Ask the Ice Moms: How Do You Put on a Club Ice Show?

A funny thing happens when you mention ice show. People begin to look uncomfortable, shuffle their feet, and remember an urgent appointment. See ya! Bye! Mention ice show and you’ll be standing alone within minutes.

Reader V. e-mailed me ages ago asking this simple question:

I have been selected to be the Committee Chair to plan our year-end show. We have a small figure skating club – approx 40 skaters (all levels). Do you have any ideas for theme, planning, organizing a show?

I have no experience with ice shows beyond cleaning out the locker room toilets and manning the ticket sales table. Here’s what the board had to say:

From Xan, figure skating coach, parent of a professional ice show skater, and blogger at Xanboni!

They need a policy on solos (everyone gets one, or only above a certain test level) and they need to figure out levels for groups. They need to make sure that their rink or municipality has an ASCAP and a BMI license for music rights (most do). Choosing the music is the easy part, but they need someone to cut it, and they need to determine a standard length for all solos and group numbers, so no one feels slighted.

A nice thing to do with an ice show is to donate part of the proceeds to a local charity, like the Breast Cancer Walk, or book drive. That organization will help get audience, and local newspapers are more likely to pay attention to it.

If they’re a US figure skating club, or in an area that has Basic Skills programs, they should call Susi Wehrli, member director for U.S. Figure Skating and ask her for resources. The phone number I found by Googling her is 719.635.5200, but I’m not vouching for it. Susi’s counterpart at the Ice Skating Institute, in case they’re an independent club or ISI program, is Randy Winslip. Both Susi and Randy are very approachable and know everything there is to know about clubs. Hope that helps!

From figure skating parent S.F.:

We used to do group numbers and divide the skaters up based on ability. The past several years we changed the format and the skaters perform the competition programs in front of an audience and the audience votes for their favorite skater. We found this format worked well for our club because we were able to put it together with less ice time/coaching fees then when we did group numbers.

From figure skating parent PairsMom, whose son and his partner won a gold medal for Intermediate Pairs skating at the December 2009 Junior Nationals competiton:

Here is my advice:

First and foremost, make sure that rink management, staff, and coaches are all “on board” and enthusiastic about the show and willing to lend their support.

Form a committee and pick a theme – check other club websites for ideas of show titles

Committee could consist of the following titles (this is a minimum and there could be more)

Show Director (probably a coach)

Music Director – someone to select music, cut music, make copies for skaters, play music, announce, etc.

BackStage Director – a parent that can literally run things backstage, on or off ice behind the curtain lining up groups, solos, etc.

Costumes – someone to oversee and approve costume selections, make suggestions, etc.

Publicity/Tickets

Rehearsal Asst./Runner – older skater (HS or College) or parent

Props/Set decorations on ice and/or in the lobby

Plan to have an all cast combined number for opening and/or closing of the show to include all skaters of all levels. This will be the highlight of your show and the most memorable for all involved – I PROMISE!

Delegate, delegate, delegate

From board member S.L., who gets roped into running her club’s show every year:

Pick a date – This can be hard because of vacations, school breaks, and hockey conflicts. Find the most practice ice available and work your date around that.
Pick a theme – Get ideas from kids, such as: Saturday at the 70′s, traveling (very flexible), newspaper (very flexible), jungle, Disney, beach, music genres. Avoid religion. People will always be unhappy with the theme, but these are usually the people who complain anyway. When considering the theme, think about how hard it will be to get costumes and music.
Sets – Sets are always last. Ask one person from each group to facilitate props. The coach decides what props and sets they’ll need. Less is better, especially with little kids.
Costumes – use dance books to help with ordering, but costumes can be expensive. You can go to costumes.com or some place similar for good deals.
Budget – Decide what’s realistic. Charge skaters their registration fees based on what you’ll need to cover the ice costs. The goal is for the show to pay for itself. For us, it’s rarely a fundraiser. Sometimes you can get a portion of the ice fees donated and maybe some of the pros will donate their time, too. Ticket sales usually pay for the pros and cover the cost difference between registration fees and the cost of ice and costumes.
Printing – We get our posters and flyers 100% donated. Our figure skater memory book printing is donated, too. So any money we collect from the memory book is profit.
Celebrations – the rehearsal dinner, cast party, pictures, DVDs, and T-shirts pay for themselves.
Jobs – co-chairs, back-stage lead, costumes, dressing room monitor, lights, Learn to Skate liaison, memory book creator, music man, cast party planner, program creator, props master, concessions, set-up and clean-up crews, ticket sellers, t-shirt coordinator, videographer, and photographer.

