Ice Capades

[SkateFan4Life]

I'm going to get a little nostalgic and reminisce about the wonderful Ice Capades,
that great "circus on ice" that delighted so many of us for decades. I truly miss my annual visit to this show.

Aside from the great line skating, comedy acts, animal acts, barrel jumping, and other miscellaneous entertainment, the Ice Capades provided one of the best opportunities for many of us to see World and Olympic champions and medalists in person. I fondly recall seeing Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, Elaine Zayak, Jayne Torvill/Christopher Dean, David Santee, Kitty and Peter Carruthers, Jill Watson/Peter Oppergard, Lisa-Marie Allen, Priscilla Hill, and many other wonderful skaters.

Who can forget the Smurfs? Who can forget the space numbers?

Of course, Ice Capades declined in the mid-late 1980s, with the emergence of Stars on Ice, which drew many of the top skaters, and with other skaters, such as Brian Boitano, going out to form his own tour. Alas!

I did not attend Ice Capades after Dorothy Hamill purchased the show, but I remember the television special that was aired on her "Cinderella" Ice Capades show. While it was beautifully skated, it just wasn't the same old Ice Capades.
Guess I'm a create of habit, as far as that's concerned.

Sigh. I still miss the show.

 

[Ice Princess]

A few years ago, when my mom & I were cleaning out my Grandpa's house, I came across an old Ice Capades program! My mom let me keep it! It was from 1971-it is so awesome! In April 1978 (when I was about 7 years old), I went to the Ice Follies. Of course, I thought it was awesome, too! Dorothy Hamill was in it & Big Bird & Cookie Monster. Around that time, I got a Dorothy Hamill wedge hairdo! Since then, I've been to Stars On Ice in about 1997 (as an adult), which is great, too. It was the first time Ekaterina Gordeeva was in it without Sergei, I think.

 

[Tonichelle]

don't blame it on SOI and COI blame it on the stupid management that fired Scott Hamilton after his 2 years in the show were up... he wouldn't have had a reason to create his own show....

 

[Grgranny]

Maybe so but SOI is a better show.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

don't blame it on SOI and COI blame it on the stupid management that fired Scott Hamilton after his 2 years in the show were up... he wouldn't have had a reason to create his own show....

I totally agree with you. Ice Capades' brilliant management fired Scott Hamilton, 4-time World and US champion and Olympic champion, because they believed that male skaters could not attract audiences. Kudos to Scott for striking out on his own and forming SOI.

I still fondly remember Ice Capades, however. The cast and crew (not management) did a great job for decades.

 

[patsue1947]

My history with Ice Capades started when my Mom took my sister and me to see Carol Heiss--newly crowned Oly Champ! I can remember being awed at the whole extravaganza--the lights, costumes, skaters, etc. It was so magical. I fell in love with figure skating then (1956) and have been a life-long devotee.
My own daughter was born in 1968--My Mom and I took her to the Ice Follies--mainly to see Peggy Fleming. My Mom bought first row tickets and as a result my daughter was lifted off my lap and got to take a spin on the ice in a special carriage built for that purpose (giving youngsters a wonderful memory).
SOI is okay--but I got tired of seeing the same skaters--not too many cast changes to suit my taste.

 

[RealtorGal]

My Mom bought first row tickets and as a result my daughter was lifted off my lap and got to take a spin on the ice in a special carriage built for that purpose (giving youngsters a wonderful memory).

Me, too! I was in the front row and taken for an unforgettable ride around the ice! But I think it was later than 1968, I believe it was 1972 or 1973--Janet Lynn must have been the star that year.

 

[Ladskater]

Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies were great shows for both skaters and non-skaters to attend. Although my skating instructors used to discourage us (my brother and I) from attending these shows and rather encourage us to attend skating competitions. The idea being we would see the difference in the skating.
Still, I always enjoyed Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice.

The first non Ice Capades professional skating show I saw was Toller Cranston's ice show. It was far superior in content. Sadly, it became too expensive to produce and Toller being the temperamental fellow he is gave up on the show business aspect of skating. His shows were spectactular.

I think Ice Capades and Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice influenced many a flegling skater to take up figure skating. Plus, great skaters like Karen Magnussen and Donald Jackson were able to continue to entertain the public long after their competive careers ended.

 

[hockeyfan228]

I must be the grump in the bunch. I so wanted to see Ice Follies and Ice Capades when I was little, because I thought the show would be like the skating competitions I saw on TV. I was not a happy girl waiting through all of the chorus lines and animal costumes, etc...

