DANCING WITH THE STARS Showdown: It's Broadway Week!

By: Oct. 24, 2011
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

It's the sixth week on DANCING WITH THE STARS, which means the stars will be dancing twice for the first time this season - and that also means it's Broadway week! The celebrities will be dancing to showtunes from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA to SPAMALOT, but first, Tony Award nominee Patina Miller and the cast of SISTER ACT give a roof raising medley performance.

On that note, Rob Kardashian and Cheryl kick off the night dancing to The Four Seasons/JERSEY BOYS' "Walk Like a Man." Rob is definitely stepping up his game; he seems to be trying harder in the past couple of weeks than in all the first weeks combined. A few loud screams from his sisters in the audience later, Rob earns 22 points from the judges with Bruno summing up the thoughts of all three: "It was adequate."

Taking on "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" from SPAMALOT are Nancy Grace and Tristan. Tristan grants Nancy's wish for more difficult choreography this week, and even though it doesn't make a huge difference in her movement she does seem to bringing a lot more personality into the performance. "I would call that a showstopper!" Carrie Ann enthuses. The pair earns their season high score with 24 points.

David Arquette and Kym choose "We Go Together" from GREASE. In rehearsal David struggles to keep his energy in check in order to control his movements, and during the performance the two of them are not quite in sync. Still, it's one of his better performances - he's clearly improving - and he's awarded 23 points.

"I really want to redeem myself this week," Ricki Lake tells her partner Derek in rehearsal. She hopes that GUYS AND DOLLS' "Luck Be a Lady" will be the song that gets her back on top of the leaderboard. (Read a BroadwayWorld interview with Ricki here.) It very well might put her back on top: she brings her A-game, keeping on top of all of her steps and following through each time. Even Len tells Ricki that he loved it, and she and Derek celebrate with a near-perfect 29.

Chaz Bono has a long climb to the top of the leaderboard, and Lacey gets frustrated with his lack of focus in rehearsal. "You can't rely on me to get you through this anymore," she says. It's an all-out performance to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA when they get to the ballroom floor - props abound, including an organ that Chaz pretends to play at the beginning - but despite improving from week to week he still struggles with the dance aspect. The couple receives 19 points.

Hoping to break out of a plateau of constant eights, Maks brings in some of the troupe dancers to teach Hope Solo to bring out her sexier side. They dance to RENT's "Seasons of Love"; the cover of the song is truly awful, but Hope is only slightly better in the judges' eyes. "This is your worst performance of the season," Len says - and Maks takes offense, telling Len that it "might be time to get out" of the business and that the judges are disrespectful with their "little judgemental comments." "It's our job to judge you," Carrie Ann tells him. The pair walks away with 20 points.

J.R. Martinez and Karina want to keep their place at the top of the leaderboard to what Karina calls her most ambitious routine yet, set to CHICAGO's "Hot Honey Rag." Ricki and J.R. are two of the strongest dancers this season, and where Ricki's performance was fluid J.R.'s is jaunty and light on his feet - but they're equally strong and receive equal scores at 29 points.

Broadway regular Kristin Chenoweth takes to the stage next for a medley of "Maybe This Time" (from CABARET) and "I Could Have Danced All Night" (from MY FAIR LADY). Assisted by the men of the troupe, she dances to a routine choreographed by Mark Ballas but runs out of time to talk with host Tom Bergeron. "That's live theatre!" Kristin laughs.

Carson Kressley returns to give advice to the contestants for their big Broadway group number. His advice? "If you get lost, just do jazz hands." They'll all dance to SWEET CHARITY's "Big Spender" and CABARET's "Money." Of course, they won't be scored on the number, so everyone's having fun in rehearsal - from Nancy doing a lift to J.R. jumping up behind Chaz to give him a good-natured scare.

The judges love the group performance: "I liked every one of their little lifts and things," Len says happily. Still, someone has to go, so whose DANCING WITH THE STARS Broadway debut will also be their last performance? Find out tomorrow, along with performances from Kristin Chenoweth and Martina McBride!

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. Wireless customers with AT&T may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" to the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast, until 8:00 a.m., PT the following day. Fans may cast the maximum limit of votes for each voting method.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade is co-executive producer. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

 



Videos