The Ice Capades was a traveling entertainment show featuring theatrical performances involving ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...

. Shows often featured former Olympic

Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...

and National Champion

United States Figure Skating Championships

The United States Figure Skating Championships is figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals".Skaters...

 figure skater

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

s who had retired from amateur competition.

Started in 1940, Ice Capades grew rapidly and prospered for fifty years. A decline in popularity ensued, and the show went out of business around 1995. There have been several attempts to revive the show and its name.

Similar traditional ice-skating entertainment shows included the Ice Follies

Ice Follies

Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies was a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1937 by Eddie Shipstad, Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson, who also skated in the show. In later years, Olympic skaters such as Donald Jackson, Barbara...

 and Holiday on Ice

Holiday on Ice

Holiday on Ice is an ice show currently produced by Joop van den Ende's Stage Entertainment Group with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands...

.

History

Ice Capades was founded in February, 1940 in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...

 by nine men who called themselves the Arena Managers Association. They met to discuss forming an ice show to play in their arenas during the 1940-1941 entertainment season. The arenas represented were all well-known venues of the day:

• Boston Garden
  Boston Garden
  The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
  
  , represented by Walter A. Brown
  Walter A. Brown
  Walter A. Brown was the original owner of the Boston Celtics as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States.-Life:...
  
  
• Rhode Island Auditorium
  Rhode Island Auditorium
  Rhode Island Auditorium was an indoor arena in Providence, Rhode Island, at 1111 North Main Street. It hosted the NBA's Providence Steamrollers from 1946 until 1949, and the Providence Reds ice hockey team until the Providence Civic Center was opened in 1972. The arena held 5,300 people and opened...
  
   (Louis Pieri
  Louis Pieri
  Louis Arthur Raymond Pieri was an American ice hockey general manager.The American Hockey League presents the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award annually to its outstanding coach.-External links:*...
  
  )
• Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
  Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
  Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was an indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. It hosted the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL, the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, the Buffalo Braves of the NBA, the Buffalo Stallions of MSL, the Buffalo Bandits of MILL, the Buffalo Blizzard of the second NPSL and the Buffalo...
  
   (Louis Jacobs)
• Hershey Sports Arena (John Sollenberger)
• Cleveland Arena
  Cleveland Arena
  Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during the height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons. Later it hosted Sutphin's BAA's Cleveland Rebels and Nick...
  
   (Al Sutphin)
• Springfield Coliseum
  The Big E Coliseum
  The Eastern States Coliseum, better known as the Big E Coliseum, is a 5,900-seat multi-purpose arena in West Springfield, Massachusetts.-History:The Big E Coliseum was built in 1926...
  
   (Eddie Shore
  Eddie Shore
  Edward William Shore was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, iconic for his toughness and defensive skill.Shore won the Hart Trophy as the...
  
  )
• Philadelphia Arena
  Philadelphia Arena
  The Philadelphia Arena was an arena used mainly for sporting events located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The building, originally named the Philadelphia Ice Palace and Auditorium, was located at 4530 Market Street, next to what would become the WFIL TV Studio which broadcast American Bandstand. ...
  
   (Peter A. Tyrrell
  Peter A. Tyrrell
  Peter A. Tyrrell was an entertainment entrepreneur in Philadelphia, most prominently associated with the Philadelphia Arena...
  
  )
• New Haven Arena
  New Haven Arena
  New Haven Arena was an indoor arena on Grove Street in New Haven, Connecticut, that served as a venue for ice hockey, concerts, and circuses.The first arena opened in 1914 but burned down in 1924...
  
   (Nathan Podoloff)
• Pittsburgh Gardens
  Duquesne Gardens
  Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA during the first half of the 20th century. It opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. The arena was the first hockey rink to use glass above the dasher...
  
   (John H. Harris)

Harris had noted the popularity of ice skating displays during the intermissions between periods of hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 games.

The arena managers chose the name Ice Capades, and formed a group of skaters.

