ent000828-037

New 'Holiday on Ice' Called Better Than Ever Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel 13A Wed., Nov. 20, 1968 ' By ED TREON 1 Hollywood on Ice, which opened From Old New York to Valen-j in dazzling fashion in Memorial cia and its orange blossoms and back to Hollywood of the 1920s and 1930s, the 24th edition of Ed Treon Coliseum, Tuesday evening, car-1 ries its viewers ?║ through dazzling ?║| scenes. It is play- f ing a six-day, nine - performance engagement. The show appears better than ever, costuming spectacular, lighting excellent and skating fine for the program which invokes nostalgia in music and song, much of which is music many can recall. Secrets of popularity of the ice shows include fact that they are wholesome entertainment for the entire family and something which everyone seems to understand and appreciate. Execution of scenes are sg complete that the stars blend into the total picture with no one individual or act carrying the The colorful ice show staged and directed by Donn Arden runs largely toward scenes and music of past generations. First is the New York of final decade of thr last century through first three decades of this century, "Remember Rector's" is the first scene with the Belles of the Balls and the Beau Brurnmels in colorful blue costumes skating amidst clustered globed lamp posts. "Beautiful Doll," "In Old New York," "The Merry Widow Waltz," and "Kiss Me Again" are color numbers in the first scene. Second scene is of the Crystal Palace Gaities andMhe "I Don't Care Girl," Eve Tan- guay. New York in the era of the George M. Cohan family is next, the attire switching to katy style straw hats and refrains of the Give My Regards to Broadway" type. "Harrigan's Hooligans," an Irish theme routine by the Cook family, Cal, Dormi, Kim, Kris and Kelly, comes next followed by a "pooch parade" of "Madison Square Blue Ribbon Winners," as ladies of the chorus take their "pooches" for a skating stroll. All is enlivened as the "Old Houn' Dawg," of fluttering eyelids played by Alfredo Mendoza and John Ladue invades the realm of blueblood canines. Tommy Allen, Juanita Percelly, Alice Quessy, Jorge and Helga Valle all project themselves well on the ice in these opening scenes. Humor figures in the next scene "Calling All Cars" with a "Bonnie and Clyde" skit by Paul Andre and Johnny Leech, including a car on the ice and antics of the outlaw pair of the early 1930s. The jalopy, with the nameplate "City of Macon," and a Confederate plate on the rear man-] ages to perform all sorts of hilarious surprises. Helga and Jorge Valle skate along with diminutive Anna Galmarini, the only one of the great stars of ice who is of Italian origin. The 98-pound signorina, 1965 world professional female skating champion, executes magnificent butterfly leaps in "Jungalero," a jungle voodoo scene. Laughter is provided by the amazing three chimpanzes of the "Banana Brigade" and their master Werner Miller. The chimps play ice hockey and seem to know the goal is to maneuver the puck into the net. They also accomplish other hilarious antics in almost humanlike manner. Ronnie Robertson, main star of the show, makes his initial appearance in concluding section of Part I, a tribute to Fred Astaire and his music. Ronnie, rated one of the finest skaters of all time, brings the first section to a strong conclusion along with other members of the cast. An( intermission feature of opening night was four of the WO WO "Air Aces" skating with four damsels from the ice show, included was a presentation of check to the Allen County Crippled Children's Association. A strong first part of a show is sometimes difficult to follow up with an equally strong second half but the current Holiday of Ice skates through a second section at least as good as that of the first half. This glorious second half ex- cells, in some ways, the first half in color and skating including "The Romantics," Tommy Allen and Juanita Percelly; the visit to Spain for the "Gates of Granada" with such Castili- an songs as Grenada, Valencia, and others. Ronnie Robertson appears for the second time in this scene as the Prince of La Man- cha, Marei Langenbein is co- featured. Paul Andre as "officer of the bridge" does great skating in a Navy humor scene "Hit the Deck" with Kris Cook as "Little Likeness" and the Swashbuckling Swabs. Star Time," is about the marquee favorites of all time starting with Hollywood of the Mack Sennett days and the "Keystone Kops." Scenes included are a Chaplin