It’s a lot of work, but very rewarding. Go in knowing that not everyone will be happy, but those people are the ones who don’t help, so you don’t feel as bad. It’s a lot of work; don’t let it scare you. It comes together nicely in the end.

Do you have any experience with club ice shows? Don’t be afraid – I’m not asking you to volunteer! If you know anything that would help someone with an ice show, please put it in the comments!

As always, if you have any questions for the Ice Moms, just e-mail me! You can also send me any post ideas you have. If you’re an expert, please contact me! I’m always looking for experts for Wednesday’s Ask the Expert feature. My e-mail is: icemom.diane@gmail.com

You know this blog is moving, right? Tomorrow (and thereafter) you’ll find it at IceMom.net.

Anonymous

here are some themes our show has used in the past – night at the oscars (all movie songs)- Skaters hard at work (all songs about working) – rock and roll and this year-olympic dreams (songs about reaching your dreams and songs that were often played or someone skated to in the olympics)Also this is the solo/group policy at our club…all skaters must be in a group with level with their basic skills group or if they have passed their Pre-prlim with the group of senior skaters.If you have only passed the Pre-prlim then you can have a duet, trio or spotlight and if you have passed Prlim then you can have a solo. We always have an opening number with no groups everyone skates in a line usually and the closing number that has every skater with their group. hope this is helpful sk8r girl
Anonymous

here are some themes our show has used in the past
- night at the oscars (all movie songs)
- Skaters hard at work (all songs about working)
- rock and roll
and this year
-olympic dreams (songs about reaching your dreams and songs that were often played or someone skated to in the olympics)

Also this is the solo/group policy at our club…
all skaters must be in a group with level with their basic skills group or if they have passed their Pre-prlim with the group of senior skaters.
If you have only passed the Pre-prlim then you can have a duet, trio or spotlight and if you have passed Prlim then you can have a solo.

We always have an opening number with no groups everyone skates in a line usually and the closing number that has every skater with their group.

hope this is helpful
sk8r girl
Ice Mom

Hey, sk8r girl. Thanks for the ice show themes and the information about how your club awards solos.Sharing that kind of thing helps build up a knowledge base!Ice Mom
Ice Mom

Hey, sk8r girl.

Thanks for the ice show themes and the information about how your club awards solos.

Sharing that kind of thing helps build up a knowledge base!

Ice Mom
Becky

We have a fairly large club(200 members) so you need to be Juv or above to have a solo and preliminary/pre-juv to be in a small group number(usualy 3 skaters or so).
Becky

We have a fairly large club(200 members) so you need to be Juv or above to have a solo and preliminary/pre-juv to be in a small group number(usualy 3 skaters or so).
Denise

My question is…how much does your (your readers) club/program charge skaters to participate in an ice show? Our daughter takes group ISI lessons at one rink. Their ice show fees are built into the cost of tuition for spring session, apart from a nominal fee for a costume. So, basically free after tuition. Her USFS club also has an ice show and they charge $100 to be in the first group number and $75 for subsequent groups. I think that’s high and skater participation is down this year. Is the cost of our USFS’s club ice show in line with what your clubs are charging? Just curious.
Denise

My question is…how much does your (your readers) club/program charge skaters to participate in an ice show? Our daughter takes group ISI lessons at one rink. Their ice show fees are built into the cost of tuition for spring session, apart from a nominal fee for a costume. So, basically free after tuition. Her USFS club also has an ice show and they charge $100 to be in the first group number and $75 for subsequent groups. I think that’s high and skater participation is down this year. Is the cost of our USFS’s club ice show in line with what your clubs are charging? Just curious.
Mark Beck

I think it helps to have an adult skater, with no kids involved,
be the Show Director. A congenial Pro can cut the music per his/
her theme. All the rink Pros should be at casting. Once the cast-
ing is set, the Show Director should assign the numbers and set
the rehearsal schedule. Costume, set, prop committees need to be
volunteered from club members. There needs to be a date set for
the costumes to be finished, and ready for picture calls. Some
professional needs to do the printing/photography. Ads need to
be sold for the Program, as this is usually a big money maker.
Tickets also need to be sold, and some advertising/posters done.
A set up needs to be organized where curtain/lighting goes up.
There needs to be a costume dress rehearsal, and a full dress rehearsal with sets & lights.
Mark Beck