Early years

The group's first performance was a mere four months after its founding, on June 16, 1940 at New Orleans Municipal Auditorium. The show closed there on June 29 and moved to Atlantic City Convention Hall, where it played nightly from July 19 through September 2. Famous skaters in the large cast included Belita

Belita

Maria Belita Gladys Olive Lyne Jepson-Turner , known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress....

, Robin Lee

Robin Lee

Robin Huntington Lee was an American figure skater. He was the 1935-1939 U.S. national champion. At age 12, he became the youngest skater to win the junior national title...

, and Vera Hruba. The group's first touring season under the Ice Capades name covered 24 cities between November, 1940 and May, 1941.

The show's success spawned two films from Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....

, "Ice-Capades" in 1941, and "Ice Capades Revue" in 1942. The films featured actors and entertainers of the day such as James Ellison, Ellen Drew

Ellen Drew

Ellen Drew was an American film actress.Born Esther Loretta Ray in Kansas City, Missouri, Drew worked various jobs and won a number of beauty contests before becoming an actress...

, Jerry Colonna and Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...

, as well as the Ice Capades skaters. They were not considered to be films of quality, and the first one was panned by The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

In 1942, the show featured world champion skater Megan Taylor

Megan Taylor

Megan Devenish Taylor was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939.She was born in Rochdale and died in Jamaica...

, new talent Donna Atwood

Donna Atwood

Donna Atwood was an American figure skater. She competed in pair skating and won the gold medal at the 1941 United States Figure Skating Championships with partner Eugene Turner. In 1949, she married John H. Harris, the first owner of the Ice Capades, with whom she had two children...

, and an acrobatic team from Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. The next year U.S. figure skating champion Bobby Specht

Bobby Specht

Robert "Bobby" Specht was an American figure skater who competed in pairs and men's singles. He won the bronze medal in pairs with partner Joan Mitchell at the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1941 and captured the gold in men's singles the following year...

 joined the show. He would be actively involved with Ice Capades for the next 31 years. 1943 also introduced the "Old Smoothies," Orrin Markhus, 51, and his partner Irma Thomas, 44, plus Trixie, the skating juggler. The production number "Toys for Sale" was the first story on ice with original words and music.

Later years

Ice Capades shows were extremely popular for several decades—virtually a household name—although criticized by some as kitsch

Kitsch

Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...

. From 1941 through 1981, the Ice Capades show was a summertime fixture at what was then known as Atlantic City Convention Hall.

Boardwalk Hall

Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States...

Harris sold the company in 1963 for $5.5 million. By the mid 1970s, Ice Capades had grown to three different touring companies under one Ice Capades umbrella: The East Company (the original 1940 company); the West Company; and the Continental Company (the latter was formed in 1974). In this period, they owned several railroad baggage cars that were used to transport the show. In 1986, then-owner Metromedia

Metromedia

Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

 sold Ice Capades and the Harlem Globetrotters

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...

 as a package to International Broadcasting Corporation

Thomas Scallen

Thomas Scallen was the first owner of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. He owned the team from 1970 to 1974, when Frank Griffiths, an owner of several Vancouver area radio and television stations, the next largest shareholder in the Canucks, took over after Scallen was arrested.A Minnesota businessman...

 for $30 million. However, a decline in popularity began in the 1980s and the parent company went bankrupt in 1991. In 1993, Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...

, who headlined the East Company from 1977 to 1984, bought Ice Capades assets in a bankruptcy sale and attempted to revive the company with the critically acclaimed Frozen in Time: Cinderella on Ice, but attendance figures remained stagnant. In February 1995 she sold the company for $10 million to television evangelist Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson

Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

's International Family Entertainment Inc.

International Family Entertainment Inc.

ABC Family Worldwide Inc. is a producer and distributor of family entertainment and information programming worldwide. The company is owned by The Walt Disney Company and was founded in 1990 by Pat Robertson as International Family Entertainment Inc....

