'Disney on Ice' Delivers Magical Performance

Children of all ages squealed with delight as “Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove” opened at Consol Energy Center Wednesday night—a show filled with music, magic and magnificent ice skating.

The show kicks off with two hosts talking about how the skaters warm up for a performance and then they enlist the help of “The Incredibles” cast to join them on the ice and put the children and parents through a quick warm up of stretching, jumping and moving.

Once everyone was warmed up, our two favorite mouse pals—Mickey and Minnie—entered with Donald and Goofy to open the treasure chests. First, they pulled out a lamp which sends everyone into a frenzy of hope that Jasmine would come out first, but a discovered pocket watch changed directions and the White Rabbit emerged onto the ice to tell the tale of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Of course Alice wasn’t alone because our favorite characters—the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and of course an army of two-faced playing cards accompanying the queen skated into our hearts.  Missing in action was our favorite smiling feline, the Cheshire Cat. 

Of course their time on the ice was short lived and after just a couple of songs, the cast skated off while Captain Hook and Smee crept in with that pesky crocodile! Peter Pan and Wendy weren’t far behind, along with the lost boys and one lovely fairy named Tinkerbell.

Surprisingly, the conclusion of “Peter Pan” marked the end of the first half, leaving some mystified on how short the first act was. 

After intermission, a large sun emerged which could only mean “The Lion King” was coming. With our favorite monkey perched atop a rock, young Simba and Nala emerged for a lovely dance. Then, we see Scar, the hyenas and a re-creation of that fateful day when Simba’s father was killed.

Of course, no “Lion King” re-creation would be complete without Timon and Pumba and a rousing rendition of “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” with an older Simba and Nala.

The show picks up a whole lot of momentum at this point as we buzz through a series of princesses from the classic princesses Snow White, Jasmine and Ariel to the newcomers—Tiana and Rapunzel. While many of the earlier stories had several songs and longer sets, this version of Disney on Ice left little time to cram more action into the princess stories.

However, fear not—they are still very well represented along with our favorite friends like the Seven Dwarves, Flynn Rider, Aladdin, Abu, Genie and more!

Overall the show is an enormous success. There are hundreds of years of history crammed into a two hour show that will appease the majority of fans. While a few princesses were omitted this year, they do make appearances in the grand finale so the kids will have a chance to wave hello at least once.

Of course, on Wednesday there was one little girl who was truly beaming from ear to ear when she was selected to hand the lantern to Flynn and Rapunzel during their set. She could hardly contain her joy once they hugged her, and she bounced back to her parents. 

Talent was beaming from the ice from a small army cast of characters wrapped in exquisite costumes that sparkled, glowed and flowed from the actors. Each character’s outfit was perfectly suited for their dance. Disney does a very good job casting look-a-likes as well- this year my personal favorite was Flynn Rider who looks as though he leapt from animation to the ice. Ariel and Jasmine were ringers for their animated counter-parts as well. 

Still, I miss the full length series from a few years ago—like when “Finding Nemo” rolled into town. When Disney picks only one film to feature, fans can truly be invested in the show. You can watch the full production; see an amazing cast of characters and feel fulfilled by the end of the night. Instead, it seems year after year, we’re seeing the same hodge-podge mixture of movies over the years with little change to the selections. Regardless, the productions are incredible—but a full story now and then would be great!

“Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove” runs through tomorrow, Sunday, March 3 at Consol Energy Center. Great seats are still available for all shows. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.consolenergycenter.com.