PORTLAND – Disney’s long history of animated storytelling was on display — and on skates — at Thursday night’s opening performance of “Disney On Ice Presents Treasure Trove” at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The characters who came to life on skates ranged from Snow White — who debuted on film in 1937 — to Rapunzel, the star of 2010’s “Tangled.”
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In between there were lots of other characters who kids have loved for decades, including Jasmine, Ariel, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the cast of “The Lion King” and a crew from “Alice in Wonderland.”
The show was like watching a Disney’s greatest hits marathon on cable TV, but with the added dimension of ice skating.
The skating highlights included Hook and his pirates battling Peter Pan and pals, and a precision skating number by the Queen of Hearts’ Army of Cards from “Wonderland.”
In the Hook sequence, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell both flew over the civic center ice, suspended by cables. The pirates and Pan’s forces skated fiercely as they battled — twirling and jumping and spinning — while smoke filled the ice and cannonballs bounced off of it. A giant inflatable crocodile rolled onto the ice at one point — it was about the size of an RV — and swallowed up Hook, to the audience’s delight.
In the end, the winners and losers of the pirate battle locked arms and did some fancy stepping all over the ice, as various tunes from “Peter Pan” blared over the sound system.
In the “Alice in Wonderland” number, the Army of Cards was a visual treat. Each of a dozen skaters wore two cards — red on one side, black on the other — and had two faces, as well as skates that pointed in two directions. They skated at times like an Army drill team, then locked arms in a long line and made the line spin in various directions at breakneck speeds.
The show ran for about one hour and 45 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission. It will be at the Civic Center for six more performances, through Sunday.
Another visual treat at Thursday’s performance was seeing skaters dressed as glowing neon-colored tropical fish in a number from “The Little Mermaid.” In the “Tangled” number, lighted and floating lanterns suspended from the ceiling made the ice glow.
All the numbers were accompanied by the songs and dialog from the movies while costumed skaters acted out the scenes. Disney’s time-honored coupling of princes and princesses allowed for some nice pairs skating.
Some of the most breathtaking couples skating took place during a number based on “The Lion King.” Young lions Simba and Nala skated with speed and passion, and the several complicated lifts had Nala doing splits in the air while upside down, among other things.
The nearly full house was mostly children and parents, and they were fully engaged, clapping and often singing the lyrics of movies songs line by line.
One particularly funny bit of crowd involvement came when Snow White skated around the ice holding the poison apple, wondering aloud if she should eat it.
Despite very loud and constant cries of “no, no” from the crowd, she bit nonetheless.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
rrouthier@pressherald.com
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