, but they announced plans to sell in August 1995, and Ice Capades went out of business a short time later.

Throughout their existence, licensed characters and properties used in productions included "A Flintstone

The Flintstones

The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...

 Fantasy" (1967), "Hey Kids, Meet The Snorks

The Snorks

Snorks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera which ran on NBC from September 15, 1984 to May 13, 1989. Although not as popular as the animated series The Smurfs, the program continued to be available in syndication from 1986 to 1989, on the BBC in the late 1990s, and from...

!" (1985), "The Ewoks" (1986), and "From The World of Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

" and "Barbie

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....

 Talent Search" (both 1989).

Analysts believe that on the one hand, the increasing popularity of the sport of figure skating

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

 meant that more sophisticated audiences came to prefer straightforward Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

-style ice-skating competitions, or skating shows for adults (i.e., without cartoon characters) such as Stars on Ice

Stars on Ice

Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was originally conceived in 1986 as a vehicle for IMG client Scott Hamilton, who had been released from his contract with Ice Capades, after being told that male skaters do not sell tickets...

; and on the other hand, shows such as Disney on Ice

Disney on Ice

Disney On Ice is a touring ice show produced by Feld Entertainment under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters dressed as Disney cartoon characters in performances that each derive their music and plot from elements collected from...

 (featuring Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 cartoon characters) successfully competed for the child audience.

Notable skaters

These are some of the many notable skaters who appeared in Ice Capades shows or were involved in other aspects of the company:

• Ginny Jones
• Donna Atwood
  Donna Atwood
  Donna Atwood was an American figure skater. She competed in pair skating and won the gold medal at the 1941 United States Figure Skating Championships with partner Eugene Turner. In 1949, she married John H. Harris, the first owner of the Ice Capades, with whom she had two children...
  
  
• Tai Babilonia
• Belita
  Belita
  Maria Belita Gladys Olive Lyne Jepson-Turner , known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress....
  
  
• Judy Blumberg
  Judy Blumberg
  Judith Ann "Judy" Blumberg is an American former ice dancer.Blumberg was born in Santa Monica, California. She and Michael Seibert won the 1981-1985 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 1983-1985 World bronze medalist. They placed 7th at the 1980 Winter Olympics and 4th at the 1984 Olympics...
  
  
• Dick Button
  Dick Button
  Richard Totten "Dick" Button is an American former figure skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion...
  
  
• Linda Carbonetto
  Linda Carbonetto
  Linda Carbonetto is a Canadian figure skater. She is the 1969 Canadian Champion and a 1968 Winter Olympian. Although born in New York City, she was raised in Ontario....
  
  
• Kitty Carruthers
  Kitty Carruthers
  Caitlin A. "Kitty" Carruthers is an American figure skater. She competed in pairs with her brother Peter Carruthers. They are the 1981-1984 U.S. national champions, the 1982 World bronze medalists, and the 1984 Olympic silver medalists...
  
  
• Peter Carruthers
• Tiffany Chin
  Tiffany Chin
  Tiffany Chin is an American figure skater who grew up in San Diego, California. She dominated the junior circuit in ice skating prior to her Olympic career, winning the US Junior National title as well as the World Junior title...
  
  
• Robin Cousins
  Robin Cousins
  Robert "Robin" Cousins is a British retired competitive figure skater. He is the 1980 Olympic Champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist and four-time British national champion. He later starred in ice shows and also produced his own...
  
  
• Toller Cranston
  Toller Cranston
  Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston, CM is a Canadian figure skater and painter. He is the 1971-1976 Canadian national champion, the 1974 World bronze medalist, and the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist....
  
  
• Wolfgang Danne
  Wolfgang Danne
  Wolfgang Danne is a former West German pair skater. With partner Margot Glockshuber, he is the 1968 Winter Olympics bronze medalist. They are also the 1967 World and European silver medalists.Competitive highlights...
  
  
• Christopher Dean
  Christopher Dean
  Christopher Colin Dean, OBE is a famous British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill...
  
