How to organise a ticketed ice-skating show

So you've found a rink, spoken to a few skaters, and started imagining the opening number. Then the rink sends its availability. Your performance fits into the evening, but the rehearsal doesn't. The lighting supplier needs access while another group is on the ice. And those seats nearest the action? Some have a worse view than the cheaper seats higher up.

To organise an ice-skating show, start with an existing rink and an experienced skating production lead. Agree the complete ice and building schedule, rehearse the entrances and technical cues, check the seats against the actual performance, and price the event using every paid hour you need. Open ticket sales once those decisions support a show you can deliver.

I'd make the first production a seated spectator show, with no public skating included. That keeps the promise clear and avoids adding skate hire, beginner supervision and another ice session to an already demanding day. You can consider a separate skating experience later, with its own resources and approval.

This guide follows a fictional independent show at an established indoor rink. The audience is buying a performance, the skaters have agreed roles, and the organiser is responsible for making the date work as a business. We'll use the same example to connect the programme, hire schedule, seating and budget. Its figures are invented planning assumptions, not rink quotations or industry standards.

Decide what people are paying to watch

The first thing you want to do is describe the show without relying on the words "ice skating" to explain its appeal. Are buyers coming for a story, a particular performer, an ensemble programme, or a showcase by a local skating club? Each creates different expectations about the cast, production quality and length of the evening.

A club showcase can be a paid event, but its audience may largely come to support participating skaters. An independent theatrical show needs a reason for someone with no connection to the cast to buy. Neither is the wrong format. The mistake is budgeting for a broad entertainment audience when your actual offer reaches mostly friends and families.

Write a short description that says who the show is for, what they'll see, how long the visit lasts, and what's included. For our example, imagine an ensemble skating show with solo numbers and a shared finale. The proposed public programme runs from 7pm to 8.30pm, including an interval. There is no audience access to the ice and no promise of a post-show meet-and-greet.

That description gives the director something concrete to plan. It also tells the box office what it's selling. If you later add an audience skate, that changes the programme, staffing, insurance questions, equipment needs and exit arrangements. Treat it as a new production decision before describing it as a free extra.

Decide how much of the show depends on one person. A named guest may help sell tickets, but their availability and agreed replacement terms become commercially important. Tell buyers accurately whether they're buying a named performance or an ensemble programme whose individual cast members may change, within the terms that apply to the sale.

If you're still comparing general show formats, our guide to planning a ticketed circus show covers the broader relationship between artists, venue and audience. Ice adds a separate constraint. Your performance surface is maintained by a specialist team, and you need their time as well as the skaters' time.

Find the people who can approve the skating plan

An organiser can coordinate a show without being qualified to direct skating. Appoint an experienced skating lead who can assess the cast, programme, rehearsal needs and working arrangements. Ask about comparable productions and speak to the rink about the people it expects to approve activity on its ice.

Set out the responsibilities before booking the cast. The artistic lead develops the programme. The rink's responsible operator controls its facilities and ice procedures. A production lead coordinates technical suppliers. Someone manages the audience operation. One person may hold more than one role when they're capable and available, but write down who makes each decision.

This matters when the programme changes. Suppose a performer proposes a larger group number. The director needs to assess the choreography and cast. The rink needs to assess the proposed use of its surface and access. The production team needs to check lighting, music and entrances. The organiser needs to check the additional rehearsal cost. An enthusiastic message in a group chat doesn't settle those questions.

Confirm whether federation permission or a performance sanction is relevant to the participating skaters. For productions involving its members in the US, U.S. Figure Skating's hosting guidance lists charged admission among the conditions requiring a performance sanction for a non-competition performance. Ask the relevant club or governing body how its current requirements apply to your cast and arrangement before committing.

Keep that approval separate from the venue agreement, music permissions, insurance and local event requirements. Getting one does not establish that the others are covered. Ask your venue and relevant local authority what applies to the event you're actually producing, including any temporary equipment or change in use.

Book the people who will do the work, too. Confirm rehearsal attendance, performance fees, travel, accommodation where needed, publicity permissions, payment dates and cancellation terms. A performer being free on Saturday evening doesn't mean they're available for the rehearsal you've pencilled in on Friday morning.

Hire the whole working day, not just the performance

A rink's available evening slot can look generous until you add the tasks around the show. You need access for technical work, rehearsals, ice preparation, performer preparation, audience admission, the performance, audience exit and removal of equipment. Some happen at the same time. Others require exclusive use of the same space.

