We were excited to attend the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston both to see the top notch skating (the U.S. won 3 out of 4 gold medals for the first time!) and to attend special events as the Successor Trustee to Olympic Coach Frank Carroll. We then went to NYC to catch up with friends and Broadway shows. Here are some photos from our trip:

We were given a private tour of the Skating Club of Boston’s Museum and Trophy Room which includes this statue of our friend Frank Carroll who passed last year

The Skating Club gratefully accepted from us and are now displaying these two rare Ikkos medals given to Frank by Evan Lysacek and Gracie Gold.

We had a great group of friends to watch the skating with including Linda Fratianne, the 1980 Olympic Silver Medalist, and Frank’s Personal Assistant Ann.

We enjoyed cheering on the U.S. women including openly LGBT Amber Glenn, the current U.S. Champion

And the heartwarming and spectacular return of Alyssa Liu, who became World Champion

The Ice Dance Was Another Exciting Event with U.S. Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates Repeating as World Champions

And overcoming other good couples including “out” Canadian skater Paul Poirier and his partner, Piper Gilles. It is always great to see skaters who have such strong backing (pun intended)!

In between skating events, we attended special events including a special reception honoring Dick Button.

The highlight of the competiton was likely the Men’s event where fan favorite (and a member of Jonathan’s Scholastic Honors Team) Jason Brown showed why he remains the world’s best artist on ice.

While U.S. Champion Ilia Malinin deservedly ran away with the event with his almost super-human technical feats which make him an Olympic favorite next year.

Heading Down to NYC After World’s, Our Hotel Room Offered Nice Skyline Views

This trip, we saw two wonderful plays, “Purpose”, the set of which is above. This gripping play was written by the playwright who wrote “Appropriate”, the top play last year. We also saw the remarkable One Actor “Portrait of Dorian Gray”.

We saw many great musicals including the wonderful choregraphy of “Buena Vista Social Club” shown here.

Seeing Jonathan Groff up close and personal in “Just In Time” produced by a Purple Light client.

And seeing the hilarious and clever “Operation Mincemeat” a transfer from the West End. Other worthwhile musicals we saw this trip were “Floyd Collins, “Pirates of Penzance”, as well as “Smash” and “Boop”, (the last two laudable as to the acting, music and production values if not their books).

We were not impressed with the “Last Five Years” though it is always a privilege to see/hear the remarkable (and Tony-award winning) Adrienne Warren and we were glad to have had the opportunity to see Nick Jonas on a Broadway stage.

In addition to seeing shows, we got to hang out with friends including Rocky (who does the sounds/lights) for VACAYA and his husband Vince

Jonathan and Sean Have wonderful drinks and brunch with this accommodating bartender friend of Sean’s at the Taqueria On Tenth, a restaurant we recommend.

About the Author

Jonathan Geen is the President of Purple Light Vacations. He received his travel agent certification from Career Quest and has also been awarded the designation of Elite Cruise Counselor, (the highest certification), by the Cruise Line International Association. He is a member of the Travel Leaders consortium and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). He graduated from ASTA's advanced travel advisor certification program and is an ASTA Verified Travel Advisor. He is proud that his company offers added value at no cost to all travelers. Travel in the Know Wherever You Go!