Skating Aratas to take a spin on ‘Ellen’

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 | 10:26 a.m.

Ellen DeGeneres has never claimed her show to be a no-spin zone.

That’s wise, given Thursday afternoon’s guests.

The Skating Aratas, the wheeled darlings of “V — Ultimate Variety Show” at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, are to be featured on Thursday's episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The talk show is broadcast locally at 3 p.m. weekdays on KLAS Channel 8.

On Tuesday, the duo prepped to perform an abbreviated, 2 1/2-minute version of their act for DeGeneres (who has never seen the couple perform live) and the “Ellen” studio audience. The show taped today. Jennifer Aniston is scheduled to join the Aratas on the program.

“Ellen doesn’t like anything staged, so this should be great,” “V” producer David Saxe said in a phone conversation. “She’s going to freak.”

In what was a remarkable road trip for the “V” team, as Saxe and the Aratas loaded the couple’s stage in the back of his Dodge Ram pickup and headed to the “Ellen” studios in Burbank, Calif., Saxe and his publicist, Shelley Bruner, occupied the front seats, with the Aratas sitting in the back.

Hopefully someone thought to play the theme song to “The Beverly Hillbillies” during this adventure.

In keeping with Aratas' tradition, the appearance nearly spun free during the drive from Vegas to the studio. Saxe and the Aratas learned en route that the music played during their routine in “V,” the song “Muse,” had not been cleared to use on the national TV broadcast for licensing issues. Saxe put a quick call in to singer/songwriter/guitarist Jerry Lopez, one of the show’s music directors and the frontman for Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns, to compose an original piece for the “Ellen” appearance. That call was made about three hours before the Aratas’ 2 p.m. call time.

Also during the trip, Jenny realized that she had not packed her costume. It was one of those “I thought you took care of that!” arguments between the married couple, played out in Russian from the back seat (Jenny is Russian, Vittorio is Italian, and both speak Russian). The crew hit a Macy’s store near Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to outfit the panicked skater.

In case you’re not educated about one of the city’s great specialty acts, the Skating Aratas are the husband-and-wife team of Vittorio and Jenny Arata. They perform the closing routine in “V.” The act is among the more jarring performed anywhere in Las Vegas, as Vittorio holds his wife by her forearms, and then legs, and spins her at high RPMs from a small, round, slightly elevated stage.

The final piece of the act has Vittorio wrapping a strap around Jenny’s neck and his own and spinning her while spreading his arms wide. Jenny also spins independently while parallel to the stage, turning at high speed and looking like a human corkscrew.

You smile. You wince. You duck.

It was during that segment of the performance in December that Jenny briefly lost consciousness and tumbled into the crowd, falling into an audience member in the front row. She suffered a fractured right thumb in the incident but has recovered and has been back in the show for the past two months. It is likely the Aratas will discuss the mishap on the show.

“We might mention it, and mention that it is really dangerous,” Vittorio Arata said in a phone interview Tuesday. “There is a high degree of risk involved in what we do, and that proves it.”

Even before the December incident — in fact since October — Saxe and Bruner were pursuing a spot on “Ellen.” The deal came together quickly as producers of “Ellen” sought a catchy act to showcase during “sweeps” week.

The appearance represents the act’s greatest exposure. In 2007, the Skating Aratas (with Vittorio’s sister Emilia still in the act) appeared on the British contest show “When Will I Be Famous,” winning the competition and the equivalent of $25,000, but as Vittorio said, “There has to be a greater audience for ‘Ellen,’ many more people watching because of the greater population in the U.S.”

The national TV debut of the act could lead to appearances on similar shows. David Letterman, for instance, has for decades favored specialty acts, dedicating entire weeks to magicians and ventriloquists.

“I think it’s good to bring talented people out and show what we can do,” Vittorio said. “These types of shows can remind people of all the great acts that we have in Las Vegas.”

Vittorio was pleased to learn that he would be permitted to strip his shirt during the “Ellen” broadcast, which is a piece of disrobing that punctuates the act at “V.”

“I don’t spend all these hours in the gym to keep myself covered up,” he said. “I can’t wait to meet Jennifer Aniston. I mean, come on! I’ll go, ‘Hey, Jennifer! Great to meet you! Check out my abs!’ ”

That’s the Aratas for you. Pretty wacky. But maybe, for this, stick to the skating.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.