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pVJVIVHpl 8 THE NASHViLLE TENNESSEAN. Wednesday, August 20, 1969 Runs Through Sunday , Holiday on Ice Melts the Crowd By CLARA HIERONYMUS All the great star skaters were back in Nashville last night to open the silver anniversary edition of "Holiday on Ice," with every conceivable extravaganza of costuming, music, lights, set and dance choreography on ice ?╟÷ and found themselves topped by a great non-skater who darned near stole the show. Nashville's own Minnie Pearl, with her familiar price- tag hat and hog-calling How- dee, came out on ice skates to introduce a number called "Those Chicken Delites." SAYING IT was the "scaredest" she'd ever been since she'd never been on skates before, Grinder's Switch's g a m e s t representative was assisted onto the ice by "the Kernel and the Pearl" for a trembly turn or two. Paul Andre, as a hefty Minnie Pearl in ruffles and huge Mary Jane slippers, and Johnny Leech as a swinging Colonel Sanders then took over with some uninhibited clowning and a trick farm truck with a mind of its own. Minnie Pearl, bless her, was but a lagniappe for a skating revue that set out to observe its quarter century birthday with more flair and flavor than it had ever displayed before. And that's a high goal in view of its past successes. Apparently Nashvillians had decided beforehand that a silver anniversary show would be something to see; last night's opening performance attendance totaled 6,126, the biggest opening night turnout in Municipal Auditorium history. WITH HOLIDAYS as its theme, and specifically happy holidays, the show rocks, swoops, glides, and sometimes flies through the calendar in a sparkling display of opulent pageantry. It begins with "A Happy Birthday" which features Alice Quessy (unquestionably the r e i g n i n'g queen of this show), Grete Borgen and Ray Balmer in a dazzle of silver and snow, rich velvets and glittering effects, and stars lovely Marei Langenbein, who seems as glimmering and unreal as a firefly in winter. The show moves from New Year's Day with a hung-over houn' dawg ?╟÷ that pair of perennial favorites, Alfredo Mendoza and John Ladue ?╟÷ to St. Valentine's Day in which Carol Johnson, a live centerfold from Playboy, shines, and everybody's favorites, Tommy Allen and Juanita Percelly dance with the most contagious air of joyfulness. New this year is a collection of "April Fool" animals that includes a lion with pink curlers in his mane, a skunk with a magnificent tail and a garland of flowers worn like a lei and a rhinoceros with long blond braids. They are surely kin to the huge tree trunks with rolling eyes and gaping rubbery mouths which appear with a bunch of scarecrows in the "Autumn Holiday" number! Most beautiful, in terms of magnificence of costuming and mood-creating is an act called "Salute to the Operas," in which four skaters costumed to suggest Aida, Madame Butterfly, Tales of Hoffman and Carmen glide across the ice in a quiet kind of splendor that sets the stage for Ronnie Robertson's dramatic "Pagliacci" scene. ROBERTSON HAS never been more in control nor more technically brilliant than in this year's show, performing especially well in the tour de force, "The Devil's Disciple." Robertson is unquestionably a superb skater with a fine sense of the dramatic. One only wishes that he somehow could project more warmth or "soul." He seems terribly detached and impersonal when he's on stage, or should one say "on ice"? The Holiday Chimps, a trio of well-trained chimpanzees, had the auditorium in a frenzy of delight. One, a small animal in red pants, is as glorious a ham actor ?╟÷ screeching and waving his hands ?╟÷ as you'll ever hope to see. Using "black light" for an unusual effect, the company gives a fine, funny and s o metimes breath-catching production effect in "A Holiday in Rio." If not genuinely new or novel, it is certainly exhilirating to watch that silent chase scene gather speed, and see Grete Borgen as the girl from Ipanema pursued by Ray Balmer. Balmer, featured earlier in the Roman Holiday routine in which he somehow looked a mite ludicrous in his gold laurel leaves and gladiator's skirt, is marvelous in the Rio dance. THE FINALE, AS you might guess, is a big spectacular around the Christmas theme and it is stunning. Animated Christmas trees with lights, topped with splendid silver tinsel head dresses, and stunning imaginary Christmas figures provide background for Miss Langenbein, who seems blown about in a white flutter of chiffon < like a crystal snowflake in a winter wind, never needing contact with the ice beneath her skates. "Holiday on Ice" continues at Municipal Auditorium through Sunday. ?╟÷Staff photo by Frank Empson Those Chicken Delites' Cousin Minnie Pearl, center, joins her reasonable facsimile, Paul Andre, and John Leech! who portrays Col. Harland Sanders, on the rink of the Holiday on Ice Show that opened at Municipal Auditorium last night. Andre and Leech, both regular members of the show, perform a comedy routine in a satire of the chicken franchise business.