The Imperial Ice Stars was formed in July 2004 as a joint venture between two leading producers of live entertainment - Tony Mercer and James Cundall. Originally collaborating on a production of The Sleeping Beauty on Ice in Hong Kong in 1998, James and Tony also produced The Nutcracker on Ice in Australia and New Zealand in 2003 before creating their own company The Imperial Ice Stars in 2004.
Tony Mercer has over 10 years’ experience in creating ice shows such as The Sleeping Beauty on Ice, The Nutcracker on Ice, Cinderella on Ice, Barnum on Ice, Phantom of the Opera on Ice, Peter Pan on Ice and Carmen on Ice. His shows have extensively toured the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. With his new productions of Sleeping Beauty on Ice (2004-06) and Swan Lake on Ice (2006-08), performed by The Imperial Ice Stars, he has added a greater theatricality to the performances, creating a new genre of ‘Theatre on Ice’.
James Cundall is one of the top producers of live entertainment in Asia, Australia and New Zealand with over 60 productions to his name – musicals such as Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Chicago, Singin’ in the Rain, Oliver and Cabaret; spectaculars such as Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría and Riverdance; and solo performers such as Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Jamie Oliver – The Naked Chef and Clive James.
James Cundall is also Chief Executive of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, based in the UK with subsidiary offices in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Imperial Ice Stars is one of the world’s leading companies specialising in performing theatrical ice skating in the intimacy of the theatre stage. The Imperial Ice Stars boast 25 World, European and National Championship skaters who between them have won over 200 competition medals.
The Imperial Ice Stars are the cream of Russian skating talent, the majority having been coached and schooled by Russia’s leading coaches, and some from as early as 4 years of age.
The Imperial Ice Stars perform stunning skating feats, normally only seen in Olympic arenas, within the confines of a theatre stage, including breathtaking triple flips, triple toe loops, double axels, death spirals, camel spins, Bielmanns, triple throw axels, awe-inspiring aerial gymnastics and their performance specialty of incredible lifts and lift sequences, unrivalled throughout the ice skating world, as part of their unique style of theatre on ice.
Tony Mercer, widely regarded as the world’s leading ice director and choreographer, assembles a first class creative team for each production. The choreographer for Sleeping Beauty on Ice, Tatiana Tarasova, is a phenomena of international ice skating. Her skaters have amassed an incredible 41 Gold, 17 Silver and 6 Bronze medals at Olympic, World and European Championships.
The creative team for The Imperial Ice Stars current show, Swan Lake on Ice includes double Olympic figure skating gold medalist Evgeni Platov and quadruple Olympic gold medalist Alexei Nemov. Together they have created an unrivalled show incorporating all the intricate and thrilling moves seen at the winter Olympics and feats never seen before in figure skating.
Both Sleeping Beauty on Ice and Swan Lake on Ice are performed against lavish backdrops and scenery created by one of Australasia’s leading scenic designers, Eamon D’Arcy, renowned for his spectacular staging of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony as well as Australian productions of Cabaret, Singin’ in the Rain and Saturday Night Fever. Both productions feature lighting designs by Gavan Swift, one of the Australian theatre industry’s leading lighting designers.
Over 110 richly decorative costumes have been created specially for The Imperial Ice Stars by Albena Gabueva from Moscow’s famed Stanislavsky Theatre.
The technical team behind The Imperial Ice Stars has perfected the creation of ‘on stage’ ice rinks to provide the ideal skating surface for the performers. Two chillers, over ten miles of refrigeration pipes and six hundred gallons of water are used to create fourteen tonnes of ice. (see ‘how the ice is made’).
See also the Imperial Ice Stars production company website.
