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Wednesday, August 27, 1969 NEW YORK DAILY COLUMN Page 7 Color it Black and Blue By Norton Mockridge KNOXVILLE, Term. Well, here I am with the "Holiday on lee" show, PERFORMING on the same iee with sueh big stars as Ronnie Robertson, Marei Langenbein, Greta Borgen and Aliee Quessy. And also with sueh diversified talents as Kossmayer's Unridable Mules, Muller's skating chimpanzees and some of the prettiest and best-rounded chorus girls in the business. They told me it would be a colorful experience, and it is. My right hand and right leg are black, blue, green, yellow and brown from being kicked by Kossmayer's mules, my right knee is scarlet where 1 burned it skidding on the ice, and my der- riere is a glowing rainbow, due to pillowless falls. Last September, you might recall, the ham in me took me into the southland where I traveled with the James E. Strates carnival, serving as a talker for the girlie show, assisting the beauteous brunette in the snake pit, operating the rides and games of chance, and generally making a nuisance of myself. Well, Em doing the same ham bit here in Knoxville where Morris Chalfen's "Holiday on Ice" show, the biggest ice show in the world, is being put together prior to its 42- week national tour. Eve been in the ring with the capering (and kicking) little mules who absolutely CANNOT be ridden (they toss volunteers in all directions), Eve skated with Congo Holiday, a tiny chimp who plays hockey as well as the New York Rangers (even though that isn't saying much!), Eve skated in a Santa Claus suit with two magnificent nearly nude witches named Roxanne Maxcy and June Leech, and Eve been dressed as a baby and pushed in a baby carriage by two other buxom lovelies, Al- lyson Brooks and Candy Fred- rickson. I haven't been shot out of a cannon as yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's what producer Donn Arden has in mind for me tomorrow. All of this nonsense, of course, is in line with the old Mockridge policy of "getting involved." I figure that if you want to learn about something, get into it yourself. There's no better way to get information. If I live through this, I proba- - informed tendance at 3,000 for a season's total of about 750,000. Today, the two companies of Holiday on Ice" play approximately 500 performance, with an average attendance of 7,- 000, for an annual total of 3.5 million. And three foreign units of the show will be seen by about 7 million. According to John Finley, VP and production director, "Holiday on Ice," "Ice Follies" and "Icecapades," the three biggest American ice shows, will play this year to about 11 million Americans. That compares with 23 million Americans who attended baseball games played last year in the American and National Leagues to TWENTY teams. fcM never dreamed when I started my little ice show 25 years ago," Morris Chalfen told me, "that it would blossom into such big business. It seemed inconceivable then, but Americans today spend more than $35 million each seasoti to see the new ice shows." Of course, the costs have gone up, too. When "Holiday on Ice" began, the designers spent about $75,000 to costume a show. And that was considered lavish. In the early days of ice shows a chorus girl or boy got $50 to $75 a week and the principal skaters seltom got more than $400 or $500 a week. Today the novice chorus skaters starts at $155 per week, and goes up to $175 or $185. Top principals make as much as $15,00 a week, and Ronnie Robertson, the highest paid skater in the world, gets about $80,000 for the season. In addition, the^shows all are paying fancy figures to designers, production men, lighting experts and musical and scenic directors. Every time Mr. Chalfen thinks of what he had to pay to get Donn Arden, the great Las Vegas director, he takes a handful of aspirin. But I can always bring a smile to his face by reminding him he got ME for free! | -i . J