You weren't hallucinating or having a moment of wishful thinking: Nudes on Ice was indeed a real Las Vegas show, brought to us by the same winning team behind Playgirls on Ice, Ecstasy on Ice, Rhythm on Ice, Spice on Ice, Follies on Ice, and Fantasy on Ice (starting to see a pattern here?), not to mention Topless Showgirls [on heels], Razzle Dazzle, City Lites and Bal de Moulin Rouge.
The kitschy brainchildren of British producer Bill Moore and partner George Arnold, these shows were staples of the Las Vegas Strip in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, with performer Charo (who co-starred with Suzanne Somers in the Moulin Rouge production) describing Moore, who died earlier this year of a brain tumor at the ripe and ribald aged 86, as "the guardian angel of Las Vegas," (or at least its mammary glands). Arnold, a former skater (hence all the "on Ice"s) had passed away in 1997, but for 35 years the duo produced revues in Las Vegas, Northern Nevada, and Atlantic City, including the first show at Caesars Palace, "Rome Swings," in 1966.
It was Nudes on Ice that tapped into the campy '80s zeitgeist, however, with its intriguing if inaccurate title (the girls were topless, not nude). Apparently affectionately known to cast members as "Boobs on Cubes," the show featured pro ice skaters and topless showgirls* (with varying degrees of ice-skating ability) and had performed at the Aladdin for awhile in the late '60s (see flyer). Most people associate it with its late '80s revival at the (Union) Plaza, however, where it opened in 1988 for a 12-week run and ended up playing for the next 18 months, closing in late 1990.
The amusing title got the show name-checked on national TV by the likes of Andy Rooney and David Letterman, who made a habit of asking guests whether they had seen it or performed in it, while it also got alluded to in sitcoms like "Murphy Brown" and "Alf," which was all great publicity as far as Moore was concerned. "Whatever's current becomes a fad, and we find that it's always very fleeting," he observed in 1988, after he and his partner had defiantly made a Vegas career out of sequined and feathered showgirls, jugglers, comedians, and, of course, ice skaters. For some reason, it seems that attractive half-naked women will never go out of style, whether on or off the ice.
WARNING: NSFW!
