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.