'Wizard of Oz on Ice' to Transform Historic Kansas Theater Into Magical Spectacle
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The beloved tale of Dorothy and her friends will come to life in an unprecedented ice spectacular when "The Wizard of Oz on Ice" takes the stage at Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre on March 7, 2026.
The production will feature world-champion skaters performing breathtaking routines to original music by renowned Disney composers, with bold new twists, modernized costumes and jaw-dropping special effects that honor L. Frank Baum's timeless story while delivering a fresh experience. The show is produced by the globally acclaimed Ice Creative Entertainment Group, known for creating live entertainment for major brands like Disney, SeaWorld, Amazon and Tokyo Disneyland, and has captivated over 10 million people worldwide.
Individual show tickets go on sale Monday, Aug. 25, and can be purchased at hutchinsonfox.com, in person at the Fox Box Office or by calling 877-FOX-SHOW. The performance is part of the theater's 2025-2026 season.
Historic Venue's Rich Legacy
Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre opened June 8, 1931, and was designed by the Boller Brothers, who were well known for constructing grand "movie palaces." The Fox is considered one of the finest examples of theater art deco architecture in the Central United States. The building draws its distinction as an art deco structure through its stepped treatments and projecting pilasters, which emphasize the building's geometric form, along with pressed aluminum and metallic glazed terra cotta decorative features.
Local citizens invested $400,000 to build the state-of-the-art movie theater and vaudeville house, which was the largest movie palace between Kansas City and Denver when it opened, seating 1,221 people. The theater stood empty between 1985 and 1990 when Hutchinson's Historic Theatre Inc., a nonprofit corporation, purchased it and completed a $4.5 million restoration that was celebrated Jan. 30, 1999. The Fox was named the "State Movie Palace of Kansas" by the State Legislature in 1994, and its marquee was the first flashing display of neon in Kansas.
A Timeless American Tale
L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was published in September 1900 by the George M. Hill Company as a children's novel illustrated by W.W. Denslow. The book was the best-selling children's book for two years after its initial publication and had sold 3 million copies by the time it entered the public domain in 1956. Baum went on to write 13 more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz.
The story gained its most enduring fame through the 1939 MGM musical film starring Judy Garland, which was nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow." The film was a modest box-office success when first released but grew in popularity after it was televised for the first time in 1956, with an estimated 45 million people watching that inaugural broadcast. The 1939 MGM adaptation has been hailed as the most-seen film in movie history, and the story has inspired numerous other adaptations including "The Wiz" (1978), "Return to Oz" (1985), the Broadway musical "Wicked" (2003), and "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013).