Ice Follies

Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc.
Formerly called
 Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies, Inc.
Holiday on Ice[1]
private subsidiary
Industry Entertainment
Founders
  • Oscar Johnson
  • Eddie Shipstad
  • Roy Shipstad
Headquarters Feld Entertainment Studio, Ellenton, Florida, USA
Area served
 Worldwide
Brands Disney on Ice
Parent Feld Entertainment

Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. is ice show production subsidiary of Feld Entertainment producing them under the Disney on Ice and ".. on Ice" names. Feld formed it from the Ice Follies and U.S. Holiday on Ice touring companies. The Ice Follies were formed by Eddie Shipstad, Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson in 1936.

The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, was a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie Shipstad, Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson, who also skated in the show.[1] In later years, Olympic skaters such as Donald Jackson, Barbara Berezowski, Peggy Fleming, and Janet Lynn were in the cast. Ice Follies also featured novelty acts such as Frick and Frack[2] and Richard Dwyer, who was billed as "Mr. Debonair".[3]

The show was a variety show that included a chorus line called The Ice Folliettes, which led to synchronized figure skating, that famously precisely performed a kick line and pinwheel on ice.[1]

History

Ice Follies founders Roy Shipstad, Oscar Johnson, and Eddie Shipstad

Ice Follies produced the first large scale, professional touring show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on November 7, 1936.[1][4] Ice Follies was featured in the Joan Crawford film, The Ice Follies of 1939, MGM's answer to the popular Sonja Henie films of the time.[4] Frick and Frack, the comic skating duo, joined the show in the 1939.[2]

In 1946 Ice Cycles, a co-production was formed with Ice Capades.[5] In 1949, Ice Follies left the Ice Cycles show leaving it under Ice Capades' ownership.[4] In 1950, Roy Shipstad retired from performing and recruited Richard Dwyer to take over his role of "Debonair" as the "Young Debonair". By 1966, "Young" was dropped from the role title that later became "Mr. Debonair".[3] Frack became ill in 1954 ending the duo,[2] but Frick continued at Ice Follies with other partners.[6]

In the mid-1960s, Thomas Scallen took an executive position with Ice Follies which he eventually bought[7] in 1964.[8] The Ice Follies were placed within General Ice Shows, Inc., a subsidiary of Scallen's Medical Investment Corporation. General Shows purchased Holiday on Ice (HoI) (North America) by August August 1971. After lawsuits by HoI's Chaffen[9] and Arthur Wirtz in 1976,[10] Wirtz gained ownership of both shows.[11]

Ice Follies at 1962 Worlds Fair 02

Mattel's Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions purchased the Ice Follies and the Holiday on Ice from Wirtz for $12 million in 1979.[11] The company soon approached Disney about doing a Disney-related show on ice.[12]

Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice

Ice Follies merged with Holiday on Ice in 1980 operating as a combine show in 1980 and 1981. The first Disney's World on Ice began touring in 1981.[1][12] Frick had a career ending injury in 1980.[6]

In 1995, the company branch out from Disney's World on Ice with The Wizard of Oz on Ice,[13] the first of the Classic Ice Spectaculars.[14] Disney's World on Ice launched its first international tour in 1986 starting in Japan[14] and changed its name in 1998 to "Disney on Ice".[15] The first ice show done in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox was Anastasia On Ice starting in 1998.[16]

Around 1999, Ice Follies was performing Grease on Ice.[17] Based on the Disney Channel original movie, High School Musical was launched as an ice tour in 2006 and expected only to last one year but was expanded to three years.[18]

Shows

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Schneider Farris, Jo Ann. "Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies". About Figureskating. About.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Bernstein, Adam (April 23, 2008). "'Frick' was half of a comic ice-skating duo". Los Angeles Times. Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Schneider Farris, Jo Ann. "Richard Dwyer - "Mr. Debonair" Ice Skating Show Star and Figure Skating Legend". About Figure Skating. About.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Timeline". proskatinghistoricalfoundation.org. Pro Skating Historical Foundation. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kirschner, Betty Jean (January 9, 1946). "Thrills, Laughs, Flashing Blades Put Ice Cycles' on Must-See List". Daily Illini. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Hevesi, Dennis (April 23, 2008). "Werner Groebli, Ice Skating's Frick, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ Royce, Royce (March 23, 2015). "The unsinkable Thomas Scallen: Old-school showman and dealmaker dies at 89". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Henry (Heinie) Brock, 89, of Shipstad, Johnson Ice Follies". Los Angeles Times. August 23, 1989. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Chalfen v. Medical Investment Corporation 210 N.W.2d 216 (1973)". Justia U.S. Law. Supreme Court of Minnesota. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  10. ↑ Bright (February 10, 1976). "CHICAGO STADIUM CORPORATION, a Delaware Corporation, and Chicago Blackhawk Hockey Team, Inc., an Illinois Corporation, Appellees, v. Thomas K. SCALLEN and Medical Investment Corporation, a Minnesota Corporation, Appellants. 530 F.2d 204". Public.Resource.Org. United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Dale, Steve (January 20, 1995). "Snow White And Greenbacks". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Feld Family Buys Ringling Bros". Associated Press in New York Times. March 19, 1982. Retrieved 2008-07-20. ... a family that had owned the circus and has been in its management for 26 years. Two members of the family, Irvin Feld and his son, Kenneth, said that the deal included the circus, Ice Follies, Holiday on Ice and the new Walt Disney's World on Ice. ...
  13. 1 2 Mangan, Jennifer (September 27, 1995). "With Vocal, Visual Talent All Around, It's Wonderful `Wizard Of Oz On Ice'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Feld Entertainment, Inc Company profile" (PDF). eswr.com. Feld Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  15. ↑ "About Feld Entertainment" (PDF). feldentertainment.com. Feld Entertainment. p. 2. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Hirsch, Deborah (March 12, 1999). "Anastasia: Legend, Fantasy On Ice". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Jones, Chris; Bannon, Tim; Hevrdejs, Judy (October 31, 1999). "Glitzy Entertainment On Ice Still Melts Hearts In Evergreen Park". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  18. 1 2 Frederick, Missy (June 1, 2009). "With new motor sports unit, Feld Entertainment battles recession". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  19. ↑ Corry, John (September 10, 1981). "Ice Extravaganza Visits The Garden". New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Feld Entertainment's 'Starlight Express' Fails To Find Niche, Pulled From Road". Amusement Business. October 20, 1997. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  21. ↑ Zoltak, James (June 30, 1997). "Feld Entertainment launches new ice show.". Amusement Business. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  22. ↑ Jones, Chris (September 25, 1998). "`Anastasia' Impressive Bit Of Family Fare". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
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