Ice Capades

It occurred to me, about a minute into Vicki Heasley's peppy and exuberant ice-skating solo, performed to the song "I Am What I Am," that only the Ice Capades would think of taking the drag-queen's anthem from La Cage aux Folles and turning it into wholesome entertainment for the entire family. And only the Ice Capades, which opened this week and runs through Sunday at the Spectrum, would dare to devote its entire second act to knocking off A Chorus Line, a Broadway show that has been so often imitated, borrowed from and paid homage to that it's by now a show-biz cliche.

Is there life for ice skaters after the Winter Olympics? Top skaters such as Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano turn pro and pair up as an act, while others land careers in the Ice Capades, which, not coincidentally, brings us to the Capades' annual extravaganza at the Spectrum beginning Wednesday, Feb. 26. This year's edition, "Salute!," pays tribute to entertainment around the globe, with production numbers spotlighting the music of Cole Porter, Mariah Carey, Bryan Adams and others, as well as skits featuring the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera characters.

A broken wrist is one of the factors that led to the appearance here of Olympic ice-dancing champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. The couple, who won the world championship four times before turning professional three years ago, are a highlight of the Ice Capades show, at the Spectrum through Sunday. "We had been touring with our own show for almost two years," Torvill said, "when Chris tripped coming off the ice one day about a year ago and broke his wrist. So we had to cancel the show and let all of the skaters go. " The couple returned to their homes in Nottingham, England, and waited for the wrist to heal.

Fueled by the dangerous derring-do of Olympic gold medalist Robin Cousins and the lyrical grace of Olympic silver medalists Kitty and Peter Caruthers, the 1987 edition of Ice Capades opened its 12-performance run at the Spectrum last night, and all the news is good. This is live family entertainment at its rootin' tootin' best - lavishly costumed and choreographed, loaded with both known and unknown talent, filled with surprises. Take, for instance, Bob Moore and His Amazing Mongrels.

It's got Barbie and Ken and it's got the Simpsons. It's got handsome men and pretty women in skimpy (but not vulgar!) costumes designed to show off their handsomeness and prettiness. It's got daredevil jumpers and clowns whose pants fall down, who get doused with buckets of water and take numerous other pratfalls. It's got flashing lasers and lavish production numbers. It's wholesome and all-American (except for a few foreigners) and literally as smooth as ice. It's the 51st edition of the Ice Capades, and it's at the Spectrum through Sunday.

When you review a show like the Ice Capades, it's hard not to take at least part of your cue from how it played with the people around you. Last night, as the Ice Capades opened a six-day stand at the Spectrum with its "Return to Romance" theme, the adjacent seat went to a 3 1/2-year-old who spent two solid hours watching the ice, then clapping and screaming in my ear, "Yeah, Daddy, yeah, yeah, yeah!" That pretty much says it. Family fun, that's what the Ice Capades are, and this year's 49th edition, in town through Sunday, is certainly no different.

With the Ice Capades back in Atlantic City, it's just like old times. Well, almost. For 40 years, between 1941 and 1981, the ice extravaganza started off each new season with a summer engagement at Atlantic City's Convention Hall. It was a tradition. But with the general decline of the resort town, starting in the 1970s, and the ultimate arrival of the casino-hotels and their glitzy shows, more than a few traditions - including the Ice Capades - went by the wayside. Ironically, the gambling properties - there are now 12 of them with more on the way - glitzed themselves dry, and in the quest for fresh entertainment packages, it was a casino-hotel that brought the Ice Capades back to the South Jersey shore.

Thomas Michael Brinker, 76, formerly of Springfield, Delaware County, a financial adviser and radio personality who was a professional ice-skater in his youth, died of complications from a stroke last Thursday at Avow Hospice in Naples, Fla. Mr. Brinker grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. A talented roller skater, he switched to ice skates as a teenager. At 16, he came in second in an Eastern States competition and the next year he skated in a Christmas show in Center City.

Times have been tough for ice shows. Holiday on Ice and the Ice Follies have melted away, leaving the Ice Capades as America's last refuge for Olympic champion figure skaters. Seven years ago, the Ice Capades stopped coming to Atlantic City. What had been a traditional summer attraction in Convention Hall beginning in 1941 died due to overwhelming competition from casino-sponsored flesh and feathers on the Boardwalk. But an ice show, even a bland one, like Trump's Castle's "City Lites" revue, has something magical about it. "City Lites" was the second-longest- running show in Atlantic City, milking the magic of twirling skaters and dazzling costumes for nearly three years.

There's a joke in Woody Allen's new movie Hannah and Her Sisters that will give you an idea of the kind of respect that the Ice Capades commands in some circles. Allen is thinking about the possibility of reincarnation. Great, he grumbles to himself, I'd have to sit through the Ice Capades again. There's more than a germ of truth behind the joke. The Ice Capades, like the circus, comes year after year after predictable year. You can count on the circus having elephants and pretty women in sequins and feathered headdresses, and you can count on the Ice Capades having lavish sets and pretty women in sequins and feathered boas.

