"Why, why, why??"

I adore the Great American musical. I am really excited about the upcoming opening of the movie Rent based on the hit broadway musical, and I am especially excited because so many of the cast members are from the original broadway cast.

Conversely, I think I'll skip Nancy and Tonya: the Opera which will be produced at Tufts this spring. Ahhh...The "whack" heard 'round the world. For those who don't know about this tawdry incident in the world of figure skating, you can read about it here.

Cliff's Notes Version of the Nancy and Tonya Incident

In 1994, Tonya Harding (a talented ice skater from the wrong side of the tracks) and her husband (with a last name that reminds me of "gigolo") hired a couple of bungling idiots to trail American Sweetheart Nancy Kerrigan (a talented ice skater from Massachusetts) and to "take her out" (well, not kill her, but maim her by injuring her "landing leg"). The moment that Nancy lay clutching her knee in an ice rink hallway wailing "whyyyy, whyyyyy, whyyy???", figure skating was catapulted to prime time. Nancy went on to come in second in the olympics (pouting all the way to the medal podium), Tonya came in eighth and then was banned from competitive figure skating for life. To this day, Tonya claims that she was an unwilling participant in the whole debacle (it was all her husband's idea).

The fact that I can recount this whole sordid saga from memory goes to show you how saturated the media was with this story. By the end of it, I was just as sick of the whole thing as everyone else. But...I will admit, I'm curious to know where they are now. Aren't you?

Toyna Harding: Where is she now?

I found this Willamette Week Online story about Tonya. Here is an excerpt:

"...Over the next 11 years, Tonya occasionally popped up in the press, hitting her boyfriend with a hubcap, sliding her truck into a ditch, beating the tar out of Paula Jones in a celebrity-boxing match and, of course, still answering for her role in the Kerrigan saga...

...After her March 2002 bout with Jones, she began to train six days a week under the tutelage of ex-boxer--and mortician--Paul Brown, who has worked with heavyweights such as Leon Spinks...

..In addition, Harding has taken up archery and prefers a Martin compound bow, with which she can pierce a heart-sized target at 50 yards."

Nancy Kerrigan: Where is she now?

According to Variety, she is going to participate in a figure skating version of Dancing with the Stars entitled Skating with Celebrities. Nancy will be paired with Dave Coulier (Full House, Surreal Life, and the topic of Alanis Morrisette's hit song from the '90s, "You outta know"). The show will not air on ABC which brought us Dancing, but will air on Fox (which is copying a show idea yet again). But I digress.

She is still skating in professional ice shows, and--get this---has recorded a song for a Tina Turner tribute album. From folks who have heard her rendition of "The Best," it sounds like Nancy should stick to skating.

So there you have it.