Stars on Ice Creative Team

Despite the talents of the skaters, Stars on Ice would be nothing more than a bunch of skaters on the ice, without its choreographers, costume designers, lighting designers, and music producers. Here are a few of the principal members of the Stars on Ice creative team. This information is largely derived from the Stars on Ice programs.

Christopher Dean
Director and choreographer Christopher Dean has been involved with the Stars on Ice tour since he joined as a cast member with partner Jayne Torvill in the 1996-97 season. He started as a co-choreographer with the tour in 1998, and was promoted to director and head choreographer with the 2003-2004 tour. Probably the most famous ice dance couple ever, Torvill and Dean won the 1984 Olympic gold medal with nine perfect marks of 6.0 in presentation for their Bolero program. They reinstated for the 1994 Olympics and won the bronze medal. They have also experienced great success in a number of TV specials and commercial videos, and have choreographed for skaters such as Ilia Kulik and Kurt Browning. In 2002, Torvill & Dean choreographed a special International Skating Gala at the Nottingham Ice Centre as part of the Queen's Jubilee Celebration. At this Gala, some of the top skaters in the World skated for Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Jef Billings
Costume designer for Stars on Ice since the 1994-1995 tour, and associate director since the 2003-2004 tour, Jef Billings has had a successful career in all areas of entertainment - skating, film, theater, television, and more. He has worked on numerous skating specials, earning him six Emmy nominations and one win (in 1999, for the Snowden, Raggedy Ann & Andy Holiday Show). Other shows he has done include Kurt Browning's Gotta Dance, the International Skating Gala, both Snowden TV specials, Kristi Yamaguchi's A Golden Moment, Scott Hamilton Upside Down, Scott Hamilton Back on the Ice, Mulan: Reflections on Ice, and Beauty and the Beast Concert on Ice.

Cindy Stuart
Choreographer Cindy Stuart was a professional skater for twenty years, and a choreographer for nine years, including principal roles in Ice Follies, Holiday on Ice, Ice Capades, Broadway on Ice, and Festival on Ice, and choreographer with Disney on Ice and a number of Robin Cousins' StarSkates skating specials.

Gary Wilson
Lighting designer Gary Wilson has been with Stars on Ice since the 2004/2005 tour, but has a ton of experience in lighting design for skating shows, having been involved with touring productions Skate the Nation, Elvis Stojko Champions on Ice, Elvis Stojko SK8, and Celebration on Ice, as well as television productions such as Elvis SK8, Holiday Festival on Ice, Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler Farewell Show, Dreams on Ice, and the Canadian Professional Figure Skating Championships. He's also worked on the movies Death to Smoochy and Mrs. Winterborn, and a number of other special events.

Sandra Bezic
Producer, director, and choreographer for Stars on Ice from 1992 through 2003, Sandra was first a Canadian pairs champion and Olympian with her brother. She has also been the choreographer for some key Olympic and Worlds programs, such as Brian Boitano's 1988 Olympic long and short programs, and Kurt Browning's Casablanca. She has also choreographed and/or produced over 30 television specials, including the Emmy-award winning Carmen on Ice and the Gemini-award winning You Must Remember This, including the memorable "Singing in the Rain" scene. Sandra also commentates for NBC and CBC, and commentated for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She has written a book, The Passion to Skate, and produced a CD and TV special of the same name.

Michael Seibert
Co-director and choreographer of Stars on Ice from 1992 through 2003, Michael Seibert was first a member of the Stars on Ice cast with his former partner Judy Blumberg. He's also a five-time US Dance Champion and inductee into the USFSA Hall of Fame. His television work includes the choreography of Ice Princess, Beauty and the Beast, and Snowden on Ice, which starred Scott Hamilton, Ekaterina Gordeeva, Kurt Browning, and Josee Chouinard. He is also one of the choreographers for the FOX reality show, "Skating with Celebrities." His choreography for individual skaters includes Kurt Browning's infamous Brickhouse program.

A.C. Ciulla
Choreographer for Stars on Ice in the 1999-2000 and 2002-2003 season, A.C. Ciulla is a successful dance choreographer who teaches at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City. He has choreographed the Broadway show "Footloose", staged "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, a Celebration of Stevie Wonder" in Las Vegas, and choreographed "The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin". He has also choreographed for such recording artists as Eden's Crush (Popstars?), Freedom Williams of the C&C Music Factory, K7, Deborah Gibson, and Billy Porter. A.C. Ciulla also performed in "Starlight Express" from 1987-1989.

Lea Ann Miller
Associate Director and Choreographer for Stars on Ice, Lea Ann Miller took some time off of the tour for the 2001-2002 season to choreograph NBC's six pro specials, including Kurt Browning's Gotta Dance, and Tara Lipinski's Hip Hop on Ice. Like Michael Seibert, Lea Ann started as a performer in the Stars on Ice tour, skating with her partner Bill Fauver. She moved naturally from performing to a role as performance director and onto associate director and choreographer for the tour. Lea Ann also had featured roles in the Torvill and Dean World Tour and the John Curry Company. Her extensive dance background and skating experience has lent itself well to her work choreographing for skaters across all disciplines, in both eligible and professional skating. She has choreographed for Yuka Sato, Tara Lipinski, Katarina Witt, Brian Boitano, and Rosalynn Sumners, among others, and has also directed numerous television specials.

