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On Ice
Dateline: 7th March, 2004
"On ice" shows are becmoing quite popular - for example,
the Gala Theatre, Durham, has Sleeping Beauty on Ice from 16th
to 20th March. At one time, these shows were performed in ice rinks:
now they come to ordinary theatres. How does that work?
Thanks to the Gala's press officer Ed Tutty, all can now be revealed!
- The show is performed on real ice - not plastic or anything else!
- It takes around 20 people to set up the show starting very early
the day before the first night.
- There are over one and a quarter miles of pipework laid inside
a "paddling pool" that covers the whole of the stage. The
pipes must be one inch apart so the water freezes evenly.
- Once this is done, the pipe system is filled with a mix of water
and glycol antifreeze to stop the pipes from freezing internally.
- The temperature is lowered to minus 15 degrees and the pipes outside
the theatre begin to frost over.
- Crushed ice is spread over the surface of the ice rink, a procedure
that helps to speed up the freezing process.
- Overnight and most of next day the rink is sprayed every 15 minutes
with water until 3 inches of ice appears.
- While a technician is spraying, the others in the team are putting
the sets, lighting and sound in place. Wardrobe takes care of the
160 or so costumes and the skaters start preparing.
- The ice rink is constantly monitored day and night, as well as
before and during the interval. After each show the ice is scraped
and hot water sprayed on the surface to keep it smooth.
- At the end of the week the chillers are turned up full. It then
becomes so cold that it cracks the ice and the crew can then remove
it into wheelbarrows and dispose of it outdoors.
- If the ice was left to melt, as many believe, not only would it
take days but also the theatre would be flooded and the company would
not be very popular with the theatre management and staff - especially
their cleaning lady.
So now we know!
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