I think it helps to have an adult skater, with no kids involved,
be the Show Director. A congenial Pro can cut the music per his/
her theme. All the rink Pros should be at casting. Once the cast-
ing is set, the Show Director should assign the numbers and set
the rehearsal schedule. Costume, set, prop committees need to be
volunteered from club members. There needs to be a date set for
the costumes to be finished, and ready for picture calls. Some
professional needs to do the printing/photography. Ads need to
be sold for the Program, as this is usually a big money maker.
Tickets also need to be sold, and some advertising/posters done.
A set up needs to be organized where curtain/lighting goes up.
There needs to be a costume dress rehearsal, and a full dress rehearsal with sets & lights.
http://icemom.net Ice Mom

Hi, Denise.

Ice Girl is a member at two clubs. Her second club has an ice show in the spring (when they have enough interested skaters). I think that the fees run $75 per kid. I want to say that the Learn to Skate kids pay $50 each. I know that the club members are all in several groups, but the LtS kids are in just one.

What I found interesting when I interviewed S.L. (and I should have put this in the post) is that the club used to keep all the costumes that the kids wore and store them. However, the cost of long-term storage made saving the costumes impractical. It’s actually cheaper to buy new costumes and let the kids keep them than store them for years.

Ice Mom
http://icemom.net icemom

Hi, Denise.

Ice Girl is a member at two clubs. Her second club has an ice show in the spring (when they have enough interested skaters). I think that the fees run $75 per kid. I want to say that the Learn to Skate kids pay $50 each. I know that the club members are all in several groups, but the LtS kids are in just one.

What I found interesting when I interviewed S.L. (and I should have put this in the post) is that the club used to keep all the costumes that the kids wore and store them. However, the cost of long-term storage made saving the costumes impractical. It’s actually cheaper to buy new costumes and let the kids keep them than store them for years.

Ice Mom
http://icemom.net Ice Mom

Hi, Mark.

Thanks for the ice show timeline! I really like the idea of an adult skater with no kids involved as the director. That’s smart and apolitical.

Ice Mom
http://icemom.net icemom

Hi, Mark.

Thanks for the ice show timeline! I really like the idea of an adult skater with no kids involved as the director. That’s smart and apolitical.

Ice Mom
Erica Turner

My rink just put on a show. The policy for solos was that anyone with a program (from beginner up) could put their name down, and then they picked names out of a hat for who would get to do it. Apaprently they normally pick people who’ve reccently done well at competitions, but there were quite a lot of successes this year, so they went for the random selection route. I actually liked it, as it was a chance for some skaters who aren’t the best or the coach’s favourites to get a chance for a solo. And everyone was in at least one group number.
Bluebird

The Skating Director at our rink manages our annual show. The logistics have varied a bit each year as she has revised things, but from the skaters’ end it basically involves filling out a form and showing up for the scheduled practices. A number of the coaches participate in getting the skaters prepared. Each year it seems that more and more skaters participate, which is wonderful.

I know that the show is a huge stress for the Director, though. I’ve heard her mention how difficult it is to manage the entire thing. Would it be inappropriate to ask if she would like some volunteer help? I’ve never been sure if that would be appropriate or not, since she manages the show as part of her job and since the local club doesn’t seem to be involved in organizing the show.
Mark Beck

Traditional stuff is always popular: (i.e. Wizard of Oz, Annie,Cats).. but you need to find someone who
follows new Broadway shows, current pop music/movies/TV, or maybe even knows classic operas/
ballets, to stir in new material. Shows with no surprises, no stretch for the audience, no new “events”
..neither stretch the performers, nor stir much enthusiasm from the parents/friends/grandparents/and
occasional outsiders, who have to endure it all. A little exhibition is just that. A real ice show, the kind
of thing that kids remember, and want to do well in competitions for, just so that they get a good role;
is a wonderful instigator, a wonderful chance to work with all their friends at something fun/inclusive,
a memory that may outlast their competitive ups & downs. It maybe is a even a small work of Art.