Warren B. Goodman, 91, of Bala Cynwyd, an ice skater who won championships in the 1930s, died Thursday, March 14, of a heart attack while visiting his daughter in Los Angeles. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Goodman started skating at age 11 with skates he found in an attic. With the exception of two lessons from a professional, he was self-taught. In 1937, while attending West Philadelphia High School, he won the Middle Atlantic States Men's Junior Championships; in 1938, he won the Philadelphia District Men's Junior Championship; in 1939, he won the Men's Senior title at the Middle Atlantic Championships; and in 1940, he competed at the U.S. Championships in Cleveland, where he placed fourth in the Men's Senior Division.

Thomas Michael Brinker, 76, formerly of Springfield, Delaware County, a financial adviser and radio personality who was a professional ice-skater in his youth, died of complications from a stroke last Thursday at Avow Hospice in Naples, Fla. Mr. Brinker grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. A talented roller skater, he switched to ice skates as a teenager. At 16, he came in second in an Eastern States competition and the next year he skated in a Christmas show in Center City.

Cybill Shepherd discusses in detail for the first time in TV Guide her monthlong fling with Elvis Presley in 1973, noting that she ended it because of his pill-popping and her then-ongoing affair with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. She was 23, and Presley, 38. "I couldn't handle the whole thing with the pills," she says in next week's issue. "Pills to go to sleep. Pills to wake up. I think that lifestyle limits you. " But, she admits, "he was still looking fabulous. He was a sweet man. And he smelled great.

The bitter wind off the parking lot makes the partially exposed Old York Road Skating Rink feel like a gigantic freezer. So Jennifer Kaufman wears a black sweatshirt over her embroidered spandex costume as she rehearses her freestyle routine. Her music, the Charleston - picked by choreographer Jill Cosgrove, who normally matches scores to Ice Capades characters and college champions - booms out of the rink's sound system. Flashing a smile, Kaufman, 23, glides gracefully in a sweeping figure eight, then executes a series of quick dance moves.

Is there life for ice skaters after the Winter Olympics? Top skaters such as Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano turn pro and pair up as an act, while others land careers in the Ice Capades, which, not coincidentally, brings us to the Capades' annual extravaganza at the Spectrum beginning Wednesday, Feb. 26. This year's edition, "Salute!," pays tribute to entertainment around the globe, with production numbers spotlighting the music of Cole Porter, Mariah Carey, Bryan Adams and others, as well as skits featuring the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera characters.

It wasn't a tune-up for next month's Winter Olympics in France, nor were the Flyers engaged in an off-day "skate. " Maybe the Ice Capades had quietly glided into town for a show. No, not so. This day belonged to about 200 skaters - young and old alike - as they took to the ice at the Face Off Circle Skating Rink in Warminster on Dec. 29. The rink, which normally caters to youngsters and hosts high school ice hockey games, opened its doors to the general public that day. Rink manager Ken Reddy said that with the Winter Games just weeks away, interest in ice sports has been aroused, as evident by the huge turnout of families who enjoyed a fun-filled day touring the ice.

Joseph T. "Joe" Verdeur thrilled the entire city when he won a swimming gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 1948 London Olympics. But in later years, people who wanted to see the medal had enough trouble just getting him to talk about it. Verdeur, 65, a longtime teacher in the Philadelphia School District, the owner of a pool-supply business and the swimming coach at Temple University from 1960 to 1969, died at his home...

It's got Barbie and Ken and it's got the Simpsons. It's got handsome men and pretty women in skimpy (but not vulgar!) costumes designed to show off their handsomeness and prettiness. It's got daredevil jumpers and clowns whose pants fall down, who get doused with buckets of water and take numerous other pratfalls. It's got flashing lasers and lavish production numbers. It's wholesome and all-American (except for a few foreigners) and literally as smooth as ice. It's the 51st edition of the Ice Capades, and it's at the Spectrum through Sunday.

If there's one thing you can count on to stay the same through the years, it's got to be the Ice Capades, right? Lavish sets, pretty women in sequins, "family" entertainment - the formula is so familiar that Woody Allen could satirize it in Hannah and Her Sisters (musing about reincarnation, he grumbled that it would mean sitting through the Ice Capades again) and be sure of getting a knowing chuckle. But Richard Dwyer remembers a time when the venerable ice show, which on Sunday at the Spectrum winds up a 12-performance stop on its 50th anniversary tour, was very different indeed from today's fast-paced production, which owes more to MTV than to Sonja Henie movies.

For most of the audience, the Ice Capades stars are Richard Dwyer, a/k/a Mr. Debonair, and those Nintendo game characters, the Super Mario Brothers. But for a contingent from the Lawncrest section of Philadelphia, the most important performer in the show opening tonight at the Spectrum is David Malpass. He'll be riding an oversized, old-fashioned bicycle in the evening's circus sequence. Malpass, 24, is a chorus skater appearing in eight numbers. While the Ice Capades are in town through Sunday, his parents, George and Connie Malpass, his three brothers and one sister will take turns attending performances.