  
• John Dowding
  John Dowding
  John Dowding was a Canadian ice dancer. With partner Lorna Wighton, he won three gold medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at the 1980 Winter Olympics.-Results:...
  
  
• Jacqueline du Bief
  Jacqueline du Bief
  Jacqueline du Bief is a French figure skater who competed in single skating and pair skating. As a single skater, she is the 1952 World Champion, the 1952 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1950-1952 European silver medalist, and the 1947-1952 French national champion.As a pair skater, she competed with...
  
  
• Peggy Fleming
  Peggy Fleming
  Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
  
  
• Randy Gardner
  Randy Gardner (figure skater)
  Randy Gardner is an American pair skater. With partner Tai Babilonia, he was the 1979 World Champion and the 1976-1980 U.S. national champion.-Career:...
  
  
• Margot Glockshuber
  Margot Glockshuber
  Margot Glockshuber is a former West German pair skater. With partner Wolfgang Danne, she is the 1968 Winter Olympics bronze medalist. They are also the 1967 World and European silver medalists.-Results:...
  
  
• Michel Grandjean
  Michel Grandjean
  Michel Grandjean was a Swiss pair skater. With Silvia Grandjean, he won the 1957 European Figure Skating Championships. They placed 7th at the 1952 Winter Olympics.-Results:-External links:* -Navigation:...
  
  
• Silvia Grandjean
  Silvia Grandjean
  Silvia Grandjean was a Swiss pairs skater. With Michel Grandjean, she won the 1954 European Figure Skating Championships. They placed 7th at the 1952 Winter Olympics.-Results:-External links:* -Navigation:...
  
  
• Dorothy Hamill
  Dorothy Hamill
  Dorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...
  
  
• Scott Hamilton
  Scott Hamilton (figure skater)
  Scott Scovell Hamilton is an American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. He won four consecutive U.S. championships , four consecutive World Championships and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics....
  
  
• Vera Hruba
• Maria Jelinek
  Maria Jelinek
  Maria Jelinek is a Canadian pair skater. She competed with her brother Otto Jelinek. They are the 1962 World Champions, the 1961 North American national champions, and 1961-1962 Canadian national champions...
  
  
• Otto Jelinek
  Otto Jelinek
  Otto John Jelinek, PC is a businessman, former figure skater, and Canadian politician. Jelinek's family fled to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1948 at the beginning of the Cold War.-Figure skating career:...
  
  

• David Jenkins
• Johnny Johns
  Johnny Johns
  Johnny Johns is an American retired competitive figure skater who currently works as a coach. As a pair skater, he competed with Melissa Militano and won the 1974 and 1975 United States Figure Skating Championships. They placed 8th at the 1974 World Figure Skating Championships and 6th in 1975....
  
  
• Jane Kirby
  Jane Kirby
  Jane Kirby was a Canadian figure skater who was the ladies gold medalist in the 1951 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. She and her partner Donald Tobin were bronze medalists in the pairs competition in the 1951 Canadian Figure Skating Championships and North American Figure Skating Championships...
  
  
• Michael Kirby
  Michael Kirby (figure skater)
  Michael J.R. Kirby was a Canadian figure skater who competed in men's singles. He won the gold medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in 1942 before turning professional and joining the Ice Follies in 1943...
  
  
• Sonya Klopfer
  Sonya Klopfer
  Sonya Klopfer Dunfield is an American figure skater. She is the 1951 U.S. national champion. Having won at age 15, she was the youngest U.S. ladies' champion until Tara Lipinski won in 1997 at age 14. Klopfer is a two-time World medalist...
  
  
• Terry Kubicka
  Terry Kubicka
  Terry Kubicka is an American retired figure skater. He is the 1976 U.S. national champion. He competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics, where he became the first and only skater to perform a legal backflip; it was banned after the competition. He was the first American to land the triple lutz, at the...
  
