Saw Disney on Ice: Rockin’ Ever After at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night with my wife and son. It’s there through December 2.
The show was great! The costumes and the lighting were positively awesome. The skating was great, and the characters were the characters. Our family loved the show, and afterwards my wife said that it made her want to go to Disney World again, because of the smile on my son’s face (we went once when he was 2.5. He’s 4 now)
The premise of the show is that it’s a talent show, and that characters come to compete. Mickey and Minny host the show, along with some help from Goofy and Donald. The premise is abandoned about halfway through (and nobody wins the contest)- but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just an excuse to put a bunch of different Disney characters on the stage, and it works just fine.
There are 4 main parts to Disney on Ice: Rockin’ Ever After, each telling the basic story of a different Disney property– Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Brave. And the skating was fantastic– many of the skaters were Olympians. I think my favorite costume was the horse from Tangled– they did a great job, two guys (or maybe girls) dressed up as a horse and skating!
Interestingly, they use a curtain at one side of the auditorium which really helps set the scene. It creates a proscenium or 3/4 stage, and that really helps with the theatricality of the show. They may lose that side of ticket sales from it, but they gained an overall better show.
Prior to the show, Bruce Ratner (developer of the Barclays Center), producers Kenneth Feld and his two daughters Juliette and Nicole, and Borough president Marti Markowitz all spoke. This was the first Disney on Ice (and indeed first Ice event) at Barclays, and they promised many more to come. Also, the Feld’s gave out over 10,000 free tickets to people affected by Hurricane Sandy. Great move, both from a humanitarian perspective, and a marketing perspective. Build the love!
The Felds are a family business, and this was a great family show. My son was intent and focused on the whole show over 2.5 hours past his bedtime, and this morning he woke up and insisted on dressing up like Merida from Brave with ice skates. (and yes, he has the Merida dress and the bow and arrow!)
A couple of things to note for parents: The Barclays Center has very strict security checks. They wand everybody, so it takes time to get through the center. Also, they are very strict about outside food. We had to throw away a water bottle and a couple of snack items. They will check, so be careful. Hopefully they will loosen that rigidity somewhat.
Also, a skating show like Disney on Ice: Rockin’ Ever After is an EXPENSIVE FLASHY TOY AREA. You know, the kind that cost $24 for something that costs $1.00 at the dollar store. Do yourself a favor and bring your own flashing toy. As far as I know, the Barclays Center doesn’t have a policy against that. (At least, not yet.)
Leave a Reply