<i> SHOOOOOOSH </i> : The Free-Flowing Escapism of Ice Skating, Disney Style
When you grow up as the youngest in a large family, there isn’t much in the way of goods or territory that you can call your own. I’d swear my siblings stayed up nights plotting new ways to invade my paltry personal space:
“Let’s see, guys, what’ll it be tomorrow? Another Barbie decapitation? A little back-alley motocross on her Schwinn? Hey, I know: How ‘bout a round of Frisbee golf with her Jackson 5 albums!”
Given this kind of pressure, you can see why I turned to sock skating. Just after my mother would wax our dining-room floor, I’d throw on my slickest socks, get a running start and shoooooooosh , I was in another dimension, baby. Twists, turns, half-splits--we’re talking Peggy Fleming in knee highs.
On a much grander scale, that same free-flowing escapism awaits audiences at the Walt Disney’s World on Ice Double Feature, promises Bob Paul, director and choreographer of the family-oriented ice extravaganza that runs from Christmas Day to Dec. 30 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Although this ice show may be far hipper than the ones we old folks remember, the basic appeal remains the same, says Paul, an Olympic gold medal pair skater and former coach of Fleming and Dorothy Hamill.
“It’s the movement over the ice that is so intriguing,” he says. “It’s the beauty, the flow. It’s so fanciful; we watch it and think, ‘How does this ever happen?’ ”
In this case, it happens with the technical and creative help of Disney and the show’s producers, Irving and Kenneth Feld, the same guys who are behind the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. There are currently five different Disney’s World on Ice shows touring the United States and abroad, Paul says. The company’s “Beauty and the Beast” will make its West Coast debut next year.
With folks like this at the reins, you hardly can expect understatement. Double Feature is just that, two stories, mixing classic and late-model Disney characters with an international cast of principal skaters. Popular music, futuristic gizmos and massive inflatable set pieces are standard here.
Story lines--the first an adventure that pits Mickey and the gang against the sinister Don Karnage, the second a series of comic shorts hosted by Roger Rabbit as a hare-brained videographer--are punctuated with solo, pair and comic skating by the human stars in a format that Paul compares to musical theater. “On Broadway, where they might sing a song, we skate a song,” he says.
Sharing the ice with a mouse, no matter how famous, might be tough on the egos of stars who have achieved their own international status, but that’s not a problem here, says Paul, who notes that it takes an average of six months’ time to select skaters with the right combination of skill, looks and personality for the show.
“They’re having an opportunity to do something most skaters don’t--the acting process on ice,” he says. “You’re involved in the story; you are an actor relating to the Disney characters and the audience.”
Bob Rowntree, who is in the show as a member of the British comedy trio the Jackpots, says that as a performer he values that interaction because it helps keep the act fresh. “Every night, the audience is different,” says Rowntree, who joined the company in 1987. “As a result, we’re different. It’s a whole new ballgame.”
The Jackpots, former ice hockey players, deliver a brand of physical humor that Rowntree says appeals to all ages. “The kids love the slapstick, and the adults--well, it’s the old gag where you see somebody fall and you laugh and hope it never happens to you.”
Former Finnish Olympic skater Kristina Wegaliu, who plays adventuress Carolina James in the show’s first act, says that even after eight years with the show, she still conducts the occasional reality check: “Every now and then I think, ‘What am I doing talking to these animals?’ ” But she says she nonetheless enjoys the dimension that a live audience brings to her performance.
“It’s great to see how the people react,” says Wegaliu, who recalled growing up with Disney movies and books in Helsinki. “Of course, the children are very excited, but also the adults just love these characters. They let themselves be kids.”
* What: Walt Disney’s World on Ice.
* When: Dec. 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 26 and 27 at noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 28 through 30 at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.
* Where: The Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim.
* Whereabouts: Across from Disneyland. Take the Katella exit from the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and head west. The center is half a block past Harbor Boulevard.
* Wherewithal: $8.50 to $13.50 ($4 off all tickets on Dec. 25; $2 children’s discount at some shows). Parking is $6.
* Where to call: (714) 999-8900, Ext. 2, or (714) 740-2000.
More Kid Stuff
IN SANTA ANA: ‘THE KELLOGG KIDD PLAYERS’
Kids can play up their melodramatic tendencies at these theater workshops offered Monday, Dec. 28, in the turn-of-the-century Kellogg House at the Discovery Museum of Orange County. 9 a.m. to noon for ages 5 to 7; 1 to 4 p.m. for ages 8 to 12. Fee: $10. (714) 540-0404.
AT KNOTT’S: SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW
Two hundred tons of the wet white stuff blankets the 50-foot Beagle Hill at Knott’s Berry Farm through Jan. 3. Kids ages 3 and up who are no taller than five feet can go sledding there daily from 11 a.m. to sundown. Free with regular park admission. (714) 220-5200.
IN LONG BEACH: KWANZAA
Children can participate in this celebration based on traditional African harvest festivities, on Saturday, Dec. 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Long Beach Children’s Museum. Highlights will include paper-weaving, storytelling and exhibits of traditional costumes and hairstyles. (310) 495-1653.