The Fabulous Ice Age

The era of the great American touring ice shows revealing how, with their dazzling production numbers and variety acts, they dominated family entertainment for decades. It also depicts one skater’s quest to keep this history from being forgotten. The ice shows’ creation and success changed the lives of skaters and audiences alike – eventually exporting American culture around the world. Rare archival footage, candid interviews with producers, skating legends and devoted chorus gypsies bring this never-before-told history of a uniquely American art form to life. The journey begins in 1915 when a young German skater, Berlin’s Charlotte, brings her “ballet on ice” to New York’s Hippodrome Theater, igniting America’s love of theatrical skating. In 1936, Minnesotan brothers Roy and Eddie Shipstad and partner Oscar Johnson booked their skating troupe (which had been performing at local ice carnivals and hockey games) into a hotel tank show, thus laying the groundwork for America’s first …