Ice Shows

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Ice Shows

No sport grew as phenomenally during the last two decades of the twentieth century as figure skating. Having been a favorite sport among women, its popularity was bolstered by Olympic gold medal winners Peggy Fleming (1968), Janet Lynn (1972), Dorothy Hamill (1976), Scott Hamilton (1984), Brian Boitano (1988), and Kristi Yamaguchi (1992). While diehard fans followed the sport through various ice shows, competitions, and television performances, it was the bumbling fiasco of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 by the cohorts of a jealous Tonya Harding that propelled figure skating into the news headlines. By the end of the twentieth century, it ranked second behind pro football in television ratings. It is particularly significant that the sport came so far after suffering the devastating loss of its entire roster of top skaters and coaches in an airplane crash on the way to the World Championships in Lyon, France, on February 5, 1961.

Though ice shows benefitted greatly from a new surge in popularity with increased exposure and million-dollar incomes for top skaters, ice shows had been an American tradition since the early twentieth century. The first show was held at the Hippodrome in New York City in 1915. It was followed by an ice ballet imported from Berlin, Flirting in St. Moritz, which ran for an unprecedented 300 days and inspired the movie The Frozen Warning in 1916. The Ice Follies began in 1936 and continued to entertain audiences for 30 years. Ice skating had its super stars even in its early days. Norwegian skating sensation Sonja Henie enticed fans to ice shows by the thousands and eventually skated her way into Hollywood films.

The Ice Capades was the most venerable of ice shows. Beginning on February 14, 1940, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, it featured some of the greatest names in ice skating: Dick Button, Scott Hamilton, Jane Torvil, Christopher Dean, and Dorothy Hamill, who bought the show in 1991. Hamill believed that the focus of the show should be on telling a story rather than on the disjointed vaudevillian skits of the past. Cinderella Frozen in Time, for example, turned the classic fairy tale into a skating spectacular. Unfortunately, the Ice Capades foundered under her stewardship.

In 1986, after Scott Hamilton won the 1984 gold medal for men's figure skating, he determined that skaters should have more opportunity for participating in the sport they loved. The result was Stars on Ice, sponsored chiefly by Discover Stars of America. Each year, roughly a dozen top skaters spend December through April touring the country, providing fans with performances that are elegant, breathtaking, or funny. A number of other ice shows, including Campbell's Tour of World Champions and Disney's World on Ice, have followed suit. Before the establishment of these modern ice shows, skaters often performed in ten to twelve shows a week, a grueling schedule that sapped both their energies and their talents. While the shows appear glamorous, they require hard work from skaters who spend much of the year traveling from city to city and rarely staying long enough to enjoy the local sights. They frequently spend holidays away from their families and friends, and members of the professional skating world often fall victim to broken relationships that cannot survive the strain.

For fans, though, ice shows are memorable events. No other sport offers the diversity of so much talent. Whether it be the spectacular jumps of Brian Boitano, the crazy antics of Scott Hamilton, the sheer beauty of Kristi Yamaguchi, the elegance of Ekaterina Gordeeva, the awesomeness of Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, the innovativeness of Jane Torvil and Christopher Dean, the athleticism of Surya Bonaly, or the unexpectedness of Gary Beacom, ice shows are sheer magic.

In addition to the traveling shows, television has become a smorgasbord of skating talent. Virtually every major skater has had at least one television show devoted to his or her talents. In 1988 Brian Boitano became the first male athlete to have his own television special with Canvas on Ice. In addition, his Skating Romance specials were featured annually on American television. In December 1998, the USA network aired Skate against Hate, one of a number of theme-related shows with Boitano as both producer and star. Peggy Fleming, a frequent star of skating specials after bringing home the gold in 1968, joined co-host Dick Button in serving as commentator for ice skating competitions. Scott Hamilton frequently joins them, along with appearing in specials of his own, such as Disney's Scott Hamilton Upside Down. Both Nancy Kerrigan and Kristi Yamaguchi also became regular hosts for skating events. Canadian Elvis Stojko appeared in Elvis on Ice. Russian skater Ekaterina Gordeeva starred in the Christmas specials featuring Snowden the snowman. Boitano joined Russian skaters Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko in an ice show version of The Nutcracker Suite.

With its phenomenal success, ice skating has become a gold mine for skaters and promoters alike. Kristi Yamaguchi reportedly earned three to four million dollars a year in the late 1990s. Other millionaire skaters include Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, and Oksana Bauil. Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski, who won the Olympic silver and gold respectively in the 1998 Olympics, were well on the way to joining that elite group by the end of the century. Paul Wylie, 1992 silver medalist, chose to continue skating over entering Harvard Law School, declaring that he would be foolish to give up the income of a high profile professional skater. Given their enormous popularity and ability to rake in huge revenues, ice shows will continue to entertain a besotted American public and inspire young skaters to reach for the gold.

—Elizabeth Purdy