Beauty and the Beats

Disney ice skaters fall down sometimes, but it’s all part of the fun

DISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS ROCKIN’ EVER AFTER
DISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS ROCKIN’ EVER AFTER

The latest Disney on Ice show, Rockin’ Ever After!, features some of the rowdiest musical numbers from recent Disney animated movies.

That includes a Scottish jig by royal contenders trying to win the heart of red-tressed Merida from Brave, Sebastian the crab making waves with Ariel from The Little Mermaid, a tavern full of hooligans showing their sensitive sides in “I’ve Got a Dream” with Rapunzel from Tangled and the inhabitants of an enchanted castle begging Belle to “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast.

Woodstock, Ontario, Canada native Bob Goodwin, an ensemble skater, has been with the show - coming Wednesday-Sunday to North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena - “since we started the show, two years ago.”

“I’m part of the ensemble, which is a huge part of a lot of the numbers,” he says. “I’m in all four segments.”

Goodwin says he enjoys the Tangled one the most.

“I get to play a ruffian, a village thug. We come out and have a little bit of a brawl and then we take on this Broadway-type number before Rapunzel is revealed on the ice.

It’s very lively and the guys have a lot of fun doing it.”

And in a show that weighs heavily toward Disney princesses, which appeals, of course, primarily to young girls, this one “appeals to a lot of the boys in the family,” Goodwin adds, “a bit of comic relief - they’re beating each other up for no reason.”

There’s quite a lot of roughhousing going on, and “we have guys fall down when they get hit, but by and large we keep it pretty safe,” he says. “Occasionally somebody goes down and we have to play it off, but that’s part of the joy of live theater.”

It’s also in the nature of the athletic endeavor.

“After years and years of skating, you get used to falling on the ice; it’s part of the job, part of the joy,” Goodwin says.

“Skaters are probably the most uncoordinated people in the world, but somehow we have the ability to pull things together on the ice. I think I’ve done more damage to myself off the ice than on.”

Goodwin started skating when he was 8.

“I wanted to become a hockey player but couldn’t skate very well, so my dad enrolled me in classes,” he says in his official biography. After winning several pairs-competition honors, he turned in an audition video to Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Disney on Ice, in 2012 and went pro.

“It’s kind of on everybody’s radar for earlier in life because we all come from competitive skating backgrounds,” he explains. Well, there’s one hockey player, he adds, “which is kind of a unique story.”

“Once we’re done competing, everybody looks for a way to keep doing what they love and make a bit of a living at it at the same time. This ends up being a good way to continue doing what you love and grow up at the same time.”

North Little Rock is one of the final stops on the North American leg of the tour. They’ll take a break at the end of May and be off for a couple of months, then take off for Europe.

Goodwin says he’s not looking beyond this show any time soon.

“I’m pretty happy where I am,” he says. “We have a great cast and a great crew. The show, it’s a lot of fun. I enjoy what I do. Families all love what we do, they laugh, they smile, they cheer. Why give that up when you can bring so much joy to people’s lives ?”

Disney on Ice Rockin’ Ever After!

7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Verizon Arena, East Broadway and Interstate 30, North Little Rock.

Tickets: $16-$51; $13 children 2-12 (in select seating areas); opening-night discount, $13 (on select seats) plus service charges

(800) 745-3000

ticketmaster.com

Style, Pages 29 on 05/06/2014

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