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DOROTHY HAMILL ENTERS THE NIGHT

By: Barbara Scherzer

More than two decades after winning the Olympic Gold Medal for figure skating, Dorothy Hamill is still America's sweetheart. She currently tops the all-time list of favorite female skaters and has glided on stages such as the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Opera House. But one entertainment venue has eluded her until now-the Las Vegas Strip.

Hamill currently stars in "Enter the Night" at the Stardust Hotel & Casino. She sat with me recently in the darkened space of the Stardust Theatre to explain what brought her to Las Vegas.

"For someone my age, I have been privileged to be able to do great projects," she explained. "Vegas is the only place that I really haven't done. So I thought, why not?"

People from the Stardust called to ask if she would be willing to check out the Stardust stage. The problem was not the stage, itself, but the small ice skating area set in the middle of it, which measures 15 by 30 feet. In contrast, an Olympic rink is 100 by 200 feet.

"Learning to work on such a small space is a great challenge," she commented. "I came out in January and brought my choreographer, Tim Murphy. We skated a little bit and tried a few things. He said, 'I think I can make it work.'"

And make it work they did. 

During the 90-minute production show, Hamill is featured in two skating segments. In the first, she glides to the strains of slower tempo songs such as "It Had To Be You." Her second routine is more contemporary. Accented by a vivid laser light display, five male dancers mirror Hamill's moves in a well-choreographed segment that is an uptempo blend of both dance and ice skating. In a nod to her past, Hamill also performs her trademark spin, the "Hamill Camel."

The daughter of a professional musician, Hamill was born 42 years ago. She grew up in Riverside, Connecticut, the youngest in a family of two girls and one boy. At the age of eight, she begged her mother for skating lessons. She wanted to learn to skate backwards.

"I felt that would be really cool," she said while laughing with a giggle that sounds mostly musical. "I just took to it. I fell in love with it the first time I ever did it. They teach you to skate backwards right off the bat in those little group lessons."

Within two years, she entered her first competition and despite the prowess of the other little girls and their beautiful costumes, Hamill nabbed the silver  medal. "It was shocking to me!" she 		exclaimed. "I was just so new at it. The fact that I could even get a medal was just amazing. So I was hooked."

Hamill joined the United States Figure Skating Association when she was 10 and started competing in regional competitions. By the age of 12, she won the Novice National Championship. By the time she was 14 years old, Hamill was competing at the Senior level. 

She was three-time U.S. Senior National Champion and won the Olympic Gold Medal, all by the age of 19. That same year, 1976, she went on to win the World Championship. "It all happened so quickly," she recalled.

Hamill joined the Ice Capades in 1976 and skated with the company on and off for about nine years. By the mid 90's, she and a group of partners owned the organization. Her tenure as owner was a mixed blessing. From the artistic side she loved it, but from the business side it became very difficult.

"It got to the point where I was doing just about everything," she recalled. "I just didn't enjoy skating anymore because there were so many distractions. It was very time consuming. We had two companies playing at the same time. I worked really hard. I could not be in both places."

While working in the Ice Capades, Hamill also starred in several television specials. Although the TV work was professionally satisfying and garnered Hamill an Emmy for "Romeo and Juliet," it took its toll.

So she made a decision. Hamill hung up her skates and did nothing related to skating for about a year. "It just burned me out so badly," she said. "I just hated it."

In more recent years, Hamill has toured with "Champions On Ice" and has also performed in a few television shows and exhibitions. 

In her off time, Hamill, who is a single parent, resides with her 10-year-old daughter Alexandra in Baltimore. A homebody at heart, she enjoys cooking and collects porcelain villages. "I try not to tour that much because of my daughter," she said.

"I am loving it here! The cast is fabulous. I am completely a fish out of water. The show has 20-year-old gorgeous women and I am the only ice skater. They have all been so warm. It has just been wonderful."

Dorothy Hamill stars in "Enter the Night" through August 30 at the Stardust Hotel & Casino. Tickets are $39.85. For show dates and times, call 800-824-6033.