Request a written schedule that distinguishes ice access from building access. A lighting technician might be allowed into the spectator area while the ice is being used by another booking. That doesn't automatically allow them to work above it, change the lighting conditions, or run cables through an occupied route. Have the rink and technical team approve what can overlap.

Ask how the hire is charged. Is it by elapsed time, separate ice sessions, a production package or some combination? Does resurfacing sit inside your booked period? Which staff are included? What happens if rehearsals overrun? Are dressing rooms and storage included for the full period? Can the rink sell other activity in parts of the building while your audience is present?

Here's a proposed schedule for our fictional show. It needs testing with the actual team before anyone treats it as a deliverable promise.

• 9am to noon on an earlier rehearsal day: three booked hours for choreography and programme work on ice.

• 1pm to 3pm on show day: technical installation and checks in approved areas, followed by the rink's agreed readiness check.

• 3pm to 5pm: on-ice technical rehearsal, including the transitions that need the actual sound and lighting setup.

• 5pm to 6.30pm: the rink's agreed ice preparation, checks and separate performer preparation arrangements.

• 6.30pm to 7pm: audience admission, while performers follow the approved preparation and access plan.

• 7pm to 8.30pm: the public programme, including an interval whose ice-maintenance requirements have been agreed.

• 8.30pm to 9pm: audience exit and performer clearance through their respective routes.

• 9pm to 10pm: removal, inspection and handback within the venue agreement.

The show-day booking occupies nine hours, from 1pm to 10pm. Together with the earlier three-hour rehearsal, our example buys twelve hours. That is a budgeting assumption, not a recommendation that twelve hours will suit another show. Some productions will need much more rehearsal or a separate installation day.

The long preparation block before doors is also not a guaranteed resurfacing duration. The rink and skating lead must specify the sequence, including any final warmup, further ice work and release of the surface. Put those tasks into the schedule with their real durations after they're assessed.

Ask what happens at 10pm if removal is unfinished. A hard handback time affects how much equipment you can install and how many crew you need to remove it. If the quote assumes a simpler production than the one you're now planning, resolve that before signing.

Send each supplier the same outline when requesting quotes. Include the rink, proposed audience layout, cast size, public programme, installation access, rehearsals and handback. Ask them to state what their price includes, what they need from you, and what would trigger an extra charge. That makes differences between quotes much easier to understand.

For example, a cheaper sound package might exclude the rehearsal operator. Another might include someone for the whole booking but require additional equipment for the far spectator sections. Compare the complete arrangements your show needs before choosing. Keep the accepted scope with the schedule so a later programme change can be checked against the agreement.

Inspect the rink as a performance venue

Visit with the skating lead and the relevant technical people. A rink that works well for hockey or public skating may need different arrangements for a seated show. Walk the proposed performance and audience routes, check the available working areas, and record what needs approval or a separate quotation.

Start with the ice itself. Confirm its usable dimensions, the condition requirements for the proposed programme, the gates performers can use, and any restrictions affecting props or scenery. The skating lead should assess the programme against the actual space. A video filmed on a different rink doesn't demonstrate that the same number fits here.

Then examine the boundary between ice and backstage. Skaters need an approved route for entering and leaving in their equipment. Ask the rink to specify suitable floor protection and blade-safe arrangements. Find out where protective skate-blade covers are put on or removed, where the next group waits, and how staff keep that waiting group clear of the departing performers.

Don't use a public corridor as the overflow changing area. Check changing facilities, toilets, secure belongings storage and an appropriate off-ice preparation area. Confirm how the cast reaches them without crossing loading activity or the audience queue. If performers have to wait a long time, plan a suitable place for that wait with the people responsible for their welfare.

For the audience, assess the route from arrival to departure. Can someone reach the entrance and their seat without using steps? Are accessible toilets available throughout the visit? Where do pushchairs go if they're expected? Can visitors get refreshments without blocking an exit? Check what the rink provides and what your event has to add.

In Great Britain, HSE's venue and site design guidance identifies audience circulation, exits and the workforce among the considerations affecting suitability and capacity. Have the venue and competent specialists establish the approved arrangement for this production. An advertised seating total isn't permission to sell that many tickets around any layout.

