Rapunzel's hair COMES DOWN

SKATING INTO Impact Arena next week, “Disney on Ice Presents Dare to Dream” is a thrilling adventure encompassing magical moments from the timeless classics “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Cinderella” and more recent fairy-tale animations “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled”.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy will be joining the Disney princesses on ice next Thursday through Sunday in the latest spectacular from Feld Entertainment.
Cinderella and Snow White will have two other “royal” companions in the form of Rapunzel from “Tangled” and Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog”.
“There’s something within each of the stories that speaks to women and girls and families around the world,” says producer Nicole Feld. “Each of these princesses is searching for what truly makes them happy, and I think that’s very reflective of what audiences are like today.”
Her sister and fellow producer, Juliette Feld, says the ice show “is different from anything we’ve ever done, and we’re excited about all the exhilarating aspects we’ve included in this production.
“This is the first time Rapunzel is featured on the ice, with her tremendous amount of hair. And also new this year, the princess who started it all, Snow White, will be joining the show with the Seven Dwarfs, bringing more magic than ever before.”
“Dare to Dream” opens with Tiana, the princess who has a frog for a friend, in New Orleans’ French Quarter, bright with vibrant orange and golden yellow lights to match costumes straight out of the Roaring ’20s. Flappers and banjo players revel on a balcony while pageboys and other denizens of the city dance on the ice below, creating a multi-layered street party.
The opening number, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, fuels jazz-influenced choreography and the Charleston to create a vivid and energetic street scene.
The audience is then whisked away to an enchanted forest to meet Snow White and her band of dwarf devotees. There she is in all her classic glory, the full yellow and blue costume, instantly recognisable to young and old.
Next we revisit the romantic tale of Cinderella with a glittering purple-and-blue castle pictured majestically in the background, a white and gold grand butterfly staircase framing the clock tower. Celebrants at the ball, regally dressed in colourful sequinned gowns, surround Cinderella as she and her prince skate to “So This is Love” and “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” while swirls of soft blues and pinks fill the ice.
The Cinderella segment also features 20 synchronised skaters portraying the palace guard as they search for the owner of a glass slipper who vanishes before the ball has ended. More than half the cast is on the ice performing this complex, fast-paced number, melding into various formations with dazzling precision.
Perhaps the show’s most anticipated character is Rapunzel, she of the metres-long hair who Disney plucked from a Grimm Brothers tale for “Tangled”. In adapting that film’s story to the ice for the first time, director Patty Vincent faced an obvious challenge: how to keep all that hair moving – without getting “tangled” in the skates. She did more than solve the problem.
Rapunzel’s magical, golden tresses are in fact 700 metres of silk that winds through the arena rafters and drapes to the ice for use in a heart-stopping aerial act of a type never before seen in a Disney on Ice production. Rapunzel and her paramour Flynn Rider escape the castle tower by flying through the air, six metres up, in an astonishing feat of acrobatics.
“The performers trained for six weeks just to build up their upper-body strength, because skaters use completely different muscles,” says Vincent. “It works perfectly on the ice because they don’t have to run – they just skate – and then they’re lifted into the air and begin this gorgeous athletic act.”
 
A Thai on ice
 DISNEY ON ICE has a Thai performer – Romklao “Film” Sopa, 27, from Bangkok. He has several minor roles in the show and has been part of the tour for a year. We recently had a chat with him during the show’s run in Taipei.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS?
I started figure skating at age 14 and competed in several competitions at the national and regional level. Then last year Disney on Ice hosted an audition for pre-show performances and I was so lucky to be chosen.
It’s really a dream come true because I’ve been going to Disney on Ice shows since I was a kid, and everybody knows you have to be really, really talented to be on the team. All of the 56 skaters here are very good!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST OUTING WITH THE COMPANY.
It was so tough! We all met in Japan for rehearsals and it was 6am to 9pm every day for two weeks. I was so exhausted, sore – and miserable because I’d never been away from home so long, and I really missed Thai food.
Anyway, the other actors have been nice to me, knowing I’m the only Thai on the team. We get along well and it’s getting a little easier for me now.

WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE JOB?
Before I was just a figure skater, but now I’m also an actor, so the acting is something I have to practise. There’s a lot to remember in terms of positions and blocking because I play several roles in every show. And the costumes! Some of them are very big and heavy and it’s really hard to skate in them.
WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
Rapunzel, of course – she’s a lot of fun. Her choreography is also very interesting. If I could choose to play any character, it would definitely be Rapunzel.
MANTA KLANGBOONKRONG, THE NATION

BUNDLE UP

 “Disney on Ice Presents Dare to Dream” runs from March 26 to 29 at Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani. Shows are at 11am, 3pm and 7pm. All but two have dialogue dubbed in Thai, but all songs are in English.

Tickets Bt300 to Bt1,500 (Bt2,500 for rink-side box seats). For details, call (02) 262 3838 or check www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.