Gateway's Holiday Spectacular on Ice is a musical celebration of world-class figure skating talent and show-stopping singers and dancers, but as you will see, to get a gold medal production - you have to pair science with talent.

With every ice show comes choreography that encompasses dance, jumps and spins. Two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan has the tireless perseverance and athleticism that captivate you with every move.

"People don't realize that even though it's a small surface it's real ice and they don't realize how fast we go," she says.

News 12's Meredith Garofalo says that even before the blades hit the ice, we have to turn back the clock to the science that makes this all possible.

That begins with making an ice rink that can exist within a theatre.

"That involves laying down Styrofoam first, solar collector mats, tiny capillary tubes that run glycol through them. The glycol is chilled outside by a chiller that we have in a tractor-trailer," says The Gateway's executive artistic director Paul Allan.

It's what keeps the ice frozen no matter what temperature is inside the theatre.

To make the snow that falls in the theatre - we go back to chemistry class.

"It runs through compressors and fans and it dissipates so particulates come down as snowflakes and it really looks like real snow," says Allan.

The Gateway also creates fog by combining heat, hot water and liquid nitrogen.

"Because the ice is so cold, the fog naturally hangs down really low and makes a beautiful blanket of cloud basically to skate through," says Allan.