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i Fast-Paced Fun on Ice By Sharon Novotne If you're looking for a potpourri of great entertainment for young and old alike* bundle up in a warm coat and take in the silver anniversary production of "Holiday On Ice," play* ing through Sunday at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. The near-freezing temperature inside the auditorium,, needed to keep the ice firm and smooth, may chill the audience but it fails to affect the dazzling, fast-paced performance J of the "Holiday On Ice" cast, j which glides through 18 product tion numbers with outstanding j ability and grace. Skating Talent The glittery costuming, colorful lighting and elaborate set-; tings are overwhelming to the; eye but they can't quite out-; shine the talent of the skating troupe. Centered around a calendar full of holidays and seasons, the performance opens with a Happy Birthday Happening, reminiscent of the Ziegfeld Follies era, with skating chorus girls in mini-costumes balancing maxi-headdresses of furs and feathers, parading down a silver staircase. The Mad, Mod World of April Fools, St. Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, Easter, Halloween and Christmas are also on the ice-artists' list of celebrations during the 2V2-hour performance. Among the featured skateri who won repeated applau from the appreciative audien were Tommy Allen and Juanita Percelly, a handsome, yoi Tm^^Mmmm Friday, January 9, 1970 ?╟≤ NVHddV IiTTlU ?╟≤AON Is ^OOJ tapoH ?╟≤ ICE* REVIEW THE FORUM "Holiday On Ice/' the opulent new tenant at Jack Kent Cook's eclectic Forum, arrives as a glittering, eye- filling spectacle, full of breathtaking pageantry and major league skating, another blade borne blend of musical comedy and circus. It is a fine show. However satisfying the silver anniversary extravaganza is, it continues to measure up to its Forum predecessor, 'The Ice Follies," as Avis does to Hertz. The greatest show on ice still is just that, but certainly that is not to denigrate "Holiday On Ice," for it is a first grade, exuberant, joyful second best. Although alleged millionaire Ronnie Robertson is billed ?╟÷ and bill- boarded ?╟÷ as the nominal star of "Holiday," the dearth of spectacular non-production numbers is precisely what stands out if one were to see, or suggest relative weakness. "Holiday" not only has no Peggy Fleming, although its prima ballerina, Alice Quessy, is far from a slouch on the frozen floor; it lacks anyone of the calibre of the Ice Follies' amazing Mr. Frack and several other super luminaries. Yet the areas in which "Holiday" suffers from comparison recede as minor and peripheral. More than anything else, one is struck by how much in common both shows have ?╟÷ the agility, the poetry of motion, the daring, the comic antics, the flamboyant and intricate production numbers, the pretty music, the radiantly beautiful and imaginative costuming, and the scenery. It is all brought off impeccably by Donn Arden, who created, staged and directed. The expertese of a lifetime spent doing the same in the world of the skateless is brought lavishly and productively to bear by Arden. Except for a few almost subliminal, yet regrettable lapses, the continuity of format is generally well sustained ?╟÷ as Arden fills the ice with breathtaking terpsichorean celebrations of a festival of holidays from New Year's clockwise to Christmas. Most of the tangential stopovers are pleasant enough to abide ?╟÷ especially the salute to the operas with a virtuoso Pagliacci solo by Robert son, and the monkeying around of Werner and Denise Muller's chimps who make skating seem so easy that they almost rob their strutting fellow bipeds of their lustre. And the Roman Holiday number, notably the flag and silk finale, is pageantry on ice at its best. But even with all the slapstick laughter that eventuates, one is hard put to understand what justification there is for intruding Kossmayer's Mules ?╟÷ requiring the covering of the slippery freeze ?╟÷ on an ice show. Making special contributions to the overall high level of entertainment are comic skaters Paul Andre and Johnny Leech, Juanita Percelly and Tommy Miller, Ray Balmer, Marei Leangen- bein, Carol Johnson, Allyson Brooks and the Cook Family. The orchestra, conducted by musical director Ben Stabler, fills the arena with lovely accompaniment. Special properties are designed by Hollywood's own Kroff t Enterprises, with a disappointingly corporate credit ?╟÷ Ice Costume Studios ?╟÷ for the beautiful costumes, excluding the clever and colorful animal costumes conjured up by Lawrence Vlady. Other worthy technical credits also are cor- porately distributed. All of which may or may not be a commentary on what's happening to this world of ours ?╟÷ including the once fiercely individualistic world of show business. ?╟÷William Tusher.