  
• Donald Knight
  Donald Knight (figure skater)
  Donald Knight is the 1965-1967 Canadian national champion in men's singles. He won the North American Figure Skating Championships in 1967, having placed third in the previous competition, in 1965. Knight also won the bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1965...
  
  
• Robin Lee
  Robin Lee
  Robin Huntington Lee was an American figure skater. He was the 1935-1939 U.S. national champion. At age 12, he became the youngest skater to win the junior national title...
  
  
• Tommy Litz
  Thomas Litz
  Thomas Litz is a former American figure skater. He won the gold medal at the 1963 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics...
  
  
• Albert Lucas
  Albert Lucas
  Albert Lucas is an American juggler born in 1960 to Albert and Yvonne Moreira. He is notable for juggling while ice skating, setting numbers juggling records, and promoting sport juggling.- Career :...
  
  
• Janet Lynn
  Janet Lynn
  Janet Lynn Nowicki is an American figure skater and Olympic bronze medalist.-Amateur career:Lynn began to skate almost as soon as she could walk and took part in her first exhibition performance at the age of four in a group number at Chicago Stadium...
  
  
• Karen Magnussen
  Karen Magnussen
  Karen Diane Magnussen, OC is a Canadian figure skater. She won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics, and is 1973 World Champion....
  
  
• Elizabeth Manley
  Elizabeth Manley
  Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM is a Canadian figure skater. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medalist, 1988 World silver medalist, and three-time Canadian champion.-Early life and training:...
  
  
• Paul Martini
  Paul Martini
  Paul Lloyd Martini is a Canadian pair skater. With partner Barbara Underhill, he is the 1979-1983 Canadian national champion, the 1984 World champion, and the 1978 World Junior champion...
  
  
• Melissa Militano
  Melissa Militano
  Melissa Mary Militano is an American figure skater who competed as a single skater and pair skater. As a pair skater, she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships three times, in 1973 with her brother Mark Militano and in 1974 and 1975 with Johnny Johns...
  
  
• John Nicks
  John Nicks
  John Allen Wisden Nicks is a British figure skating coach and former pair skater. His pairs partner was his sister Jennifer Nicks, and together they were the 1953 World Champions...
  
  
• Lynn Nightingale
  Lynn Nightingale
  Lynn Nightingale was a Canadian figure skater. She is the 1974-1977 Canadian national champion. She represented Canada at the 1976 Winter Olympics, where she placed 9th. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1985.-Results:-Links:*...
  
  
• Eleanor O'Meara
  Eleanor O'Meara
  Eleanor O'Meara is a former Canadian figure skater who competed in single skating and pair skating with Ralph McCreath, with whom was the 1941 national and North American champion. In singles, she was the 1936 and 1938 National champion.-Singles career:...
  
  
• Peter Oppegard
  Peter Oppegard
  Peter Oppegard is an American retired pair skater and coach. With his partner Jill Watson, he won three U.S. championships and a bronze medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics....
  
  
• Robert Paul
  Robert Paul
  Robert Paul was a Canadian figure skater, who competed in pairs with Barbara Wagner. He was born in Toronto. From their start as a team in 1952, they captured five Canadian titles and four world titles, and capped their career by winning the gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics.After skating as...
  
  
• Brian Pockar
  Brian Pockar
  Brian James Pockar was a Canadian figure skater. He was the three-time Canadian national champion , 1980 Olympian, and the 1982 World bronze medalist. He was born and died in Calgary....
  
  
• Ludmilla Protopopov
  Ludmila Belousova
  Ludmila Yevgenyevna Belousova is a Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With her partner Oleg Protopopov, she is a two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion .- Career :Belousova started skating relatively late, at age 16. She met Protopopov in 1954 and they began...
  
  
• Oleg Protopopov
  Oleg Protopopov
  Oleg Alekseyevich Protopopov is a Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his partner Ludmila Belousova, he is a two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion .- Career :Protopopov started skating relatively late, at age 15...
  
