Date: Fri 19-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Gateway's-holiday-Hodge-skater

Full Text:

(rev "Holiday Spectacular On Ice `97" @Gateway's)

Theatre Review-

As Spectacular As Radio City, And This Holiday Show Is On Ice!

(with cut)

BY SHANNON HICKS

NEW FAIRFIELD - You'd have to be a real Grinch not to like Holiday Spectacular

On Ice `97 .

Holiday music by the score. An indoor ice rink, with skaters that sing and

dance and jump and spin and come precariously close to the edge of the stage

(always to the thrill of the audience). Barking dogs, and barking seals, for

that matter. Polar bears that dance in the aisles, and that guy in the red

suit that shows up at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade every

year.

With the demise of Holiday On Ice and Ice Capades shows, varietal shows on ice

have become something of a rarity. Nearly a full generation has grown up not

knowing what an Ice Capades show looks like.

Producers John Hodge and Paul Allan, of Gateway's Candlewood Playhouse,

invested last year in the machinery needed to turn the stage of Gateway's into

an indoor ice rink. The theatre can now present ice shows at any time of the

year.

Their latest show, the Holiday Spectacular On Ice , which continues until

December 21, offers skating stars of all levels performing what seem at times

impossibly complex moves on such a small area of ice. There is no plot

threaded through the holiday show, unless one counts the desire to make people

smile.

Holiday Spectacular On Ice is a Broadway-oriented show for the whole family,

although the ticket prices may make it somewhat prohibitive for full families

to enjoy the spectacle ($25 per person; there are no children's discounts).

The show is a two-act series of vignettes, performed by a cast of 12 skaters,

three singers, two ensemble/character-actor members, and two specialty acts.

Each act is billed as, simply, "Musical Numbers and Scenes," and the skaters

and singers fill the bill to a tee.

The show opens with a "Big Band Wonderland," with singers "riding" a sleigh

across the New Fairfield stage while singing "Sleigh Ride." With the raising

of the curtain, on come the skaters, and for the next two hours it is a

menagerie of holiday sounds and entertainment. There are Christmas songs of

old and new, pirouettes and jumps that continue to thrill right up to the

final curtain, and unsophisticated enjoyment for everyone.

A company of eight ensemble and four featured skaters perform the kind of

magic on stage that has to be seen live to be fully appreciated. It is one

thing to enjoy figure skating competitions and performances on television; it

takes the enjoyment up a few notches when seeing such feats performed live,

just a few feet away from where one sits. Like any sport or entertainment

event, these 12 skaters make everything look so effortless. It makes you want

to run out, put on some skates, and start skating a few triple Salchows.

The ensemble skating company is even given one vignette, called "Ice Pops,"

where each skater is given a skating solo, time to express him- or herself to

different musical styles. During the segment of "Tub Thumping," Skater Jason

Wahl seemed to take a particular thrill positioning his maneuvers to conclude

at the front edge of the stage, drawing more than one "ooh" and "ahh" from the

collective audience.

Shana Olszewski was not only skating and dancing during "Vibe-ology," but

rolling and bouncing on her knees, hip hop-style. And Martin Marceau performed

to Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls o' Fire" wearing leather pants and with the

looseness and gaiety associated with the professional skater Elvis Strenko.

The show was choreographed by Ken Shelly, a professional skater and US Figure

Skating Hall of Fame member.

The featured skaters this year include Melanie Lambert, David Nickel, Todd

Price and Kim Reale. Ms Reale, a double gold medalist who now teaches and

continues to perform, grew up in West Redding.

In the first act, the audience is treated to the silly antics of The Madcap

Mutts, a canine comedy team led by Tom and Bonnie Brackney. The Brackneys have

rescued these dogs from shelters and streets around the world, gave them a

caring home, and found each dog's hidden talents. Tom is a former comic skater

in ice shows; Bonnie grew up in a dog-training family.

The dogs - the only performers in Holiday Spectacular who don't wear skates -

leap in and out of barrels, skip rope, run up and across ramps and then take

huge leaps from the end of said ramps, play pranks on their trainers, and make

the children in the house laugh so freely it is music to hear.

Sea lions are perfectly at home in water, so why not on water?

Actually, most sea lions are not accustomed to working on hard surfaces, but

in the show's second act, the Allen/Wilson Sea Lions are the specialty act of

the hour. Seymour and Sammy are as much fun as the Madcap Mutts, and just as

unusual for audiences to see. (Sadie, the final third of the act, is resting

at home this year. At twice the size of her colleagues, the sea lion would

overwhelm the Gateway's stage!) While the mutts are interested in performing

acts of silliness and fun, the sea lions go for the balancing vein of

demonstrations, with balls, hoops and other marine acrobatics.

Producers Allan and Hodges have already received requests to have the ice show

tour the country prior to Christmas next year. The line of dancer/skaters

high-kicking and dancing in sync may not be as long as the one produced by the

Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, but it is just as much fun to watch the

precision of the performers in Holiday Spectacular.

And the Rockettes don't do their act on ice, which makes the New Fairfield

show that much more spectacular.

Performances continue, with matinees and early evening shows, until December

21. All tickets are $25; dinner-theatre packages are $42.35. Telephone

746-4441 for reservations, details.