Aladdin on ice attempts to revive childhood memories

Aladdin on ice attempts to revive childhood memories

JAKARTA (JP): Walt Disney is bringing Aladdin and his friends
to Jakarta again. This time, they won't be at your nearest
theater but on a temporary ice rink in Istora Senayan.

Aladdin - Walt Disney's World on Ice, which will run from
April 1 to April 13, will revive childhood memories of Disney's
1993 cartoon blockbuster.

The two-hour skating spectacular aims to follow the film
version as closely as possible, says Fathia Syarief of Master
Arts Promotion, which is organizing the show here.

This includes the appearance of the daring Aladdin, the feisty
Prince Jasmine, the witty Genie, the evil Jaffar, Abu, after he
is transformed from a monkey to an elephant by Genie, and even
the magic carpet.

And, like the movie, the star of this performance is Genie
from the magic lamp. Dressed in a blue bodysuit and a grinning
Genie mask, the seemingly serious, 22-year-old Christopher
Phipson has the humor and a hilarious part to put the audience,
mostly children with parents, in hysterics.

With her big eyes and stunning Pepsodent smile, Linda Downey,
of Canada, brings to life Princess Jasmine. While Downey's
resemblance to Jasmine is striking, Jamie Eggleton, also of
Canada, does not quite succeed with his character, Aladdin. His
grayish (rather than black) hair sticks out, making him look like
a wacky person rather than the charmer of a princess' heart.

At least, Aladdin does his share of show-off skating stunts.
In the chaotic market chase, he backflips, jumps through barriers
and spins on his ice skates. Not surprising since Eggleton won a
gold medal at the 1986 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

But the most thrilling moment is the magic carpet ride.
Hanging from a trail above the rink, Aladdin and Jasmine hop onto
the magic carpet which tours several countries. Of course, the
tune of A Whole New World plays in the background.

After all, what would a Disney show be without songs? Besides
the award-winning A Whole New World, the performance also
features Aladdin's other famous songs, such as A Friend Like Me
and Prince Ali.

As hard as they try to put the movie on ice, there are some
limitations. The important pet characters which happen to be
small, such as Abu, Aladdin's street-smart monkey, and Iago,
Jaffar's big mouthed parrot, appear as mere puppets.

Indonesian

The 50 professional skaters will perform 20 shows, and only
five of them are in English. The English shows have dialogue from
the movie, in original voice-overs. One of the parts is read by
Robin Williams.

The Indonesian performances will cater for the many young
Indonesians who do not have a good understanding of English.

Wherever Walt Disney takes the show, it tries to use local
languages. While the show will be easier for the local children
to understand, the performers often struggle to adjust to the new
scripts.

Weeks before they play moves to a country with a different
language, they start mime rehearsals to the show's tapes,
explains Michael Daynes, the Asia-Pacific marketing director of
Walt Disney's World on Ice.

"They don't have to understand the language, but they need to
mouth it right," he said.

Setting up the ice arena is another challenge. Forty hours
work goes into setting up the 24x30 meter arena, and another 30
hours are spent putting up lightning and props, says Rico Delina,
the stage manager.

Although they had to rush to finish the stage, Delina is
especially happy with the arena at Istora Senayan. After their
Taiwanese tour, where they performed in tents during the rainy
season, they are grateful for the closed, air-conditioned Istora
Senayan.

It seems people can't get enough of Aladdin. By the arena's
doors are Walt Disney stands, selling merchandise from mugs to
stuffed animals; not just on Aladdin, but on other Disney cartoon
musicals.

Daynes denies that Disney is trying to milk as much cash as
possible out of audiences with its merchandise. "How many times
can the children here see a show like this?" he asked
rhetorically.

He said Walt Disney's World on Ice was like a traveling
Disneyland. "Most of the children here have never been to
Disneyland or Disney's World. So, we feel like bringing those to
the children here."

With a production cost of US$10 million, Aladdin was Walt
Disney's biggest tour show outside of the United States, Delina
said. This particular 87-strong troop, including the skaters, has
been touring the world since 1993. The tour will end in the year
2000.

After Indonesia, they will go to Australia, South Korea and
then back to the United States.

Lisa McGowan, the stage director, takes pride in her
cosmopolitan crew. The skaters come from Canada, Russia, the
United States, South America, Japan, England and France.

Will there be a skater from Indonesia? The company seems
hopeful. This Tuesday, Walt Disney's World on Ice will audition
skaters at Istora Senayan to see if they have what it takes to
join the company's world tour.