ballet, scenes of the Perils of Pauline," and scenes of many names famous in the flickers up until about time of World War H. Concluding Scene Five, "Super Colossal Hollywood" is a - dazzling array of gold. Further performances will be at 8 p.m. tonight, Thursday and Friday, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday. More Theater News Page 5E 10A Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette Wed., Nov. 20, 1968 iQR-capRcrn cbowd Holiday On Ice' Has Everything All By SANDY THOKN the glitter, splendor glamour of Hollywood, Las Vegas , a??d Broadway are combined in!iseum- the magnificent 24th edition of I star Ronnie Robertson, scheduled ner Muller puts them through j gn(j|for three numbers, appeared in' their paces of leaping barricades: jonly one prior to leaving the Col-' and playing hockey. Attired in; U?Σ≤1,?╟?,, nnifnrmc for thp Montr? sent zilii euiuuu v~ Tommy Collins, vice president Holiday on Ice which opened to j for road productions, reported . ?╜v-^^m .ua^.i that Robertson was unhappy with an enthusiastic crowd of 6,041 last night at the Memorial Coliseum. | what he called "hard ice.'? It was It was the largest open night crowd since 1961. The colorful revue, the fastest- paced production in years, is complimented by the incredible talents of exciting skaters, the exceptionally well-designed costumes of Freddy Wittop and the most memorable songs of the past three decades. i Created, staged and directed by Donn Arden, the show is void of lags from the opening "Hello New York" sequence to the finale on "Super Colossal Hollywood That Crazy Tinsel Town.' Stars of the show are many ?╟÷ Alice Quessy, Anna Galmarini, Alfredo Mendoza, Tommy Allen, Juanita 'Percelly, Helga and Jorge Valle, the Cook family, Paul Andre and Marei Langenbein ?╟÷ but it's still the hard-working chorus that keeps the show mov- still obvious the star was having some difficulty with his electrifying spins as he portrayed Fred Astaire; the music outlasted the spins, but the spins were superior. His other two scheduled solos as the Prince of LaMancha in "The Gates of. Granada" and as Mr. Hollywood in the finale were scratched. But the show went on. "The Gates of Grenada" was spectacular with its fountain, senoritas in black, red and gold costumes and backdrop of Spanish motif. Marei Langenbein, dazzling in a sequined velvet outfit, displayed her marvelous skills as did two chorus members, Randy Brooke and Mike Burns. Paul Andrew, who has probably had'more fun in a pool of water ^ over the years than ducks, was Ifc??- ' '" . ' back to the pleasure of the audi- Last night's production in all of [ ence He appeared, as usual, as its sequined splendor had but one|the sailor who ends up ?╜rdwing>; disappointment and, hopefully, j his way out of trouble and also that won't repeat itself. Super-. teamed with comic Johnny Leech [ on a spoof called "Connie and j Glyde." ^^^^H For the youngsters, there was a colorful pet parade \^ith blue ribbon winners from the Madison Square Gardens Dog Show and, of course, the lovable "Ole Houn' Dog" with Mendoza and Ladue. Three darling chimps also delight the young and old and Wer- | hockey uniforms for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers,: two of the chimps squared off in a heated hockey match. When the puck finally reached the net, the one chimp leaped on the othei.1 and pummeled him with all of the finesse of the Komets' Doug Reid! The finale is breathtaking with! a backdrop of silver and gold1; tinsel and the most creative costumes in years. The "Star Time" .pisode features the silent pic-| ture days with the entire chorus appearing as Charlie Chaplins. Juanita Percelly portrays Pauline in "The Perils of Pauline" and, the talented young Cook children (Kim, Kris and Kelly) appear as Shirley Temple, Jackie Coogan and Jackie Cooper. Miss Galmarini, who shows her skills in a harlequin-designed: costume in "The Happy Crazy, Clown" returns as Judy Garland: version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the "The Wizard of Oz.'V Miss Quessy's best efforts come in the first half when she is justifiably called Miss Rhythm in the tribute to Astaire. j The merits of the 24th edition [ which will continue through Sunday at the Coliseum, are' varied I and many. It's the best revue to date, and the skating's superb as usual. It will only take the return of Pv,onnie Robertson to put this show in a class by itself. For the benefit of those who will be seeing the show, a prayer for "softer" ice wouldn't be out of order.