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6D FORT WAYNE NEWS SENTINEL Wed., Oct. 29, 1969 'Holiday on Ice* Giant Dazzler By MARJORIE BARNHART It's like sitting on a cloud in a brilliant sunset and feeling the wind from the stars. Or, if you'd rather, attending ' 'Holiday on Ice" now at the Coliseum is wallowing knee-deep in beauty laughing and forgetting riots and war. It's gliding and leaping, spinning and dancing on ice with lightness, speed and grace, it's as if the music itself had become something to see at the end of the moving beams of light, and against the lovely, rich and ever-changing backdrops. This show marks the 25th anniversary of "Holiday." It opened before a huge crowd of 6,466 people, breaking all records,, for a "Holiday" opening. It is a lavishly-costumed, quality show with many new features by old favorites. Like Paul Andre?╟÷that former sailor who now is dressed as a woman. He and Johnny Leech (dressed as Col. Sanders) have a trick car you have to see to believe. They dump the water on Andre, as always, but he doesn't "swim" in it. Alfredo Mendoza and Darolyn Prior do some fine adagio skating. Before their act ends, it is "accidentally" interrupted with sqme skillful comedy. The act's close, in which a man is visibly chopped down to his moving feet, is one of the darndest thing I ever saw. Another such thing is the skill of the Werner and Denise Muller chimpanzee act. The well-trained little animals play hockey, jump rope, somersault and jump hurdles in the best chimp act I ever saw. GERMAN STAR?╟÷Marei Langenbein, German skating star, is one of the featured artists with Holiday on Ice of 1970, the Silver Anniversary edition, at the Memorial Coliseum through Sunday. Tickets are available at the Tri-State Office in the Coliseum. Watching people try to ride the Kossmayer mules is as hilarious as ever. And good Ole Houn' Dawg, with new poodle friends, still delights with his spouting tears and other antics. This year he sat on the lap of Mrs. Lowell Ellabarger , of Huntington. Another of the darndest things is the line-up of hilariously different animals who dance while girls, conducted by a giant 5 play glockenspiels strapped to each other's backs. In another act as Santas they are bell-ringers The show has falling snow, black light and community singing?╟÷"Shine On, Harvest Moon". It has charm in the skill of Kim Cook, age 10, her twin brother, and their parents. But, mostly, it has absolutely gorgeous costumes representing all sorts of holidays and other subjects; and it has great displays of skating skill. For instance in an operatic sequence, are the Egyptian Aide, Japanese Madam Butterfly, Spanish Carmen, and a Spanish-appearing character from "Tales of Hoffman". Then Ronnie Robertson takes over to skate to the poignant theme of "Pagliaeci". His skating sensitively matches the musical climaxes with difficult leaps and turns executed with seemingly effortless grace and smoothness. His skating and the music achieve such a oneness, the audience broke in only to applaud his blurring spins, probably the least difficult thing he did. His other solo was skated to "Black Magic" in the Halloween sequence. Marei Langenbein, the show's new German star, is dazzling in the Roman Holiday number, skating with Ray Balmer. She is also Miss Silver Anniversary in the opening number. Balmer and Alice Quessy are as great as ever; and Tommy Allen and Juanita Percelly continue to be the embodiment of lighthearted, fast rhythm. The skaters have perfected many spectacular and seemingly impossible lifts and holds. Grete Borgen made most effective use of a tambourine in her number with Balmer. The holidays so brilliantly presented are ?╟÷ the show's own birthday; New Yearns with balloon trees and a big tipsy rabbit; St. Valentine's Day; April Fools; Easter with its gay parade and the Cook children as bunnies; the Fourth of July; Ro- men Holiday and Holiday in Rio (black light); Halloween with moving trees and witches; and the Christmas finale full of twinkling lights and costumes demonstrating both concinnity hoand sublimification. (I looked those words up. They mean internal fitness of parts and the act of making beautiful). The only concession made to present day trends or news, that I could see, is the baring of about 10 percent more skin in this show. I still think a skirted costum like Miss Quessy's in Star Spangled Jazz is more flattering to a woman than deeply-cut, hip-revealing costumes such as the one worn by Carol Johnson as a Valentine. My only other complaint is that the names of skaters are not given until the closing bows are taken. And the big question in my mind is . . . how in the world can they top this show next year?