Sossich, and Bree Wilkens.

The Gateways top-notch Creative Team deserves a big round of applause and includes Director and Choreographer Keith Andrews, Figure Skating Casting and Choreographer Tara Modlin-Maurizi, Music Director Hosun Moon, and Costume Designer Janine Loesch.

The Gateway's "Holiday Spectacular on Ice" features a stunning finale where the Full Company fills the stage to deliver memorable performances of "We Need a Little Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." The children in the audience squealed with delight, sighting Santa on his sleigh and candy canes soaring through the air!

This magnificent show runs now through January 4, 2025. For tickets, contact the Box Office at (631) 286-1133 or buy online at https://TheGateway.org/.

Cindi Sansone-Braff is an award-winning playwright. She holds a BFA in Theatre from UCONN and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She is the author of "Grant Me a Higher Love," "Why Good People Can't Leave Bad Relationships," and "Confessions of a Reluctant Long Island Psychic." Her full-length Music Drama, "Beethoven, The Man, The Myth, The Music," is published by Next Stage Press. www.Grantmeahigherlove.com.