"Cinderella on Ice" skids to a halt on opening night 28th August 2009

[Khoo Ee Hoon]

Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, August 29

SINGAPORE: Friday evening was supposed to be a night of glitz and glamour, but "Cinderella on Ice" will not be getting the fairy tale ending it deserves.

Instead of being treated to this lovely production, audiences are being informed that the gala premiere of the show at the Esplanade Theatre has been cancelled.

The Imperial Ice Stars, producers of "Cinderella on Ice", said a contaminated batch of the freezing agent glycol had damaged the pipes and chillers.

Typically, it takes some 3,000 litres of glycol to form the ice and up to 14 hours for the liquid to set. To right the wrong, some 16 kilometres of water pipes had to be brought in to replace the damaged pipes.

Ticketing agent SISTIC said customers will be able to get a refund on their tickets. They can also exchange their tickets for a later performance.

Tony Mercer, artistic director, The Imperial Ice Stars, said: "We probably could have carried on with skates for the show this evening, but we?d only be performing at 70 per cent of capacity because the ice wasn?t as I wanted it to be.

"So rather than do that and compromise, we stripped away the ice rink, we?ve taken away the chillers, we?ve taken away the glycol and we?re rebuilding with a new set of chillers we?ve rented locally. Everything will be fine for tomorrow."