‘Dancing with the Stars’: Broadway Week, 'Sister Act' & Carson Kressley Dropped By, J.R. & Ricki Tied

Each of the couples was Broadway bound this week on "Dancing with the Stars" Monday night (October 24). To get things started the cast of "Sister Act" opened the show with two lively numbers that got the crowd going. Midway into the show Tom Bergeron had a wonderful surprise for the audience and viewers. Carson Kressley was on the dance floor briefly talking about his consulting role as "creative director" for the upcoming group number, since he was just shy of performing on Broadway Week. It was so good to see Carson once again.

Last night there were some tense situations with the judge's comments that left the ballroom with a weird vibe later on. Had Carson been around his humor would have diffused it all. Kristen Chenoweth performed two classic Broadway numbers from "Cabaret" and "My Fair Lady" while the couples got ready for their big Broadway-themed group number. It was impressive with a spectacular opening to "Big Spender" from "Sweet Charity" and the spotlighted couple's solos during "Money" from "Cabaret" . Here's a recap of what Broadway musicals the couples performed from, the respective songs and judge's scores.

Rob Kardashian - "Jersey Boys"

This Tony Award-winning musical about the 1960s group, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, cha-cha their way to one of the group's biggest hits "Walk Like a Man." Rob has definitely improved showing significant progress. Unfortunately the judges didn't see it my way. 22

Nancy Grace - "Spamalot"

Monty Python's satirical version of "Camelot", another Broadway classic in its own right, had Nancy and Tristan do the foxtrot much like the actual production number. I absolutely loved their costumes, but not much else. Obviously the judges love Nancy Grace. 24

David Arquette - "Grease"

I've seen various stage productions of this 50s-style musical that is still a perennial favorite. David and Kym did the quickstep to "We Go Together" that was super high-energy just like most of the production numbers in "Grease." Too bad they were out of sync, but David kept on going. He was not able to repeat his highest score from last week. 23

Ricki Lake - "Guys and Dolls"

This is one of the great classics of Broadway that has spawned many revivals over the decades on the Great White Way. The musical is about gamblers and a Christian missionary. Their quickstep was truly amazing while dancing to one of the show's best numbers "Luck Be a Lady." Ricki and Derek were back on top of the leader board with two 10s once again. 29

Chaz Bono - "Phantom of the Opera"

You may be more familiar with the horror film version that was based on a novel. Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical featured Chaz and Lacey doing the tango while Chaz wore the famous half mask at the beginning. I must admit he has slightly improved, but the tango is a very passionate dance. It was certainly lacking for its known intensity.

What really got the night off to a dismal downfall were the not so nice comments from the judges, especially Bruno. A few weeks back he told Chaz he looked like an Ewok (from "Star Wars"). Now he told him he looked like a penguin dancing around. When they were with Brooke, while she asked him the dumbest questions imaginable, it looked like Chaz wanted to punch someone in the face. 19

Hope Solo - "Rent"

As if things could not get any more tense, there was the further drama from Hope and Maks during their rehearsal video. What else is new? They were dancing the sexy rumba to "Seasons of Love" one of the signature songs from the musical based on the opera "La boheme." It's about struggling actors in New York City during the early to mid-1980s when HIV/AIDS was encroaching.

Once again I thought Hope was significantly better this week then in the past. I guess the judges and I did not see eye to eye last night. Len had the audacity to tell Hope it was her worst dance ever, which I disagreed with. This got Maks on a rampage telling the judges off "not to be judgmental" (his words, not mine). Maks was not too happy going on and on with Brooke who looked like she wanted to get out of there. 20

J.R. Martinez - "Chicago"

For the third time this season J.R. and Karina had the coveted "pimp spot", or the slot to close out the show, which they certainly deserve. "Chicago" like "Guys and Dolls" is another classic Broadway musical. Set during the Prohibition era it's known for being one of the longest-running musical revivals in Broadway history. Some may be more familiar with the musical's film version that won an Oscar for Best Picture. Once again J.R. performed an immaculate quickstep that was literally non-stop from beginning to end. It was the perfect way to close out the show. The comments from the judges made it sound like J.R. was about to get his first perfect score. At least he got two 10s and tied with Ricki Lake. 29

Kristin Chenoweth will return once again on the results show Tuesday night (October 25) to perform more Broadway showstoppers. Martina McBride, who is about as removed from Broadway as one can get, will perform her latest country hit. Kenny Ortega, who was in the audience, spoke with Tom Bergeron. Ortega was the choreographer for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour. The producers had tried for 12 seasons to get Ortega on "Dancing with the Stars" and they succeeded. He will choreograph a tribute to Broadway for Macy's Stars of Dance.

SOURCES:

Dancing with the Stars, ABC.go.com

Kelley L. Carter, "'Dancing with the Stars': Ricki Lake Is Back On Top", MTV.com

Alyssa Lee, "'Dancing with the Stars' recap: Broadway bound", LATimes.com