Reagan on Ice <$>Cancelled Under Pressure
Reagan on Ice Cancelled Under Pressure; GOP group dislikes production by MTSU skaters
Reagan on Ice, a biography on skates of former President Ronald Reagan, has been cancelled by the MTSU Books on Ice Skaters following pressure by a local Republican group.
“We were very concerned that the show would not properly and respectfully show the life of President Reagan,” says one local GOP leader involved in the talks. “We heard that at one point the skater playing President Reagan and the one playing Gorbachev do a series of jumps over a 'Berlin Wall’ setup on the ice. That’s just not historically fair and balanced.”
Group members say they were also troubled by the large, sports-mascot-like heads worn by the skaters. A toothy smile and swept-back, preternaturally dark Styrofoam hair dominate the Reagan character’s head.
The production, based on Dutch, Edmund Wilson’s controversial 2001 biography of Reagan, is the second show in two years canceled by the skating group amid controversy. Last year, the Books on Ice Skaters were forced to abort the show Kafka on Ice after heirs of the last Czech writer threatened to sue over what they regarded as an unauthorized adaptation.
The group’s artistic director, MTSU professor of literature and figure skating Dr. Larry Homer, sounds shell-shocked by the whole thing.
“I can’t believe this keeps happening to us,” he says. “The Reagan show was, I thought, a sensitive portrayal of President Reagan’s life, from his Illinois boyhood through the end of his presidency. There was a part about his being a radio sports announcer set to 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ there was a 'California Here I Come’ number with the skater playing Nancy. There was even some comic relief when the skater playing Ollie North sneaks around, selling arms to hostages behind Reagan’s back. We thought it was fun for the whole family.”
“They just need to leave it to those of us who love him to decide how to portray President Reagan’s legacy,” the GOP leader counters. “And they also need to leave it to us to decide what is fun for the whole family.”
(The Fabricator is satire. Don’t believe everything you read.)
“They just need to leave it to those of us who love him to decide how to portray President Reagan’s legacy,” the GOP leader counters. “And they also need to leave it to us to decide what is fun for the whole family.”
(The Fabricator is satire. Don’t believe everything you read.)
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