A Gala for the Stars of the Ice

John W. Kluge, last month named the wealthiest man in the United States by Forbes magazine, surveyed the Arcadia ballroom of Loew’s Santa Monica Beach hotel, where 700 current and former Ice Capades performers, crew, creative staff and executives had gathered for the venerable ice show’s 50th anniversary gala reunion on Sunday night.

They were almost all there, hundreds of past and present stars of the ice. Missing was Peggy Fleming, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist in women’s figure skating, who sent her regrets after the Northern California earthquake. Robin Cousins, the 1980 Olympic men’s figure skating champion, told the crowd he’d talked with Fleming and she said, “I’d love to be there, but my house is in eight different parts of San Jose right now.”

Kluge, chairman of Metromedia Co., owned Ice Capades for 23 years, selling the show in 1986 to Thomas K. Scallen, while remaining a partner. He and Metromedia executive vice president Stuart Subotnick flew in from Charlottesville for the evening, joining celebrants from throughout the United States and Canada as well as Europe, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

“We sold the show but we never left the people,” Kluge said. “They are what Ice Capades is all about--it’s the huge family.”

The “family” reunion began with a cocktail party Saturday evening at Pomodoro, continued Sunday with attendance of an Ice Capades performance at the Forum starring 1988 Olympic women’s figure skating silver medalist Elizabeth Manley and pair-skating silver medalists Natalie and Wayne Seybold, and culminated with the post-show bash at Loew’s.

At cocktail time at the hotel’s atrium lobby, Cousins marveled, “I just met the man who’s the reason I skate. I saw Nicky Powers playing the prince in a production of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on ice in 1967 and said ‘I love skating, I have to skate.’ ”

The musings and recollections continued over dinner: warm salmon mousse in lobster sauce, salad, sauteed breast of chicken with morels in mustard sauce.

The 1984 Olympic champion in men’s figure skating, Scott Hamilton, and silver medalist Peter Carruthers reminisced about the winter games. Ken Shelley, 1972 U.S. champion and Olympic contender in men’s and pair skating, told former chorus skater Linda Illsley Simons about the all-star skating AIDS benefit to be held Monday at New York City’s 26th Street Armory.

Hamilton and Cousins emceed the program. Besides Kluge, speakers included Scallen and George and Denise Eby--he a former Ice Capades chairman and she a member of the first company. Receiving cheers and applause were such former favorites as Donna Atwood, Bobby Specht, Bob Paul and Barbara Wagner, Sonya Dunfield, Norah and Michael Kirby, Robin Lee, Aja Zanova, and Tim Wood; ice clowns Freddie Trenkler and Terry Head; and the oldest attendee, 92-year-old Irma Thomas, an early Ice Capades star.

The evening officially ended with a film of Ice Capades highlights. But numerous people lingered to chat, reluctant to leave after waiting so long to find each other again.