Personal Bios, Memories, and Stories
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| My Brother Skated at the Casa Carioca. Jimmy [Scotty ] McCartney
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I have been trying for so long, to find pictures of the show, Jimmy was in, I used to have plenty pictures, but they have all gone now, Jimmy was married to one ofthe chorus girls,[ Briggete Hentchel ?] Unfortunatly, when the Casa Carioca burnt down, he lost all his props, [ Pancho, the Donkey]and he couldnt cope, drank a lot, and around 1970, he hung himself in a Hotel, he was working in as a Handyman,[ as dar as I know.]
If you can tell me anymore, or know anyone who can , I would be very pleased to hear from you. Thank You.
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| RONNIE ROBERTSON AND SASHI KUCHIKI
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I had known Ronnie as a principal in Capades in 1961, but it wasn't until 1989 that I first brought Ronnie and Sashi Kuchiki to Hong Kong to do some teaching. My good friend, Gerty Verbiwski who had done shows with Richard Dwyer for me in Dubai, suggested I find Ronnie who was operating a hotel in Arizona. Speaking to Ronnie on the phone I found he'd been off the ice for many years and had numerous health problems, but he was all up for a trip to Asia. I contacted another friend, Sashi Kuchiki and the two came across for a month of teaching. That first visit inspired many many more with 2 trips a year over the following 10 years. Ronnie was given 12 hours of coaching a day to do and it nearly killed him. On one visit he actually ended up in a Hong Kong hospital from exhaustion, but he begged for more. During my Capades years Ronnie was the biggest skating star on the planet. Untouchable. I was afraid to bring him to Hong Kong but he turned out to be the nicest person you could ever want to meet. After his death, his partner, Dick, sent me his last pair of skates and his teaching coat which I still have at my California home. Sashi Kuchiki is still teaching all day every day in southern California and he, Denise, Natasha and Tamara continue to be close friends.
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| Peter Tyrrell and the birth of Ice Capades
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Peter Tyrrell was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1896. After spending some time as a publicist for a boxing promoter, Tyrrell became a boxing matchmaker with the Philadelphia Arena, then that city’s largest public entertainment facility. (The Philadelphia Arena was built in 1920 by George F. Pawling, an engineer and athletic official, who installed $150,000 worth of icemaking equipment in an unsuccessful effort to increase the popularity of ice skating in Philadelphia.)
Tyrrell significantly enriched the variety of public entertainment in Philadelphia and elsewhere. In 1936 he became one of the first to book the Shipstad and Johnson ice-skating show, and its success in Philadelphia led to the establishment of the Ice Follies, which in turn became one of the most successful shows in the entertainment field.
In 1940 he formed an association with ten eastern sports Arenas which financed the Ice Capades, another ice-skating show separate from Ice Follies. Tyrrell was named business manager and organized and signed the talent for the first production. He served as first company manager and president. After rehearsing the show in the Philadelphia Arena, Tyrrell took it on its first road trip to New Orleans, La. Subsequently, the show was taken to Atlantic City, N.J., and rehearsed during the summers under Tyrrell’s direction before setting out on road tours throughout the country during the winters. He was a director of the Ice Capades from 1940 until 1963, when the company was sold to Metromedia, Inc., for $5 million.
An interesting side note to Tyrrell's career is he convinced Sonja Henie to turn professional, and she made her professional debut at the Arena and subsequently became the star of her own show, Hollywood Ice Revue.
Peter A. Tyrrell died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 8, 1973.
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| How Ice Follies was saved after a shaky start
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The following is an excerpt from Eddie Shipstead, Ice Follies Star (pages 98 - 101)
[sic] . . their show as a good one, but no matter how good it was, if they could not get people to come to see it, they would very soon be in serious trouble. From Kansas City they went to St. Louis where they fared little better in attracting patrons to their show. Now there began to be talk about throwing in the sponge, but the three partners had too much invested in the enterprise to give up so soon. The other members of the cast agreed, but reluctantly. But it took more than this to discourage Eddie, Oscar and Roy. By
the time the show reached Philadelphia, the faith and determination of the three young men began to show results.
To their joy and relief, the ill-fortune which had
dogged their efforts disappeared in Philadelphia.
Their itinerary included a two-night stay in the City
of Brotherly Love, and true to its name, it welcomed
the discouraged little group. It was there that their
fortunes took a turn for the better; Lady Luck and
good Dame Fortune were both awaiting them there.
They had been tested and found worthy of their
blessings. Then, learning that their Nordic stock
was truly the intrepid kind that had made their
ancestors known throughout the civilized world for
bravery and valor, it had given the group its bless-
ing, in effect saying, "You have proved yourselves
worthy. The entertainment world is now yours; go
as far as your talents and courage will take you.
There are no limits other than your own."
The manager of the Philadelphia Arena was a
man named Pete Tyrrell, a quiet person who pos-
sessed a dynamo of energy and an indomitable will.
He had heard of the discouragements that had be-
fallen the Ice Follies cast and he was determined to
do something about it. The show was too good and the
idea behind it too novel to have them fall by the
wayside. The Philadelphia stay could well be the
deciding point in the ice show's career. If this city's
support proved to be not greater than that which
had been given them in the four previously visited
cities, it could well be that the show would "fold"
and the members of the cast return home in defeat.
