Flipping out

Olympics’ biggest stars join Simone Biles for thrilling gymnastics showcase — but not in Austin

Gymnasts Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum dazzled the world at the recent Olympics, winning a trove of medals in Tokyo — and now they’re heading to Texas to entertain fans in a thrilling gymnastics “spectacular.” But as it turns out, they won’t be landing in Austin.

Nearly every member of the Team USA gymnastics squad (minus one, Sunisa Lee) will join headliner and Texan Simone Biles on the Gold Over America Tour, making stops in Texas locales like San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth in October. An Austin show was originally planned for October 10 at the Frank Erwin Center, but according to the venue, that show has been canceled. No reason was provided and the Erwin Center notes ticket holders should contact their ticket point of purchase to claim a refund.

Austinites who were flipping for the chance to see Biles perform in person may find their excitement twisted into knots when they learn the tour has added some particularly spectacular performers to the lineup.

According to an August 19 news release, also performing as part of the tour will be 2016 Olympic gold and silver medalist and Dancing With The Stars champion Laurie Hernandez; All-American, NCAA National Champion and viral video sensation Katelyn Ohashi; three-time gold medalist in 2019 and 2020 at the Tokyo World Cup Morgan Hurd; elite gymnast Shilese Jones; former USA Gymnastics Women’s Athlete of the Year Chellsie Memmel; 2021 French Olympian Melanie De Jesus dos Santos; and 2018 NCAA National Champion from UCLA (where she achieved 10 perfect 10s), Peng-Peng Lee.

“The Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour will match athleticism and entertainment,” Biles says in the release. “The show embodies the themes of empowerment and togetherness, which was on display in Tokyo. Together, all the gymnasts on this tour want to inspire the next generation of women and athletes.”

Beyond being a demonstration of eye-popping twists and flips, the show promises to promote values of empowerment, friendship, positive body image, mental-health awareness, and self-confidence, organizers say.

But let’s be real. Fans want eye-popping twists and flips, too — but Austinites will have to settle for watching Olympics reruns or vaulting down to San Antonio on October 6 for the closest tour performance.

For those who need an Olympics refresher:

(Deep breath)

Houston’s Biles — the most-decorated gymnast of all time — experienced a medical issue referred to as the “twisties” after qualifying rounds, which made her death-defying stunts too dangerous to compete safely. When she suddenly dropped out of the team final, her Texas training mate, Chiles, and calm-and-collected teammate McCallum delivered some unscheduled clutch performances that helped win the team a silver medal.

And then ... when Biles couldn’t compete in the vault final, Skinner — who hadn’t qualified, announced her retirement, and packed her bags to leave Tokyo — got the call to compete in Biles’ spot and won herself a silver medal.

And then ... Carey, who’d flubbed her vault in the same final in which Skinner won the silver medal, came charging back the next day with a stunning floor exercise and won herself a gold medal.

And then ... Biles returned triumphantly on the very last day of competition with a “twist-less” balance beam routine she could complete safely, and won herself a bronze medal.

(Exhale)

These shining stars of the games will each perform some of their most famous routines on the tour, mixed with career highlights, personal videos, and social media interactions.

“The show is a high-energy, gymnastics-meets-pop-concert spectacular,” the release says.

A crew of gymnastic dancers under bright LED video screens and lights will heighten the adrenaline, and some ticket holders will get to join them onstage at the end.

It could be fans’ last time to see Skinner perform, as she still plans to retire, so it might be worth making the trip to San Antonio for the show. Biles has not yet announced her future plans, but there was much pre-Olympics speculation that she’d hang up her leotard after this year, too. Both women are a “grandmotherly” 24 in a sport dominated by teenagers.

Fans of Hernandez will be happy to see her back on the mats, too, as an injury in warmups at the National Championships took her out of a recent Fort Worth competition. She served as an NBC commentator at the Olympics. (Follow her comeback journey, as well as those of Hurd and other elite gymnasts, in the excellent docuseries Golden, streaming on NBC’s Peacock app.)

The 35-city tour, which starts September 21 in Tucson, Arizona, will also make Texas stops in Houston on October 8 and Fort Worth on October 9.

Tickets for the San Antonio show start at $26.50, and are available through Ticketmaster.

To sign up for more information about VIP packages and a chance to dance in the show finale, visit www.GoldOverAmericaTour.com. Follow on Instagram & Facebook @GoldOverAmericaTour, Twitter @GoldOverAmerica and YouTube. #GoldInAllOfUs

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

Getty Images

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

tours sports

Movie Review

Highly anticipated Wicked movie adaptation deserves to be popular

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

movies film

Flipping out

Olympics’ biggest stars join Simone Biles for thrilling gymnastics showcase — but not in Austin

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

Movie Review

Highly anticipated Wicked movie adaptation deserves to be popular

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