How to go
What: Disney on Ice Princess Classics
Where: The Nutter Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Fairborn
When: Sept. 30 through Oct. 3
Times: 7 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 2; and 1 and 5 p.m. Oct. 3
Tickets: $13.50-$40, at the Nutter Center box office or Ticketmaster .com or (800) 745-3000
Note to parents: Many of the young fans come dressed as their favorite princess.
Princess Classics by the numbers
12: Hours it takes to set up the production, 4 ½ hours for tear down
40: Performers in the show, 27 female skaters and 13 males
780: Costume pieces used in the show
3,000: Miles of cable used for lighting
Ariel loves Prince Eric — under the sea, on the ice and in real life.
When the Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics show opens at the Nutter Center on Thursday, Sept. 30, the fairy tale stories won’t be limited to the ice. Skaters Irina Bogomolova and Gareth Echardt, who portray the mermaid and her prince, will marry in November 2011.
“I feel like what we share off the ice comes through on the ice and makes it more real,” Echardt said.
Bogomolova, who grew up in Perm, Russia, and Echardt, from Cape Town, South Africa, met in 2007 when they were performing together in High School Musical the Ice Tour. It wasn’t a cliche, but it was love at first sight.
“From the first look, I started feeling something more than friendship,” Bogomolova said.
The romance grew as the two started working together as a pairs skating team. Now the duo are performing their favorite roles.
“I love my role,” Bogomolova said. “I would stay with this character as long as I can.”
From Ariel’s undersea world to an Arabian palace, Princess Classics brings together seven Disney princesses with the stories of Ariel, Beauty, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mulan and Snow White all brought to life on the ice. Tinker Bell also makes a few guest appearances in the show that runs about two hours.
The princesses, however, aren’t only on the ice, as many of the young fans come to the show dressed up as their favorite royal character, tiaras and all. The performers, who skate in as many as 12 shows a week, feed off that magic and enthusiasm.
“Some days, you get out there and you feel like it’s going to be just another show and then you hear the kids, the curtain goes up and you see them dressed up in their princess outfits and it makes it all worthwhile,” Echardt said.
Echardt represented South Africa four times at the World Figure Skating Championships before he made the transition from competing to performing.
“This, by far, is the most rewarding thing I’ve done,” Echardt said. “It’s really something special.”
Fans scream out to Snow White not to bite into the poison apple, and they cheer on Eric as he battles with Ursula the sea witch.
“The kids are so cute and so funny,” Bogomolova said. “My favorite part of performing this show is how much the kids get into it. I love that they still believe in fairy tales and romance and, because of him (Gareth), I do too.”
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