My 5 year-old daughter is pretty excited to see a much-loved 20^th Century Fox movie ‘live, on ice’ – as are the thousands of other kids who pack into the TSB arena with their various forms of overpriced sugar, merchandise and glow sticks. There’s no denying the almighty pulling power of a commercial movie franchise.

The set itself is epic: a huge movie screen takes up the back of the stage and colour-changing icicles hang from above.

The main characters’ costumes are pretty awesome too. The woolly mammoths are great to watch, and the other main characters certainly look the part. However for $80 a seat in some cases, you’d expect an extravaganza, right? Or at least a chance to see some awesome skating skills.

I don’t pretend to know anything about putting on such a complicated show, and I’m guessing most of the kids have a good time but I can’t help but feel a bit weirded out by the disjointed, hard-to-follow storyline, slightly tinny voice-overs and average musical numbers.  

The few actual skating and circus routines by the highly skilled cast are the most entertaining but the script could definitely do with some rewrites. Back home my 5 year-old can’t tell her Dad what it was about when normally she’d tell us about it for days. 

In trying to deliver on its promise “to combine exceptional ice skating, aerial arts, puppetry and film”, over-stimulation is to the detriment of an engaging kids experience to remember.

Ice Age Live: A Mammoth Show on Ice will certainly pull the crowds and give kids an enjoyable time. But in terms of giving my kids a quality show experience that engages them and feeds their imaginations, Aladdin at the Lower Hutt rep theatre wins hands down. 

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Last night Vector Arena was swarming with people under four feet tall. The show began at 5pm, not ideal with the end of the day traffic piling up and parking was a mess. As I waited for my guests, one of whom had raced from school, I felt a connection with the other parents or grandparents; we waited with fluctuating bouts of patience as minutes ticked past, scanning the greenery and texting rapidly – or as one mother had to explain to her child, they couldn’t go into the venue because their grandfather had the tickets and he was still at Britomart trying to find a park. It was 4:55pm at that point.

That was the atmosphere outside. Once inside however everything changed. Amidst an audience giddy with excitement, it was easy to transition to embracing a whole new world. This was ICE AGE LIVE. Except this time, it actually was on ice. 

As far as plots go it’s a simple story that works brilliantly. 

A family who adore each other get separated. The stakes are raised especially when the most vulnerable is taken away by the proverbial ‘baddies’ and all manner of high jinks ensue as the adventure begins. 

Add to the narrative a frozen lake and a brilliantly animated set with projections from the film, a few life-size woolly mammoths including a wee baby one; a sabre toothed beast and a sloth, and suddenly this tale just takes cool to a whole new level.

Productions on ice have become increasingly popular over the last decade and this particular version, co-directed by Guy Caron and Michael Curry, is a fab way to introduce your children, irrespective of age, to the wonder of the spectacular. The story, music and lyrics by Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson are a creative blend of catchy ear-worms and smart, quick paced commentary that will keep adults entertained and children, like the one sitting next to me, leaning forward and breathing out “awesome” every five minutes. 

What makes this show particularly successful is how it skilfully uses the space at Vector arena. Multiple set levels add to the magic, the animation is lively and the puppeteering is slick and nearly invisible. The highlight was not so much the performances on ice as the aerial work and Curry’s experience with Cirque du Soleil comes to the fore with a remarkable number of sequences.

The fight choreography is excellent and on both occasions the performers, shedding the life-size costumes of their characters, emerge in stellar form delivering some of the most memorable moments that are surpassed only by the aerialists. There are a few scenes that do appear to have been put together in a rush and the choreography unfortunately isn’t quite up to the mark but these are few and far between. While most of the work on ice is good, opening night has more than few near tumbles and the choreography doesn’t quite live up to the other elements of the production.

And oh yes, the famous Scat and his lovely girlfriend definitely do make an appearance and join Sid, Manny, Diego and a host of other new characters including baby mammoth Peaches as they go dance, fly, skid and slide across the lake.

The highlight of the evening of course is the fact that the world of the film suddenly becomes tangible and immediate. There are plenty of opportunities for the characters to interact with the audience (for the lucky ones in the first few rows) and throughout the night the team easily delivers a wholesale evening of fun family fare.

If you have children then do take them, and you definitely won’t be disappointed either.

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The buzz of kid energy around Vector Arena is a force to be reckoned with.  Parents, grandparents, aunties and kids!  So many kids!  They’ve come to watch one of their favourite movies come to life on stage.  As this is Ice Age Live, you better believe there’s a giant ice rink as the centrepiece of the show.  But it doesn’t stop there.  This looks a lot like a Disney production after all, and they don’t do anything without going all-out.

The production values of this show are incredible.  A huge mobile set, lighting rig (illuminated icicles on the ceiling!), animated projections, smoke machines – all of it and more set a magical scene that transports everyone into Ice Age’s frosty world.

And then there are the costumes.  If that’s what you can call them.  They are set pieces of their own, and quite impressive to behold, bringing to life everyone’s favourite characters from the movie in larger than life form.  The endearing mammoth couple Manny and Ellie, their daughter Peaches, dry-witted sabre-tooth tiger pal Diego, mischievous opossum brothers Eddie and Crash, lovably goofy Sid the Sloth and many more minor characters from the movie franchise (and new friends) are all in the rink to deliver a highly entertaining, wow-factor performance for all ages.

Ice Age Live is part-ice skating showcase, part circus spectacle featuring some very expertly delivered skating choreography and aerial routines on the lyra (hoop) and straps.  It’s a spectacular show, slong the lines of Disney  on Ice meets Cirque du Soleil.  There is so much to see, so much to oooh and aaah at.  The audience, even the wee pre-schoolers, are totally transfixed.  The cast has obviously been plucked from the top figure skating and circus circles to ensure a top-level quality of performance that includes up-close and personal visits from some of the characters for those lucky enough to be in the front rows.

All of this visual spectacle does a very good job of hiding a few cracks in the ice (another pun – there are so many), namely the rather insipid plot and periodic awkward lulls in action that I suspect are due to the cast (again, who are stellar) having to perform to a pre-recorded overdub of the dialogue and music. 

The plot: Peaches and her friends are kidnapped by a band of sinister birds (who I can’t remember from any of the movies) led by Shadow, a snowy bird of prey, who wants to have the gang for dinner.  Manny, Diego and Sid come to the rescue and meet a few other familiar movie faces along the way who also want to help – Buck the Aussie weasel returns, as does Sid’s long-lost all singing, all dancing sloth family.

Not that any of the kids in the audience really care – they are just there for the thrilling ice skating shenanigans, extraordinary martial arts sequences, exciting circus routines and exhilarating AV enhancement.  Because this is what a show like this is all about.  Being super cool.

My 10 year old said, “It was entertaining and cool because of the circus. The lights were fun to watch.”

My 8 year old said, “It was actually kind of cool!  I was expecting it to be a bit babyish but it’s not.”

My 6 year old said, “There were so many things on the stage.  It was fun and scary to watch.”

None of them could remember the storyline.  But who cares.

Tickets are at a premium (this is an “international blockbuster,”remember, although there are cheaper tickets way up the back) and you and your children will be inundated to buy overpriced bags of candy floss and Ice Age toys.  If you can manage the former and ignore the latter, you’ll stay in the good books with the kiddos.  At least until Disney on Ice comes around in a few months.

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