Calling the PR Department

... of King'sSixFlag'sBusch'sSeaWorld'sKnott'sGreatAmerica's Theme Park -

Why is it that there is rarely any press/commercial screen time/endorsements of the ice shows inside your park? Are you hiding it?

When I skated for King's Dominion and Williamsburg Busch Gardens, both times the ice shows were the #1 live attraction. Now don't get me wrong, people, I know nothing beats the latest/tallest/fastest rollercoaster for these theme parks, but the ice shows were packing them in -- if nothing else, so people could sit down and cool off -- Virginia in August anyone?

When I was at Busch Gardens, the park orginally scheduled two shows daily. Then the wizards working the numbers and crowd control realized the park would make more money if they canceled the early show and made people who wanted to see the show (a.k.a. the groupies) wait until 9 pm, meaning they would have to eat at the park, rather than catch the early show and head to town for dinner afterward.

Can a rollercoaster do that? Do they have groupies?

I know, I know, they probably do.

Ice Classics 1948 - A History Lesson

I got an email from Mark Traversino, whose father started a small ice tank show (tank = putting a sheet of ice anywhere you can) in 1948.

They wound up in Manilla, by his account, the first ice skating show that ever hit Asia.

Mark was the piano player for the show and his sister, Marion Traversino, pictured on the right, was the female principal, along with her co-star Buddy Schroff, pictured on the left.

Fascinating stuff for any ice show skater to discover how it all got started. Here's the link (warning: if you're at your cube, you probably don't want the music to come on - set your speakers to mute) to his website that has many more photos, a YouTube link to skating in the '50s, and press clippings galore.

I pointed Mark to the PFSC Historical Foundation, which is where any of you should go, should you have stories like this to share. There's a link to the PFSC on the right, or you can click here.

Let's keep the history alive - thanks Mark! - can you hear Hollywood calling?

Calling all Showgirls and Guys .... to Sun Valley

Brought to you from the folks at the PFSC:

In case you haven't seen this advertised anywhere else ....

Sorry, I couldn't find the date, so if you're interested, email them.

2008 Show Skating Seminar

The 2nd Annual PFSC Show Skating Seminar will take place from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Mountain Time in Sun Valley, Idaho on the Indoor rink. Any skater over the age of 13 is invited to join. If you or anyone you know is interested in attending, please contact us at info@proskaters.org Some of the topics covered will be.. -what to put on your resume -how to present yourself to producers -what to do and what not to do when signing a contract - theater class -edge class -character class -show tricks -introduction to adagio/pairs -much more...

---

2008 Annual Meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho USA

The 2008 PFSC Annual Meeting will take place in Sun Valley again this summer. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend either in person or via internet at by logging into this website and going to the Chat room in the Resources folder during the meeting time. Member meeting - 3 p.m. - 4 p.m MT. The meeting will take place on the terrace between outdoor rink and Sun Valley Lodge. Please email info@proskaters.org for more information.

---

Facebook

Check out our Facebook Page! Go to www.facebook.com and search for the group Professional Figure Skaters Cooperative

Cold As Ice

.... not the Foreigner song, but a Broadway-bound musical starring Oksana Baiul. Didn't see it on the Tony Awards last night though. Let's hope for next year.

This may be old news to some of you, but if not you can read the take by New York Times here. Want to buy the CD or find out more details? Click here.

Who knew Oksana Baiul was a triple (make that quadruple) threat? The play focuses on the lives of "six fictional skaters jockeying for medals". Who do you think those six - five, if you take away one for Oksana - skaters are?

Out of the Office

I forgot to leave you an "out of office" post before leaving town. Right now I'm at some dingy internet cafe with a strange guy looking over my shoulder, so ..... I'll make this quick.

Back in a couple of days with new posts and (I hope) my new laptop!

Bye for now - Ice Charades

Ice Shows Getting Some Respect?

Well, maybe things are turning around for ice shows. We've gone from the butt of jokes from the outside world -- like the Woody Allen quote from the movie Hannah And Her Sisters --

"And Nietzsche, with his theory of eternal recurrence. He said that the life we lived we're gonna live over again the exact same way for eternity. Great. That means I'll have to sit through the Ice Capades again."

To this from today's Washington Post -- "The chief of staff to a former senior of the House Appropriations Committee pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to commit fraud, becoming the latest casualty of the scandal centered on disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

John C. Albaugh admitted to accepting gifts -- including tickets to sporting events, concerts by groups such as the Wiggles and a Disney On Ice show -- in exchange for helping lobbyists and their clients, according to persecutors."

That's right folks, someone is going to the slammer because he (and I bet he has young daughters!!) wanted free tickets to Disney On Ice. I know it's not as simple as that, but still ... prison. There's your "Amazing Journey" right there.

Although I'm not crazy about the Wiggles getting top billing, I bet Mr. Albaugh wishes the reporter hadn't singled out DOI and the Wiggles among the "sporting events" at the top of the article. The other boys in the pokey will have a field day with that.

The full article right here mentions other concerts by Tim McGraw, George Strait, American Idol and Washington Redskins football games.

So congratulations to the skaters from Disney On Ice for being so desirable ... one Dad was willing to go that extra mile.