Take photographs and measurements with permission, then turn the visit into written decisions. Our event venue site visit checklist can help you record questions, owners and unresolved costs. For an ice show, add separate entries for the performer gates, resurfacer access and protected backstage routes so they don't disappear under a general "access checked" note.

Agree ice maintenance and air-quality responsibilities

Ice preparation affects the running order. Ask the rink how the planned rehearsal and performance will affect the surface, when maintenance is needed, and how the skating lead will request attention if conditions change. The answer should come from the people responsible for that rink and programme, rather than an interval length copied from another show.

Agree who releases the ice for use after work. Your sound operator needs a clear signal that the surface and performer access are ready before starting a number. The director needs to know that asking for another run may create additional maintenance and paid time. Include both consequences when deciding what rehearsal must achieve.

Keep the resurfacer's route clear. The vehicle should not have to negotiate a group of waiting skaters, stored scenery or spectators taking pictures near a gate. Ask the rink how it separates people from that movement and reflect the approved arrangement in your backstage plan. A convenient prop position can still be the wrong place to store a prop.

Air quality also belongs in the venue conversation. Health Canada's guidance on air quality in ice arenas explains how combustion-powered ice-maintenance equipment can emit carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. It covers equipment maintenance, ventilation, monitoring and response. Ask the rink who manages those controls during your booking, including rehearsals and any additional resurfacing.

Have the rink explain the applicable local requirements and its response to an alarm or concerning readings. Record who can stop activity, who communicates with your team, and how any reopening decision is made. The production schedule must accommodate that process. A late start doesn't justify overriding the rink's decision.

You don't need to prescribe a ventilation rate or a pollutant threshold in your production spreadsheet. You do need to know that competent people have responsibility, that the event's actual activity has been considered, and that your staff know what to do if the rink instructs them to stop or evacuate.

Build a programme you can rehearse properly

Choose material with the skating lead after the venue and working schedule are understood. Ask what each number requires in skating ability, space, music, lighting, props, costume changes and preparation. Agree which elements are realistic for this cast in this rink with the rehearsal time you can afford.

Look at the whole sequence. A solo may be short, yet its performer could need time to change before the finale. A group number may leave several people using the same exit while the next group is waiting to enter. Those joins need choreography and rehearsal as much as the numbers themselves.

For our example, the proposed ninety-minute public programme contains a thirty-five-minute first act, a twenty-minute interval and a thirty-five-minute second act. Each act allocation includes introductions, applause and transitions. It isn't thirty-five minutes of music with every changeover added afterwards. The interval is provisional until the rink confirms what work fits within it.

Ask the artistic lead to protect the strongest parts of the programme when time is tight. Adding another number because someone wants to participate may weaken the pacing or create an unworkable costume change. Explain the selection process early, particularly when a partner club expects opportunities for its members. Participation promises are part of the production agreement.

Test costumes and props in the conditions in which they'll be used. The skating lead and rink need to approve suitability, movement, handling and removal. Avoid making new technical demands late in the process because an item looked impressive in a promotional photograph. If it hasn't been assessed and rehearsed, it isn't ready to become part of the advertised show.

Have a plan for an absent performer that the director considers workable. It might mean replacing a number, changing a transition or using a rehearsed alternative. It shouldn't depend on asking another skater to attempt unfamiliar material on show day. Check how any material change affects the audience promise and your obligations to buyers.

Decide what publicity material you can use before commissioning the campaign. Get permission for the actual photographs and clips, and describe them accurately. If a clip shows a previous production with different scenery or a different guest, make that context clear. Buyers should recognise the show they paid for when they arrive.

Check music rights and arrangements for younger performers

Collect the intended music early enough to resolve permissions before the programme depends on it. Record the track, the version, the proposed use, and who is responsible for confirming permission. A performer supplying an audio file doesn't establish that every use you want is covered.

In the UK, PPL PRS's event guidance tells existing licence holders to contact it when an event changes their music use. Ask the rink and the relevant licensing body to confirm coverage for this particular show. Don't assume a licence for ordinary skating sessions covers a theatrical production in the same way.

Treat filming, livestreaming and promotional video as additional questions. Confirm the rights for the proposed recording and its music before selling a stream or promising a replay. An agreement allowing you to show a skater's photograph doesn't automatically grant permission to distribute their full performance. If recording creates too much work for the first date, leave it out of the offer.

