Children’s Theatre Company opens a free indoor ice rink

Free 30-minute skating sessions will open at Children’s Theatre Company on selected dates from November 6 to November 22, with skate rentals available at no cost on site.

The temporary rink sits in the Bazinet Rehearsal Hall on CTC’s fourth floor. It holds 10–15 skaters at a time, which turns online registration into a practical requirement rather than an optional extra. Children’s Theatre Company says spaces are beginning to dwindle, although its announcement does not publish a session-by-session timetable or a remaining-place count.

That narrow capacity has one clear consequence. A visitor cannot rely on arriving at the fourth floor and taking the next open slot.

The company asks families to register online to secure a place, and the rink operates only during the stated November 6–22 window and on select dates and times. The offer includes no charge for rentals, but the schedule remains limited.

A rink built around two stage experiences

The installation arrives alongside the world premiere of Twelve Kinds of Ice. CTC describes the musical as a wintry adventure that follows Ellen through frigid yet heartwarming childhood memories of her father, with grief, friendship and family at its center.

Its final showing falls on November 22, the same day the temporary rink closes. The dates make the rink a bookend to the new musical’s run, not a separate holiday attraction that continues after it.

CTC also connects the rink to its holiday staple, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which runs through January 3. Visitors can skate without buying a ticket for either show to take part. The company’s image of the activity includes families gliding hand in hand.

That removes one barrier, but it does not remove the need to plan ahead: skating times remain tied to the temporary schedule, and the rink accommodates no more than 15 people at once.

What does the rink change for visitors?

It gives families a 30-minute physical activity before a theater visit, using the available rental equipment and adding no skate fee.

For adults and children who can skate, the practical change is concrete: they can add a rehearsal-hall rink to a visit that includes a staged winter story without purchasing a separate ticket for either show. The show remains the destination; the rink adds an activity around it.

Irene Green, CTC’s director of external relations, said in a press release: “We want CTC to be a place where families come to make amazing memories together.”

She also said: “Families can enjoy this free ice rink before they attend a performance of Twelve Kinds of Ice, enhancing the experience of watching the musical, and giving their kids a chance to enjoy a physical activity before coming into the theater to enjoy the performance.”

Green said the program would also let families immerse themselves in winter magic before seeing How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and she invited families throughout the Twin Cities metro to join both the ice and a show.

The company’s claim is easy to understand but remains untested. The announcement gives no attendance figures, family feedback or comparison with other lobby activities.

It calls the rink an enhancement to the musical and Grinch, yet it does not explain whether the fourth-floor installation will require added staffing or alter the flow of arrivals for those shows. Capacity, by contrast, is stated plainly: 10 to 15 skaters.

Programmatically, the rink extends CTC’s winter framing from stage story to shared physical activity. Whether that makes the rehearsal room feel like a convincing winter environment, rather than simply a useful pre-show activity, will emerge from families’ own responses, which the announcement does not report.

Kaitlin Randolph’s photograph shows the installation in the Bazinet Rehearsal Hall. The most concrete promise remains modest: free 30-minute sessions, free rentals and a November 22 close. The next measure is whether registered places fill before then. Beyond that, CTC has made no promise about a permanent rink or a longer schedule.