Ice Follies

History

Son of Swedish parents who had migrant to St. Paul, Minnesota, typewriter salesman Eddie Skeppstedts (later Shipstads) became friends with chemist Oscar Johnson skating at local lakes. They practiced skating stunts together and were hired as halftime entertainment for the local professional hockey team and then for the National Hockey League New York Rangers.

Eddie's brother Roy - himself a successful amateur skater - would later join them to perform charity shows and eventually as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies.

Ice Follies produced the first large scale, professional touring show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on . 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. Frick and Frack, the comic skating duo, joined the show in 1939.

In 1946, Ice Follies began co-producing Ice Cycles with Ice Capades. In 1949, Ice Follies left the Ice Cycles show, leaving it under Ice Capades' ownership.

In the mid-1960s, Thomas Scallen took an executive position with Ice Follies which he eventually bought in 1964. 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) by . After lawsuits filed by HoI's Chaffen and Arthur Wirtz were resolved in August 1971 and February 1976 respectively, Wirtz gained ownership of both shows.

Mattel's Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions purchased the Ice Follies and the Holiday on Ice from Wirtz for $12 million in 1979.

Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice

Ice Follies merged with Holiday on Ice in 1980, operating as a combined show in 1980 and 1981. The first Disney's World on Ice began touring in 1981.

Frick suffered a career ending injury in 1980.

In 1995, the company branched out from Disney's World on Ice with The Wizard of Oz on Ice, the first of the Classic Ice Spectaculars. and changed its name in 1998 to "Disney on Ice". The first ice show done in conjunction with 20th Century Fox was Anastasia On Ice starting in 1998.

Ice Follies also expanded to perform Grease on Ice as early as 1999. Based on the Disney Channel original movie, High School Musical was launched as an ice tour in 2006 and lasted three years, despite having been originally expected to last one year.

Shows

• Ice Follies (—1979)
• Ice Cycles (1946–1949) a melded co-production with Ice Capades, toured smaller North American cities.
• Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice Combined Shows (1980–1981)
• Walt Disney's World on Ice/Disney on Ice series (1981—1998—present)
• Classic Ice Spectaculars, classics on ice
  • The Wizard of Oz on Ice (1995)
  • Grease on Ice (produced with Troika Entertainment)
  • Starlight Express (—)
  • Anastasia On Ice (1998–1999) based on Fox's Anastasia animated film
• High School Musical (2006–2009)

References

References

1. Taes, Sofie. (2019-01-15). "The Ice Follies: how a Swedish family changed American entertainment history".
2. "Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies". [[IAC (company).
3. "Richard Dwyer - "Mr. Debonair" Ice Skating Show Star and Figure Skating Legend". IAC.
4. "Timeline". Pro Skating Historical Foundation.
5. Hines, James R.. (2011). "Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating". Scarecrow Press.
6. (April 23, 2008). "'Frick' was half of a comic ice-skating duo". [[Los Angeles Times]].
7. (January 9, 1946). "Thrills, Laughs, Flashing Blades Put Ice Cycles' on Must-See List". Daily Illini.
8. (April 23, 2008). "Werner Groebli, Ice Skating's Frick, Dies at 92". [[The New York Times]].
9. (March 23, 2015). "The unsinkable Thomas Scallen: Old-school showman and dealmaker dies at 89". Star Tribune Media Company.
10. (August 23, 1989). "Henry (Heinie) Brock, 89, of Shipstad, Johnson Ice Follies". Los Angeles Times.
11. "Chalfen v. Medical Investment Corporation 210 N.W.2d 216 (1973)". Supreme Court of Minnesota.
12. (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". United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
13. (January 20, 1995). "Snow White And Greenbacks". Tribune Publishing.
14. (March 19, 1982). "Feld Family Buys Ringling Bros". The New York Times.
15. (September 27, 1995). "With Vocal, Visual Talent All Around, It's Wonderful 'Wizard Of Oz On Ice'". Tribune Publishing.
16. (July 1, 1988). "Disney Ice Extravaganza Opens". Los Angeles Times.
17. "About Feld Entertainment". Feld Entertainment.
18. (March 12, 1999). "Anastasia: Legend, Fantasy On Ice". Tribune Publishing.
19. (October 31, 1999). "Glitzy Entertainment On Ice Still Melts Hearts In Evergreen Park". Chicago Tribune.
20. (June 1, 2009). "With new motor sports unit, Feld Entertainment battles recession". [[American City Business Journals]].
21. (September 10, 1981). "Ice Extravaganza Visits The Garden". The New York Times.
22. "Feld Entertainment, Inc Company profile". Feld Entertainment, Inc.
23. (October 20, 1997). "Feld Entertainment's 'Starlight Express' Fails To Find Niche, Pulled From Road". Amusement Business.
24. (June 30, 1997). "Feld Entertainment launches new ice show.". Amusement Business.
25. (September 25, 1998). "'Anastasia' Impressive Bit Of Family Fare". Tribune Publishing.