Chillin’ to Tchaikovsky

This morning, while many of us were applying the blowtorch to frigid turkeys in the pitiable attempt to thaw them before the millennium, 10 presumably sane men were doing their best to put an entire performing arts center into the Deepfreeze.

Nut cases? No, sir. “Nutcracker.”

“Nutcracker on Ice,” to be precise. Featuring pair skating champions Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner as Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, the two-hour family ice show will be presented Friday through Sunday on the stage of the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Now in its fifth annual tour, “Nutcracker on Ice” is being presented during the holidays in the U.S. by three casts; a fourth heads for Moscow in January.

Although the 5-year-old center is noted for its flexible seating configuration, “Nutcracker on Ice” marks the first time it has been used as an ice rink, spokeswoman Lori Yonan said.

The 24-hour process was scheduled to begin about 8:30 a.m. today, with crews spreading crushed ice over a customized surface of rubber mats and refrigeration coils. Then the icy surface is hosed down continuously to create a solid surface, 60 feet long, 40 feet wide and 3 inches thick.

It’s a lot of work for a two-hour ice show. But producer Barry Mendelson says it’s the best way to present this version of this adaptation of the holiday chestnut, which premiered in 1993 and was choreographed by Gardner.

“The music almost mandates that this be done in a proscenium setting,” Mendelson said by phone from the Los Angeles offices of his Beachport Entertainment Corp.

“The music lends itself so well to ice choreography,” he explained. “The flow of it, the forcefulness of it, allows you to do a lot of dramatic ice effects like lifts [and] a wonderful waltz. It’s very theatrical. An arena just can’t provide that kind intimacy . . . and warmth.”

Gardner also appreciates the warmth--in every sense of the word.

“I like the intimacy of the audience being so close,” Gardner said last week from his Marina del Rey home before flying to Santa Cruz for the show’s tour-opening performance. “Plus,” he added with a laugh, after all these years of skating in sports arenas, “it’s nice to be in a warm theater.”

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Mendelson--who also has produced shows for Madison Square Garden and Ice Capades--and Gardner call this “Nutcracker” a mostly traditional retelling of the 1892 ballet with Tchaikovsky’s music.

The tale of young Clara and her dreamy encounter with a nutcracker prince boasts toy soldiers, a Sugar Plum Fairy and a growing Christmas tree.

But Mendelson says the high-tech effects that characterize many family ice shows are absent in an effort to put the emphasis on the skating and the story, as told by the show’s narrator, Clara’s loving Uncle Drosselmeyer.

Gardner, 40, and Babilonia, 38, have been fixtures in the figure-skating world for nearly 30 years. They met as youngsters in a Culver City ice arena--he was 10--and have been skating together virtually ever since.

They won five consecutive U.S. amateur pair titles from 1976-80 and the pair figure-skating world championship in ’79. They were considered solid contenders for a gold medal in the 1980 winter Olympics, but they had to drop out when he was injured.

In recent years, they have headlined Ice Capades, Caesar’s Palace, television specials and several tours, including the Tour of World Figure Skating Champions, which Gardner has directed. In December, they’ll take a break from “Nutcracker” to perform in “Gershwin on Ice” at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Gardner said his long-standing friendship with Babilonia has seen them through a lot of pain and a lot of triumphs. And, he said, audiences can feel the warmth of their bond across the ice.

“There are parallels between our characters and ourselves,” he said, noting that in his role as the Nutcracker prince, he is Clara’s guide during her fanciful journey.

“Sometimes it’s cavalier, sometimes it’s romantic. . . . We watch out for each other.”

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The venerable La Habra Depot Playhouse has no snow blanketing its roof nor smoke curling from its chimney. But once you step inside, it’s strictly Winter Wonderland.

“Christmas at the Depot,” the venue’s fourth annual holiday production, opening Friday, is a “back-home Christmas” with all the trimmings, says theater co-director Mary Raffaelli.

Featuring 37 local children and adults, the song-and-dance revue features a blend of classic and contemporary Christmas tunes. The two-act show is recommended for all ages and continues Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 20.

According to director Kathy Busby, each year’s production features a different blend of holiday tunes.

Songs in the first act are performed against a variety of Christmasy settings, from a cozy parlor in the opening scene to a countrified dining room for “Christmas Dinner, Country Style,” a tune Busby remembers hearing as a child on old Bing Crosby recordings. Diehard white Christmas fans may forget O.C.’s balmy temperatures during a segment of such wintry holiday tunes as “Let It Snow” and “Winter Wonderland.”

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Christmases around the world get a nod in an international segment that includes a Hawaiian song, a Cuban tune and “Betelhemu,” a traditional carol about Bethlehem sung in Africa, she said.

Throughout the first act, performers are costumed in theme, ranging from overalls and gingham check to hula skirts. Dances include a jazzy swing number set to “Christmas Rock” (a holiday take on Elvis’ classic “Jailhouse Rock”) and variations on Irish step dancing.

The second act takes on a more formal tone, with the cast turned out in tuxes and evening gowns and performing in a more traditional choral stance.

An audience sing-along of “Silent Night” closes the show, which Busby hopes will leave viewers with “just a good, Christmasy feeling.”

BE THERE

“Nutcracker on Ice,” Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive. 2 and 7 p.m. Friday-Sunday. $25-$40. (800) 300-4345 or (562) 916-8500.

“Christmas at the Depot,” La Habra Depot Playhouse, 311 S. Euclid St. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $8-$10. Friday-Dec. 20. (562) 690-3321.