If children are performing, appoint the person responsible for checking the relevant local performance, supervision and safeguarding requirements. GOV.UK's guidance on child performance licences explains that children under school-leaving age may need a licence for public performances that audiences pay to see, and directs organisers to the child's local council. Confirm the route that applies to each child and jurisdiction.

Make the practical arrangements just as explicit. Record authorised arrival and collection, approved supervision, changing arrangements, breaks, access restrictions and what happens if a parent is delayed. A parent buying an audience ticket doesn't tell the backstage team who is responsible for their child during the show.

Keep the necessary personal information available to the responsible people without distributing it to every supplier. A lighting technician needs the running order and performer cues. They don't need a general copy of children's contact and collection details. Agree how records are stored, who can access them and when they will be removed.

Adult performers need clear working arrangements too. Confirm call times, breaks, preparation space and the route for raising a concern. Don't rely on someone saying they'll be fine with a long wait when the final schedule hasn't been issued yet. Give them the actual schedule before asking them to commit to it.

Sell seats after checking what those seats can see

A skating performance moves around a large surface. The seat nearest a gate isn't automatically the best seat, and a barrier can obstruct a seated child's view differently from an adult's view. Walk the audience areas with the proposed programme in mind and check representative positions at the heights people will actually sit.

Look for pillars, boards, glass, temporary equipment and positions where an entrance or key part of the choreography is difficult to see. Check glare and reflections with the proposed lighting. Ask whether removing any existing barrier is permitted and appropriate; don't assume your team can change it because it interferes with the view.

Create the ticket inventory from the approved layout. For the fictional show, suppose that layout provides 420 audience places. You remove 20 from sale for confirmed sightline problems, retain 10 genuine production holds and allocate 10 complimentary places. That leaves a maximum of 380 paid places under these assumptions.

Make the child-admission policy explicit, including whether every child needs a ticket and an allocated place. Confirm the venue's counting rules for any children without seats before offering that arrangement. You can't assume that a family ticket creates extra capacity beyond the approved audience plan.

Accessible spaces and companion arrangements are included in the approved audience plan, not added beyond its capacity. The venue must also account for performers, workers and other people elsewhere in the building under its occupancy arrangements. Our 420-place example describes the audience allocation only; it doesn't establish the building's safe total occupancy.

Give someone authority over holds and their release. A production hold becomes available only when its original purpose has been resolved and the venue and production team approve the change. An unsold or apparently empty accessible space also has its own release requirements. Don't apply the ordinary production-hold rule to it.

In the US, the Department of Justice's ADA ticket-sales guidance explains requirements for assigned accessible seats, including purchase methods, prices and release. Check the local rules that apply to your show and make the booking process usable from launch. Ask the venue how accessible locations and companion places are represented in its approved plan.

If you're using reserved seating, Loopyah's seat charts let you map sections, price their ticket types and let buyers select seats. Start with the venue-approved layout and accurate seat descriptions. The organiser still has to establish the suitability of the seats and the correct allocations before mapping them.

Test a purchase on a phone. Check the section names against the signs at the rink, the meaning of adult and child prices, and whether a family can understand the places they're choosing. A clear map helps only when the physical venue matches what the buyer booked.

Calculate the result with all the ice time included

Now you can judge whether the show works commercially. Get written quotes for the schedule and production you've agreed, then build the budget around the seats you can genuinely sell. Include your own work and the hours before and after the public performance.

Here are invented US-dollar allowances for the fictional show. They're for demonstrating the calculation, not for estimating local fees or specifying staffing levels. The people and resources needed must be assessed separately, then quoted.

• Twelve booked rink hours at an assumed $250 per hour: $3,000, including the rink operating staff and ice work specified in this fictional agreement.

• Cast fees and artistic direction, including the agreed rehearsals: $2,000.

• Sound and lighting package, including its operators, installation and removal: $900.

• Front-of-house, assessed medical provision and production support outside the supplier packages: $600.

• Insurance, permissions and music-use allowances: $300.

• Promotion and approved creative: $300.

• Organiser time, administration, staff refreshments and allocated overhead: $600.

• Reserve for identified production uncertainties: $400.

Those fixed allowances total $8,100. For this example, they stay the same within the planned audience range. Nonrecoverable purchase taxes are included. The average paid ticket leaves $30 after sales taxes, ticketing and payment deductions, discounts and the expected adult-child mix. Each paid attendee adds $1 of consumables and service costs outside the fixed allowances.

