By Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter
Workers at the Ward Theatre, downtown Kingston, prepare the stage for the 'Broadway on Ice' ice-skating show to be held there from May 9 to 11. An ice rink will be laid on the stage for the show. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
FOR THREE days, the Ward Theatre will be transformed into a sturdy ice rink when 'Broadway on Ice', dubbed to be the "most spectacular show on ice you will ever see", comes to the island.
The show is the first in a series of activities to celebrate 'The Year of the Ward', an effort by the Ward Theatre Foundation to return the famed 81-year-old theatre and to a wider extent, downtown Kingston, to their former glory.
When The Gleaner visited the Ward yesterday, workmen were busy preparing the venue for the arrival of the production equipment. The 'Broadway on Ice' troupe is on a Caribbean tour and carries its own set of props and scenery. The equipment, which is carried in two 20-foot containers, was expected in the island early this morning. The performers will arrive this afternoon from Barbados, the site of their last show.
Without doubt, it is the ice that is the talking point. Larry Watson, Technical Director of the Ward Theatre, assured everyone there would be no 'breaking of the ice'. "We construct a trough and lay it on the stage floor and we pack it with ice. A chemical is sprayed over that which keeps the ice frozen. Water is poured over it and it is hooked up to a machine which keeps the ice at freezing temperature."
Everything is expected to be ready when the curtains go up for the gala performance at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The ice will be provided by Kingston Hireage and Wholesale Liquors Limited.
Mr. Watson said that the stage, though not as deep in comparison to what the skaters usually perform on, will meet the requirements.
The Ward has not hosted a production for some time and so refurbishing, including the fixing of cables is almost complete.
The event was specially scheduled for the Mother's Day weekend and Jamaicans seem to have responded positively. Tickets for Friday's gala performance and Sunday's 6 p.m. shows are gone and indications are that Saturday's tickets will soon follow suit.
Apart from the precision ice-skating from the likes of two-time USA champion Christian Hendricks, there will be costumed characters, especially for children. To ensure the audience will be surprised, the types of acts will be kept a secret but they promise a variety of musical genres.