 

[Ladskater]

I must be the grump in the bunch. I so wanted to see Ice Follies and Ice Capades when I was little, because I thought the show would be like the skating competitions I saw on TV. I was not a happy girl waiting through all of the chorus lines and animal costumes, etc...

No!!!! That's why my skating pro (coach) did not want me to go to Ice Capades or Ice Follies; The skating was just not on the same level. Yet, I enjoyed the chorus lines - even wanted to try out for Ice Capades - my mom would not let me. As it turned out, I was too short for the chorus line. Drats.

 

[treeskater]

Ah, the history of skating in all its various formats...sigh. When the big production ice shows were in their prime, they not only exposed the public to the joys of skating, but brought great literature and music onto the ice and to the public who might not otherwise been aware of the stories and melodies that stay in our memories. These shows and smaller ones filled many a small arena in small towns across the continent. The skaters were dedicated, worked under horrible conditions at times, yet formed a family of sorts. There numbers are dwindling as the years go by but there are still skaters from those early years who keep in contact with each other, have reunions, and mourn the loss of their pals from the good ole days.

I have a 70 yr. old former show skater as a friend and I just love to hear his stories from those days - behind the scene stuff you would never know about.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I think that ice shows came out of the 3 time Olys champion Sonia Henie. She was not going to skate a 4th Oly. She was at the time the most sort after personality in the world. What do you do with her? Hollywood, of course. And show skating began in her movies with big production numbers. The public didn't have enough, so Wirtz started The Hollywood Ice Revue. And that's what it was a REVUE - a touring variety of figure skating ACTS which included serious skating, comic acts, barrel jumping, incredible costumes, sets, a band, etc. If you are old enough to have seen one of her shows, you know it was Vaudeville On Ice. suitable for the whole family. Those shows made money, and imitators quickly established Holiday on Ice, Ice Capades, Ice Follies, in similar style, and many junior companies of these three came into being. Skaters, not only had a sport when they were young, they now had employment whether or not they medaled. IMO, Figure Skating's biggest debt is to Sonia Henie.

With figure skating shows well established and somewhat losing public interest, along comes John Curry who drops the vaudeville aspects of FS, and we have a complete serious endeavour to show the true artistic side of FS. The vaudeville aspect of the sport looked doomed. However, Curry's life was taken from us all too soon and he was not there to develop his dream further.
IMO, Curry advanced the ART of figure skating more than anyone else.

Enter COI and SOI with with STARS only. Very nice shows but if you were never a top competitor one could never dream of being in either of these shows. Not easy to continue skating if you are not a winner.

Pro competitive skating reduced itself, imo, to vaudeville acts.

Maybe synchronized skating will bring back the big production numbers and at an advanced level!! Can you imagine the payroll each month? I doubt it.

Joe

 

[Ice Princess]

Ice Capades

I have an older skater friend, who is 70-80's years old, who used to travel with Sonjia Henie, in those shows, I think!

 

[Kathleenie]

Does anybody remember Mr. Frick's? I remember seeing him in either Ice Capades or Ice Follies when I was a little girl. This was a long time ago, but he was so entertaining.

 

[Grgranny]

If someone travelled with Henie, wouldn't they have to be older than 70's or 80's? I'm 75 and was 6 or 7 when she won her last Olympic medal. I guess if she was 16, she would now be 88, so I guess it's possible.

 

[RealtorGal]

When did Sonia Henie die and from what?

 

[Ice Princess]

What's Mr. Frick's real name? I'm kind of guessing on my old skater friend's age-she just tells me she used to travel with Sonia Henie-my friend is in a nursing home!

 

[Grgranny]

1912-1969

I think she had some kind of cancer. Only 57!

 

[Mathman]

What's Mr. Frick's real name? I'm kind of guessing on my old skater friend's age-she just tells me she used to travel with Sonia Henie-my friend is in a nursing home!

Mr. Frick's real name was Werner Groebli. According to this article, he took his stage name "Mr. Frick" from his home town of Frick, Switzerland.

http://www.comedystars.com/Bios/frick-frack.shtml

For many years he was part of the comedy ice duo "Frick and Frack." Frack (Hans Mauch) retired in 1953 because of illness, and Frick performed alone for a while after that. They did a lot of unusual and cool stuff, like barrel jumping, as part of their act.

This team became so famous that the phrase "Frick and Frack" passed into general use as a term for any two silly buddies. For instance, two of the Backstreet Boys are called Frick and Frack by their fans.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fri1.htm

Mathman

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Sonia died from Leukemia which was no secret. The actual death occured on a flight to her beloved Norway where she wanted to spend her final days.

Joe