Holiday on Ice - 'Showtime'

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BAFTA award-winning creative supremo, Kim Gavin, approached us to work on some very special props for the 75th anniversary spectacular of Holiday on Ice. Artem worked with Kim, and with production designer, Misty Buckley, on both the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony and the Take That Wonderland tour, so we were more than thrilled to be commissioned by this dream team again.

Project Breakdown

The two most exciting challenges were constructing a steam locomotive and a large four-person road roller tricycle capable of travelling on the ice. In addition Artem also constructed a luggage trolley and a stunning Zeppelin headdress.

The steam locomotive had to be electrically powered, although still puffing smoke and steam, and had to convert into the rear of the train when leaving the ice. Artem’s staff designed the mechanisms and power systems, as well as incorporating the transformation effect and smoke machines.

The Road Roller Tricycle is also electrically powered, and carries three musicians, one three metres above the ground. The performers travel round the ice in this ‘Mods & Rockers’ style machine which has a cluster of headlights, dummy V8 engine and belches smoky exhaust.

Richard North, one of Artem's designers commented: ‘It’s possibly the weirdest thing we have made, but great fun turning the concept sketches into a practical vehicle. It has rear wheel steering - which confused the performers when they first tested it in our West London workshops!’

Mike Kelt, Artem’s CEO said, ‘Kim and Misty always seem to come up with interesting challenges that get us all scratching our heads to solve a problem while keeping it very visual.’

The jubilee celebration, entitled Showtime, provides a spectacular look back at the history of Holiday on Ice and a taste of exciting things that the future has in store. More than 330 million people have seen the Holiday on Ice shows over 75 years, making it the most successful live entertainment format of all time. It is the only show that combines ice skating and ice dance with acrobatics, daring jumps and aerial acts. The show tours Germany and France before going further afield next year.