That leaves $29 per paid place towards the fixed costs. The US Small Business Administration explains this break-even calculation as fixed costs divided by price less variable costs. Here, $8,100 divided by $29 is about 279.31, so the first whole-ticket result above zero is 280 paid places.

At 240 paid places, the example loses $1,140. At 300, it makes $600. At all 380 available paid places, it makes $2,920. These are planning results before borrowing costs and business income tax, with no refunds assumed. Actual refunds, disputed payments and their retained costs need to be added if they occur.

The ten complimentary attendees are already allowed for in the fixed service budget. Don't remove their seats from paid inventory and then forget their actual costs. If you increase that allocation, update both the available paid seats and the cost assumptions. The same applies to additional guest passes agreed with a performer after the first budget.

Your average receipt needs its own explanation. Work out a plausible mix of ticket categories and offers, then calculate what you keep. A headline adult price doesn't tell you the average when families, concession tickets and bundles account for some bookings. Revisit the calculation as real sales show which mix you're getting.

Test the changes that could remove the profit

The useful part of the budget is seeing what changes your decision. Start with costs tied to ice access. If the production needs two additional booked hours at the fictional $250 hourly charge, fixed costs rise by $500 to $8,600. At 300 paid places, the result falls from $600 to $100.

Now suppose you also sell 40 tickets with an additional discount that reduces retained income by $5 each. That's another $200 removed from the result. Combined with the extra rink hours, the 300-ticket outcome becomes a $100 loss. You can sell the same number of tickets, deliver the same public programme, and finish on the other side of break-even.

Those sensitivities assume everything else stays unchanged. A later finish could also require extra operator, cast or steward payments. Get the complete cost of the proposed extension. Don't apply an hourly rink rate alone when another supplier's minimum shift or overtime terms are also triggered.

Ask what happens if you lose seats after a sightline check. If another 40 places become unsellable, maximum paid inventory falls from 380 to 340. At the original $29 contribution, the best result becomes $1,760. That's still positive in this invented model, but you have less room to recover from weak sales or additional costs.

Make a separate cash schedule. A venue deposit is part of the agreed hire cost, not an extra expense to add twice, but its payment date still matters. List deposits, balance payments, when ticket funds become available under your actual arrangements, and cash retained for possible refunds. A positive final budget doesn't pay a bill due before those funds arrive.

Be careful with a second performance. It may spread some installation costs, yet it also buys more ice time and creates more seats to sell. Ask for the extra cast, crew, maintenance, staffing and venue costs, then estimate genuinely additional buyers. Someone moving from the evening show to a new matinee hasn't increased total demand.

Set decision dates from the contracts. Identify the last practical point to change an optional rehearsal, release a second-show option or revise supplier quantities. For broader stress testing, our guide to event budget scenarios explains how to compare sales and cost assumptions without treating the optimistic version as the forecast.

Rehearse the cues and entrances in the actual rink

Individual skating practice and a technical rehearsal solve different problems. Performers may know their material well but still need to learn where they wait, which gate they use, how their music starts, and how they leave while another group prepares. Pay for the rehearsal that tests the combined production.

Prepare one running order with the number, performers, music file, entry, exit, lighting state, props and relevant preparation requirements. Identify the person who gives each instruction. Our event run-of-show template provides a useful starting format, but the skating lead and rink must add their specific readiness and ice-release checks.

Agree a cue process everyone understands. For example, the person coordinating the programme confirms the rink's release, the gate lead confirms the performers are ready, and the sound operator waits for the agreed instruction. Test it with the actual people. Avoid relying on the sound operator guessing readiness from a skater standing near the ice.

Check audio at the performance position and listen from several audience areas. Can people understand introductions? Can skaters hear what they need without a volume that creates other problems? Have the sound professional and skating lead agree the setup, then test the exact performance files and their order. Keep a clearly labelled backup through a method the operator has tested.

Run the proposed lighting with the cast and rink team. The skating lead needs to assess visibility across the movement area and at the entrances. Audience circulation and emergency lighting requirements remain part of the venue plan. A dramatic lighting change is useful only if it works for the people moving through it.