Jayne Torvill
Choreographer for Stars on Ice with her partner Christopher Dean, as well as Sandra Bezic and Michael Seibert from the 1996-1997 tour, when they joined as cast members, through the 2001-02 tour. Probably the most famous ice dance couple ever, Torvill and Dean won the 1984 Olympic gold medal with nine perfect marks of 6.0 in presentation for their Bolero program. They reinstated for the 1994 Olympics and won the bronze medal. They have also experienced great success in a number of TV specials and commercial videos, and have choreographed for skaters such as Ilia Kulik and Kurt Browning. In 2002, Torvill & Dean choreographed a special International Skating Gala at the Nottingham Ice Centre as part of the Queen's Jubilee Celebration. At this Gala, some of the top skaters in the World skated for Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Roy Bennett
Roy Bennett was lighting designer for Stars on Ice for three years (2001/2002 through 2003/2004 tours) and he brought years of experience as one of the top lighting designers in the industry to the tour. Roy's work in the past has included the concert tours for such artists as Prince, Janet Jackson, The Who, Van Halen, James Taylor, Tina Turner, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many many more. He has also done lighting and production designs on special events such as the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards, VH-1 Music Awards, VH-1 Vogue Fashion Awards, Billboard Awards, Sundance Film Festival, GQ Awards, and the Times Square 2000 Millenium Celebration. Roy's work has won multiple awards, such as the Performance Magazine's Lighting Designer of the Year Award, three times, the Theater Craft International Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting, a Cable Ace Award for Art Direction in a Comedy or Music Special, and Broadcast Design's Silver Award for Production Design.

John Broderick
Lighting designer for Stars on Ice for Scott Hamilton's Farewell Tour (2000-2001), John brought years of experience working in concert tours, television specials, film shoots, fashion shows, corporate work, and figure skating shows. He designed for the Fox Rock and Roll Skating Spectacular in 1994, Ice Wars, and many other televised ice specials and competitions. He has also designed the stage set and lighting for Metallica's concert with the San Francisco Symphony, Madonna's opening performance at the Grammy Awards, the Fox Family Network's Christmas Special, and a two hour special for MTV. His musical clients have included Annie Lennox, Aerosmith, and Roy Orbison.

Ken Billington
Ken Billington was lighting designer for Stars on Ice from 1992 until the 1999-2000 tour. He started working with Sandra Bezic on the Boitano/Witt Skating tour and continued with her through Stars on Ice. At the time of his last tour with Stars on Ice, Ken had over 70 Broadway and 59 Off-Broadway productions to his credit, including Footloose, Chicago, Candide, Hello Dolly, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Sweeney Todd. His work won him six Tony Award nominations and the 1997 Tony Award for his work on Chicago. He has designed over 60 operas, as well as the Radio City Music Hall's Christmas and Easter Spectaculars, Disneyland's Fantasmic!, Las Vegas productions, and concert productions for such acts as Ann-Margret, Shirley Maclaine, and Liberace. His architectural lighting projects include New York's Tavern on the Green, Gladstones at University Citywalk in Los Angeles, the Grand Hyatt Seoul Ice Rink, and numerous nightclubs and restaurants in Japan, Thailand, and Guam.

Jason Katrowitz
Lighting Designer for Stars on Ice alongside Ken Billington, Jason also worked on the Boitano/Witt Skating tour. His work has included over 100 Broadway, national tour, regional theatre, Radio Music Hall, and television productions. He has worked on the LA, San Francisco and national touring companies of The Phantom of the Opera, The King and I, numerous PBS Great Performances, and the Disneyland nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! He worked as an architectural lighting consultant, working in many themed restaurants and nightclubs in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Tokyo, Sapporo, Guam, and Bangkok. He also works as a creative director for live special evens, and has created shows for Pepsi-Cola, Taco Bell, Sega Genesis, Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and Maryland Public Television.

Orin Isaacs
Music producer for Stars on Ice for three years (2000/2001 - 2002/2003 tours), Orin Isaacs is an award-winning composer and music producer, who has written music for recording artists, television and film. He has also been the musical director for the Juno, Gemini, Genie and the NHL Awards. His other regular job during his run with the tour was as Bandleader and Musical Director of Open Mike with Mike Bullard, a late-night talk show in Canada.

Marvin Dolgay
Marvin was Stars on Ice's music director for eight years. He started working with Sandra Bezic on the Boitano/Witt Skating II tour in 1990 and continued on to the Stars on Ice tour. A multi-award winning composer and music director, Marvin is the founder and creative director of Tambre Productions in Toronto. His specialty has been the composition and supervision of scores for television series, films, and advertising. His work airs in all major markets of North America and in over 200 countries worldwide. In the first few years of Marvin's work on Stars on Ice and Skating II, he co-collaborated with Glenn Morley.