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THE OREGON JOURNAL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1968 Entertainment Arnold ^laLTJKS Who says there isn't any live entertainment? Vaudeville isn't dead. It's on ice ?╟÷ and some 5,450 showgoers can attest to the fact after attending Wednesday night's Oregon Lions' Sight Foundation benefit premiere of Morris Chalfen's "Holiday on Ice" in the Memorial! Coliseum arena. Each year Chalfen's ice extravaganzas get bigger and better. This newcomer is a panorama of the Broadway and Hollywood hits of a full 60 or more years of American showmanship ?╟÷ a 21/2-hour all-family, glittering treat featuring the top stars and performers of the ice world, SKILLED skaters plus the artistry of Broadway, Las Vegas and Hollywood creators combine for the kind of a show seldom found outside of these entertainment capi- tols, and showcased in Portland's modern Coliseum. The theme this year is entertaining for adults as well as youngsters. Perhaps the small fry and teen agers never heard of Eva Tan- guay as danced by red-head Alice Quessy in the opening Old Broadway routine; Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim Brady ((Helga and Jorge Valley) or George M. Cohan's Yankee Doodle Dandies (Tommy Allen and , Juanita Percelly) but their I parents have. EVEN SO, there's more than plenty geared for the young set. "Harrigan's j Hooligans," for example, is j vaudeville on ice featuring i Holiday's new family, the Cooks. Kim, a petite blonde youngster has the makings of an ice queen and her little brothers, Kris and Kelly are top troupers as well. "Ole Houn' Dog" (Alfredo Mendoza and John Ladue) a favorite act of past seasons, returns with a dozen assorted pals in a "Blue Ribbon Prize Winner" routine. BACK AGAIN, too, are those slapstick comics Paul Andre and his Swabs. A gasser that brings one of the wackiest cars ice show buffs have seen in ages to the arena looks like something left over from the Portland Auto Show, (vintage 1920). I It's driven by Johnny Leech as a sort of Clyde with Paul Andre gowned and clowning as his Bonnie. Show stopping, for both adults and youngsters are the Mullers and their chimps in "Banana Brigade ?╟÷a show in itself with those simians playnig hockey and up to wild antics. PRODUCTION numbers are more spectacular # and dazzling than ever giving Ronnie Robertson, Holidays whirling, twirling dervish on ice, plenty of opportunity to demonstrate why he's one ol the world's highest paid ice performers. | His fellow headliners give him plenty of competition m skill - and there's one facet where he's left out of the spotlight: The feminine charm of Alice Quessy and European newcomers Marei Langenbein and petite Anna Galmarini. These Girls give the ice a new look. Eye-rut- ing also is blonde Grete Borgen. Keep an eye, too, on dance duos Juanita Percelly and Tommy Allen and Helga and Jorge Valle. THIS REVIEWER par- t i c u 1 a r 1 y enjoyed "Star Time" ?╟÷ a parade of movie- land personalities from the silent days to the talkies Miss Percelly played Pearl White in a series of old chit- hanger serials. Her partner, Tommy Allen, was swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks. A treat were the Marx Brothers, Groucho, Harpo and Chico as portrayed by Freddy Napier, Paul Andre and Johnny Leech. Capping the lineup was Tarzan and Cheeta - Werner Muller and one of his chimps. Getting a hand was a precision line of Glamour- leers and Ice Squires, all in Charlie Chaplin attire ?╟÷ plus derby, moustache and cane. Costumes and sets are by Donn Arden of Las Vegas and Paris, and by Broadway's Freddy Wittop. Music is again under the direction of Ben Stabler. The show continues through Sunday with matinees Saturday and Sunday. Starving for live entertainment? This is the show. Holiday On Ice At Memorial Coliseum Presents Solid Family Entertainment By WAYNE THOMPSON , Staff Writer, The Oregonian About once and sometimes twice a year, the entertainment editor drops by my desk with an ice show ticket and the remark, "If you've seen one ice skating revue you've seen them all." It's his way of saying to me, "Look, if ice shows are your| thing, go do it." I've never told him that ice] shows aren't my thing . that I have never skated, and that the only ice that has ever really appealed to me are the little cubes that come in a drink. ^^^~ But I always go to the ice shows that come to Portland and, no matter how lavish orl dull they may be, I end up| enjoying the night. Wednesday night, at the I opening of the 24th edition Holiday On Ice at Memorial 1 Coliseum, I discovered quite by accident what it is about ice shows that keeps luring me back. It's the pink-tinged blondj hair of the chorus girls, the} jeweled costumes, that glimmer, the psychedelic lighting1 which dictates the mood of the, l skits, and the music. But mostly the chorus line. I It's the $150 dollar-a-week skaters in the chorus line, not] the name stars of the show, whom I seem to watch the most. As I watched this year's version of Holiday On Ice, a 15-act spectacular which costs about $8,000 a night to perform, I wondered if anybody else in the disappointing opening night crowd of 5,450 came back to ice shows for the same reason. Glancing about me, I could tell from their expressions, as well as their applause, that this group was a partisan ice show crowd. "Most of them probably like to drive their cars in snow," I said to my- [self. If there should be opening night notices for the cast, they should go to the 30-year old I Calif ornian who is billed as 'the star of the show., He is Ronnie Robertson, a professional skating title holder who can do 450 revolutions per minute in what is called "piston turn." When he gets too old for skating he can be a jSports car engine. Robertson, the only skater in any ice show I have seen who can do this cross-foot spin that fast, makes about $1,800 a week ?╟÷ more than anybody else in the skating business, including Gordie Howe or Bobby Hull of hockey fame. It was Robertson who got the loudest applause and was whispered about the most during my intermission eavesdropping. The promoters will tell you the 1969 Holiday On Ice model represents a new look among ice shows due to a new production staff headed by Donn Arden, noted for his extravagant Las Vegas and Parisian productions in large night clubs. No. It's the same ice revue fore- mat, which is good, solid variety entertainment for families. There are comedy acts, romantic ballet numbers, clowns, monkey, skating puppy dogs, and the spectacular melange of music, skating and scenic effects prevalent in the big numbers. And, of course, there's plenty of opportunity to see the chorus line. The show, which continues through Sunday, is really no better or no worse than others. And, I suppose the entertainment editor is right when he says, "If you've seen one, 'you've seen them all." THE OREGON7AN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1968