Rehearse failures as agreed responses, without asking performers to improvise risk. What happens if music doesn't start, a gate isn't ready, or the ice needs attention? Who stops the sequence, who addresses the audience, and who authorises a restart? The person filling a pause on the microphone needs accurate instructions from the responsible team.

Use the rehearsal to time transitions, interval work and the finale. If the programme doesn't fit, the director should revise it before doors. Don't silently consume the maintenance period or rush a readiness check to preserve every planned number. Issue the revised running order to the audience team when the change affects the advertised finish or admission arrangements.

Plan admission, show stops and the journey home

Give front-of-house its own lead and briefing. They need the final seating plan, ticket categories, access arrangements, late-arrival policy, problem-solving contact and the approved response to a delay. The person handling a booking problem shouldn't have to interrupt a skater who's about to enter.

Keep the audience queue separate from performer access and the resurfacer route. Test the signs from the approach visitors will use. If the rink has another activity taking place elsewhere, make it obvious which entrance serves your show and where each ticket is valid. Staff should know how to redirect someone without sending them through backstage.

Make the visit comfortable enough for the audience you're inviting. Explain the rink environment and sensible clothing before arrival. Confirm toilets, refreshments and access arrangements with the venue. If hot drinks are sold, agree where they can be carried and how spills are handled. Don't promise unrestricted refreshments in seats until that use is approved.

Set a late-seating policy with the director and venue. Some visitors may need to wait for an appropriate point before entering a seating area. Tell buyers what to expect and brief staff on how to support them. Don't let an usher invent a route that crosses a performer entrance just because the usual aisle is temporarily unavailable.

Put emergency arrangements into the same joint briefing. In Great Britain, HSE's incident and emergency guidance covers clear responsibilities, public communication, evacuation and medical planning. Have the relevant specialists assess provision for both the cast and the audience, including how assistance reaches someone on the ice and how disabled visitors leave the building.

Agree a plain show-stop instruction and the communication route for it. The rink, medical and production teams need authority to raise a concern and act within the agreed plan. The person announcing a pause shouldn't speculate about someone's condition or promise a restart time before the responsible team has assessed it.

Send practical information before the date. Loopyah's attendee email tools support selecting recipients and scheduling messages. Use that to send ticket holders the confirmed entrance, arrival window, clothing advice, access contact and finish time. Keep operational updates distinct from promotional messages and check the recipient group before sending.

Plan the end as carefully as admission. The finale may finish while skaters still need to clear the ice and audience members are heading towards the same side of the building. Keep the agreed routes operating until both groups are clear. Any photographs or informal greetings need an approved place and timing, rather than a crowd gathering at a performer gate.

Make the launch decision before spending more

Before ticket sales open, bring together the documents that now describe one deliverable show. You should have the venue agreement and access schedule, the cast and production commitments, the approval responsibilities, an approved audience allocation, and a budget using the actual quoted scope. Outstanding conditions need owners and dates.

Read the event page against those documents. Does it sell spectator admission only? Does it describe the actual programme and cast accurately? Are doors, start and expected finish clear? Does the seating map match the approved layout? Can someone find the information they need about access, age suitability, total price and changes to the event?

Start promotion with a specific audience and a reason to attend. Ask the rink, participating clubs and performers what relevant audiences they can reach through their own permitted channels. Supply the approved description, accurate performance material and the ticket link. A partner can distribute your offer without handing over its customer database.

For a show aimed beyond the cast's existing supporters, test whether your page explains the entertainment clearly to someone new to skating. Show the style of performance and answer practical questions about the visit. Keep promotion local enough for people to attend, and judge each channel by paid bookings and the cost of generating them.

Review sales against your own commitment dates once the show is on sale. Track paid places and retained income, not just occupied seats or social engagement. If sales are weak, check the offer and buying process before discounting. A misleading seating description or uncertainty about who the show suits may need a clearer explanation rather than a cheaper ticket.

After the date, reconcile the complete cost of delivery. Record actual rink hours, rehearsal changes, refunds, supplier extras and your own time. Ask the skating lead and audience team where the plan failed or created unnecessary work. Use those findings before booking the next date, especially if a profitable result depended on people doing unpaid extra hours.

For the first show, I'd take the complete schedule and the proposed programme back to the rink together. Ask the responsible operator and skating lead to confirm what can be delivered, what still needs testing, and what the full booking will cost. Once those answers agree with the number of seats you can sell, you have a practical basis for deciding whether this show should go ahead.