Last Chance to See Disney on Ice
Walt Disney’s World on Ice is making its final Southern California appearance for the season, staging its last four nights at Long Beach Arena through Sunday. And the show, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” pretty much features the world on ice. The skaters include Olympian Serguei Tartykov of Russia and Canadian national champion Karen Preston in the roles of the Prince and Snow White, along with a cast of skaters from the United States, England, Ukraine, Sweden, Brazil and Australia.
A language barrier doesn’t seem to exist. Elaine Maddren, a former competitive skater from England who joined Disney on Ice eight years ago, says it actually “kind of brings you together. . . . The Russians have taught me to speak Russian, and I’ve taught them English.”
Maddren, who plays the nasty Queen who torments Snow White, says one of the best parts about being a professional skater with the show is the traveling and making friends all over the world. This summer Disney’s show heads to Japan and Korea.
Maddren, who’s been with the company for eight years, says the children and their smiles are much the same around the world. And when it comes to little children, her character sometimes poses a special challenge.
“Younger children can get frightened sometimes” of the wicked hag. “Instead of being evil, I try to be comical, and I get the parents to react, then the kids follow.”
It might be harder for Maddren to exude evil lately, because she’s living her own fairy tale--she’ll marry Brian Pruett, who works in the company office, in May. But that’s what makeup is for. In one of the best examples of the show’s spectacular special effects, the queen is transformed into a warty nosed, humped-back hag.
“It’s an excellent show,” Maddren says. “And it’s worth it just to see the queen change into a hag. You can’t miss that.”
Show times today, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon and 4 p.m. Tickets $10.50-$16.50, at the box office or through Ticketmaster: (213) 480-3232.