LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION...
Chill Entertainment debuted it's theatrical stage show on December 5 and 6, 2015. A cast of fifteen talented professionals practiced together for one week to create our debut Holidaze ice theater show. The 60 minute performance began with a dazzling POI performance by Nancy Pluta, who performed a more than 1.5 minute non-stop twirling demonstration to Karn:Eval by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Her number ended with the opening of the grand curtain which revealed our female cast who opened the show with a visually stunning LED perfomrance, and lively rendition of Lindsay Stirling's Celtic Carol complete with air violins.
Next, the audience was treated to a live vocal performance by skater and professional vocalist, Joel Gulyense from Toronto, Ontario, who not only sang live but also skated with two of our lead female players, Carly Donowick and Nancy Pluta, as well as by our principal pair Jennifer Don and Ryan Berning of Los Angeles, CA.
A December Holidaze show would not have bene complete without seasonal characters. Performing to Pentatonix's Santa Claus is Coming to Town, we were visited by a skating Snowman, Holiday Elf and Polar Bear, supported by Miki Stevens and Shannon Grossman. This lively seasonal number served as the perfect lead in to meet one of our main characters 'Queen Icelyn', played by Naomi Lang, who arrives just in time to see her young princess and perform an emotional mother, daughter solo to 'Christmas Never Felt Like This', which was a highlight of the production.
The Queen's appearance also signaled the appearance of the show's guardians who soar through the sky, as our aerial performers Allyson RItchie and Joel Dear take center stage. Flying high above our principal pair, Allyson's performance was a breathtaking addition evidenced by the audience's reactions. As a special treat for the local skating community, a master class was offered that featured several younger skaters who joined the cast and show with a colorful LED hoop presentation to Madonna's 'Ray of Light'.
Just when it seemed that the performance was winding down, the curtain closed, only to reopen and reveal another exiciting aerial performance, this time featuring both Allyson and her partner Joel Dear in an ariel hoop performance timed perfectly to 'Winter Palace' by Trans Siberian Orchestra.
The show then slowed down with an emotional solo presentation by Carly Donowick who true to her reputation, drew the audience in with her graceful flow across the stage, and mesmerized them with her performance to Joni Mitchell's "River'. Then just as it seemed things were about to get series, Joel Guleynse, who also served as our show's narrator, appeared to introduce Holidaze party scene featuring the whole cast. Creating a loung atmophere, complete with disco ball appearance from the ceiling, each couple appeared and danced to a rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'This Town', and the group came together to peform a Fosse inspried dance sequence before Joel is met by the Queen and together they perform a soft shoe dance number reminiscent of Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers.
Again in keeping with the season, the female cast once again appears to perform a holiday classic 'Santa Baby, as we near the end of the show which begins with an inspiring pair performance, following by a campy interlude of our Frozen princess embracing the Snowman, which serves as the perfect lead in to our final character introduction, Santa himself. Santa ushers in the finale number featuring the whole cast, which is a unbeat rockabilly number 'In the Mood for Christmas' by the Brian Setzer Band. As the cast takes their final bows, the curtain closes to the loud applause of an appeciative audience.