On the other hand, if good fortune blessed their
Philadelphia stay, it could well prove to be the im-
petus needed to keep them intact and on the road.
Pete decided to do something about it.
All that was needed were customers, he decided,
and they could be lured into the Arena only by let-
ting them know just what kind of show had been
booked for their entertainment. This in turn could
be done only through proper advertising. Pete pro-
ceeded to exert his best efforts. He let the Phila-
delphians know the treat that was in store for them
if they came to the Arena to see the Ice Follies, and
the people, believing, came. Instead of playing to
empty seats as they had been doing, they performed
before a large and appreciative audience who liked
what they saw and told others about it. The result
was that the second night's crowd was even larger
than that of the first performance. It was clearly
shown that people could be induced to attend the
unique show and when they did, they would be
pleased. That in substance was the lesson that had
been taught in Philadelphia. With confidence re-
stored and spirits renewed, the little group gave up
all thoughts of quitting and devoted their efforts
in producing an even better show. The audience
responding in kind, showed their appreciation by
applauding, whistling, and stomping their feet.
"It was a brand of entertainment that had never
before been seen in the home city of the Liberty
Bell," was Eddie's comment. "They loved it and they
asked for more. The members of the cast were fired
to a new pitch of enthusiasm and they gave the
audience what is was clamoring for. It was a highly
advantageous type of thing for both of us."
Unknown to Eddie, Roy, or Oscar, there were
scouts in the audience that evening in Philadelphia
who were to play an important part in the success
of the new entertainment company. Some time pre-
vious to their Philadelphia appearance, Roy had re-
ceived a request from Madison Square Garden ask-
ing him if he were interested in taking part in a
special show that was to be held in Madison Square
Garden in which he would do a solo act. While he
was very much interested, he was forced to wire
back that he would not be able to consider their
offer as he was on the road with his own show. He
informed the Garden agent that he would be in
nearby Philadelphia on a certain day in the near
future, performing there.
The Madison Square Garden representative,
Major Harold Dibblee, contacted Walter Brown, of
the Boston Gardens, and the two men decided to see
this new Ice Follies road show for themselves. They
were both desperate for new talent at their arenas
and were interested in the reaction that Philadel-
phia audiences might have to the show. With Pete
Tyrrell, Harold Dibblee and Walter Brown were
watching the rejuvenated and inspired skating group
stage their performance. They were astounded by
the enthusiastic endorsement that the audience gave
to each number as it was presented and they lost
no time in hurrying to the dressing rooms after the
show to talk to the three men. It appeared that not
only did the enthusiastic audience provide an an-
swer to the worried Ships tads and Johnson troupe,
but it also gave Mr. Dibblee and Mr. Brown a solu-
tion to their problem. Both men were responsible
for huge arenas and they were desperate for some-
thing new and appealing to present to their patrons.
The Ice Follies was the answer, in the opinion of
both men. Not only would the show be a real attrac-
tion in the near future but it would provide an en-
tertainment that could be returned year after year.
Before Mr. Dibblee and Mr. Brown left the Fol-
lies dressing room that evening, the show had been
booked to appear at both the Madison Square Gar-
den and the Boston Gardens. The Philadelphia
newspapers carried the story in full, extolling the
ice show and telling of its coming appearances in
New York and Boston. In this way the word got
around and soon offers were coming in from other
arenas as well. It seemed that everyone was inter-
ested in not only a current appearance but also re-
turn engagements in future years. Within a few days
the Ice Follies of 1936 was booked solidly for the
remainder of the season and well into the next year.
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| Dorothy Hamill's Ice Capades
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Back in 1993, I was hired for my first skating tour with Dorothy Hamill's Ice Capades-Cinderella Frozen in time. Two company's of the production were to be created at the same time and then one tour would go to the US West coast and the other the US East Coast. Little did the skaters know what we were in for during the rehearsal period. We all showed up in Toronto with eager anticipation of the show that was to be choreographed. Tim Murphy and Nathan Birch were to be the choreographers and they, along with Dorothy, believed in "ice class". So, each morning we would get up early and take a bus to the ice rink and begin an off ice warm up routine. Then, Nathan would read out a list of who was in which group of skaters. There were four skaters per group and the first group was the best to be in and the later the group the worse you were doing. We all strived to get into a higher group and knew that if we didn't that we had a lot more work to do before the next morning.
After that, we had a few minutes to get our skates on and then we began a two hour class on the ice- all before the actual show rehearsals started! As hard as this was, I can safely say that everyone learned a great deal about working together, edges, movement, flow, leaning into your circle, all around balance on the ice.
After about 8 weeks, there were 2 beautiful shows put together. The concept was totally different than anything that Ice Capades had ever done. It was basically a theater production that toured arenas. Unfortunately, the audiences that came to see the Smurfs and the "glitz and glamour" did not buy what we were selling as much as they did before. Another production called "Hansel Gretel the Whitch and the Cat" was produced but was abruptly canceled half way through the tour. The Cinderella production managed to tour for 2 more years and did quite well in the smaller markets.
For the skaters, the lessons we learned and the "ice class" that we mastered was invaluable. I think that all of the skaters who were a part of that show came out as much better skaters and performers. As hard as it was, day after day, week after week, I am thankful for the experiences that I had to challenge myself to survive in that environment. That show set me up for a wonderful show skating career. Thanks Tim, Nathan, Dorothy and every skater involved.
Craig Heath
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