  
• Edi Rada
  Edi Rada
  Edi Rada was an Austrian figure skater. He won the bronze medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics and was the 1949 European Champion. He won a bronze medal at the 1949 World Figure Skating Championships....
  
  
• Guy Revell
  Guy Revell
  Guy Revell was a Canadian figure skater. He competed in pairs with Debbi Wilkes. The couple captured two Canadian titles, the 1963 North American Championship, and won the bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics....
  
  
• Barbara Roles
  Barbara Roles
  Barbara Ann Roles , born April 6, 1941 in San Mateo, California) is an American former figure skater who currently works as a coach. She is the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist and the 1962 United States Champion....
  
  

• Wolfgang Schwarz
  Wolfgang Schwarz
  Wolfgang Schwarz was an Austrian figure skater who won the gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Prior to that, he was best known for finishing as runner-up to Austrian teammate Emmerich Danzer at the World Figure Skating Championships and European Figure Skating Championships multiple...
  
  
• Barbara Ann Scott
• Michael Seibert
• Ron Shaver
  Ron Shaver
  Ronald "Ron" Shaver is a Canadian figure skater. He is the 1977 Canadian national champion and the 1974-76 national silver medalist...
  
  
• Ken Shelley
• Bobby Specht
  Bobby Specht
  Robert "Bobby" Specht was an American figure skater who competed in pairs and men's singles. He won the bronze medal in pairs with partner Joan Mitchell at the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1941 and captured the gold in men's singles the following year...
  
  
• JoJo Starbuck
  JoJo Starbuck
  JoJo Starbuck is an American figure skater. With partner Kenneth Shelley, she is a three-time United States pair skating champion and two-time Olympian ....
  
  
• Charlie Tickner
• Kay Thomson
  Kay Thomson
  Kay Thomson was a Canadian figure skater who competed in ladies singles. She won the gold medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships three times and competed in the 1984 Winter Olympics....
  
  
• Megan Taylor
  Megan Taylor
  Megan Devenish Taylor was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939.She was born in Rochdale and died in Jamaica...
  
  
• Jayne Torvill
  Jayne Torvill
  Jayne Torvill, OBE is a British ice dancer. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.-Early life:...
  
  
• Barbara Underhill
  Barbara Underhill
  Barbara Ann Underhill is a Canadian pair skater. With partner Paul Martini, she is the 1979-1983 Canadian national champion, the 1984 World champion, and the 1978 World Junior champion...
  
  
• Gary Visconti
  Gary Visconti
  Gary Visconti was an American figure skater. He won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships twice and captured the bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championships two times. He currently works as a coach.-Results:...
  
  
• Barbara Wagner
  Barbara Wagner
  Barbara Aileen Wagner is a former Canadian pair skater who competed with Robert Paul. The couple captured five Canadian titles and four world titles, and capped their career by winning the gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics.After her competitive career, she married fellow skater James Grogan...
  
  
• Jill Watson
  Jill Watson
  Jill Watson is an American retired pair skater and coach. With her partner Peter Oppegard, she won three U.S. championships and a bronze medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics....
  
  
• Ingrid Wendl
  Ingrid Wendl
  Ingrid Turković-Wendl is an Austrian figure skater, television announcer, and political figure...
  
  
• Lorna Wighton
  Lorna Wighton
  Lorna Wighton was a Canadian ice dancer. With partner John Dowding, she won three gold medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at the 1980 Winter Olympics.-Results:...
  
  
• Tim Wood
• Aja Zanova
  Aja Zanova
  *...
  
  
• Elaine Zayak
  Elaine Zayak
  Elaine Kathryn Zayak is an American figure skater. She is the 1981 U.S. national champion and the 1982 World Champion. She is a 1984 Winter Olympian.-Personal life:...
  
