Ice Capades

Ice Capades was founded in February 1940 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, by nine men who called themselves the Arena Managers Association.

The arenas represented were all well-known venues of the day:[1] In 1936, Harris had hired the legendary skater Sonja Henie to perform between periods of ice hockey games.

[2] The other arena managers agreed with this assessment, chose the name "Ice Capades", and formed a group of skaters.

The show closed there on June 29 and moved to Atlantic City Convention Hall, where it played nightly from July 19 through September 2.

[4] The films featured actors and entertainers such as James Ellison, Ellen Drew, Jerry Colonna, and Phil Silvers, as well as the Ice Capades skaters.

[14] Ice Capades planned a tour of arenas as well as a TV special in China's Tiananmen Square but went out of business a short time later.

Instead, however, IFE sold Ice Capades in late 1995, to Del Wilber & Associates, while retaining the option to reacquire a majority ownership stake for 10 years.

[5] In the fall of 2000, Ice Capades was resurrected by Garden Entertainment in its original format, with a large cast of skaters.

The new show was conceived, directed, and choreographed by the former German pair skating champion Almut Lehmann Peyper.

[18] However, in April 2009, the tour was canceled by its organizers, Garden Family Shows, stranding many of the performers without pay and leaving suppliers unpaid.

The 2010 reunion, held in Las Vegas, commemorated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Ice Capades, and was attended by more than 500 people.

[21] Licensed characters and properties used in productions included "A Flintstone Fantasy" (1967),[citation needed] "Hey Kids, Meet The Snorks!"

[citation needed] From 1989 to 1990, as part of the show's 50th anniversary, the Ice Capades had a tour that featured a variety of segments, including appearances from Olympic medalist Elizabeth Manley, Super Mario Bros., and Barbie.

[22][23] On December 28, 1989, ABC aired the Ice Capades in a special hosted by Jason Bateman and Alyssa Milano.

This made it possible for them to perform in arenas that did not have their own ice surface, greatly expanding the number of venues where the show could operate.

The chalets were started by Michael Kirby, former voice of Ice Capades shows, and eventually expanded to over two dozen facilities.