  

Portable ice rinks

In the early 1950s, the group started using portable ice rinks, called "tanks." This made it possible for them to perform in arenas that did not have their own ice surface, greatly expanding the number of venues where the show could operate. It took several days and 30-40 workers to install the tanks. In the late 1960s, Ice Capades designed and patented a new portable ice rink system that could be installed in less than 10 hours on most arena basketball floors or other surfaces.

Chalet skating rinks

In 1966, Ice Capades bought an ice skating rink in Topanga Plaza shopping center, Canoga Park, California. The success of this venture led to the establishment of the Ice Capades Chalet Division, which owned and operated about ten rinks, ran ice skating schools, and developed a curriculum that could develop a skater from beginner to competitive skater. Most of the Chalets were in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, with others in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 and North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. Hall of Fame

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame

The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored...

 ice skating coach John Nicks

John Nicks

John Allen Wisden Nicks is a British figure skating coach and former pair skater. His pairs partner was his sister Jennifer Nicks, and together they were the 1953 World Champions...

 ran the Chalet division.

Revivals

In the fall of 2000, Ice Capades was resurrected by Garden Entertainment in its original format with a large cast of skaters. The new show was conceived, directed and choreographed by the former German pair skating champion Almut Lehmann Peyper

Almut Lehmann

Almut Lehmann is a German pair skater.With partner Herbert Wiesinger, she is a three-time German national champion and 1973 European bronze medalist. They placed 5th at the 1972 Winter Olympics...

. The show was not a financial success and closed in November 2000, canceling the remaining tour dates.

Another attempt to revive Ice Capades was made in the spring of 2008 with plans for a tent show production called "Mystika", billed as "Cirque Meets Ice".
In mid-August 2008, auditions were held in Lake Placid, New York for the all new Ice Capades. Developed by Entertainment Holdings and Red Brick Entertainment, Ice Capades was announced for production as live skating shows, television specials, episodic series, and web content. Three-time U.S. pairs champion and two-time Olympian JoJo Starbuck was named as Artistic Director.
However, in April 2009, the tour was canceled by its organizers, Garden Family Shows, stranding many of the performers without pay and leaving suppliers unpaid

Reunions

Former Ice Capades skaters have organized reunions, typically held every five years. The 2010 reunion, held in Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

, commemmorated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Ice Capades. It was attended by more than 500 people.

In popular culture

Sitcom episodes with a plot involving tickets to the Ice Capades were still being written years after the demise of the company, including episodes of The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....

, Friends

Friends

Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...

, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show has also been widely parodied, for example by cartoonist Gary Larson

Gary Larson

Gary Larson is the creator of The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to newspapers for 15 years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. His 23 books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than 45 million...

 with good-natured comics captioned "Ice Crusades" and "Dirt Capades". There was also a reference to the Ice Capades in the 2011 premiere of the Disney XD

Disney XD

Disney XD is a brand of children's TV channels worldwide targeting young males, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The channel was formerly known as Toon Disney and/or Jetix in most areas. According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not "stand for...

 show Kickin' It

Kickin' It

Kickin' It is an American martial arts inspired comedy television series, which debuted on June 13, 2011 on Disney XD. Created and executive produced by Jim O'Doherty, the series is rated TV-Y7 and follows the karate instructor at an under-performing martial arts academy, played by Jason Earles,...

, when someone says a remark to Jack fighting four Black Dragon dojo-goers and in Sister Act 2, Whoopie Goldberg's character, Sister Mary Clarence, said that she either wanted to be a singer or head of the Ice Capades.

External links

• Newsreel of 1962 Ice Capades show. Includes links to others.
• 70th Anniversary Reunion web site (2010) - extensive collection of Ice Capades photos, historical content, etc.
• Slate.com: The Ice Capades: Requiem for the ice carnival
• Two program covers
• 2000 Ice Capades revival feature story
• Archived web site of 2000 Ice Capades revival
• Website of the 2008 Ice Capades revival.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/22/09 - Ice Capades alums say thanks for the memories
• Historical photo and video essay by Ice Capades alumni/ae