HOPE, Ark. - It's surely not often that Peter Pan and Cinderella come together on stage, but they will - on ice, no less - at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at Hempstead Hall.
Ice Creative Entertainment presents the skating spectacular "Fairy Tales on Ice: The Spinning Tales of Peter Pan and Cinderella," which brings pro skaters, Broadway-caliber singers and cirque entertainers to the stage to share this story of merging fairy tales.
Alex Wilfand founded Ice Creative Entertainment and formerly toured as a principal performer with "Disney on Ice." I.C.E. has performed in Hope for a few years in a row, and has thus developed relationships with the local audience, he says. This is a new tale under the "Fairy Tales on Ice" brand I.C.E. has developed.
"It is a really cool spinning tale on the original stories of Cinderella and Peter Pan," Wilfand said, but they start with several fairy tale characters, such as Alice in Wonderland, Peter and Wendy, Rapunzel, the Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Wendy starts by relating the Cinderella story.
Wilfand describes it as a modern tale, complete with a rap battle and humor. Cinderella loses her slipper, but it makes its way to Neverland where the Lost Boys find it. Enter Captain Hook and his motley crew, who steal it, he says. There's a battle to get it back to Cinderella.
"Finally Peter gets the slipper back, and they need to figure out how to return it to Cinderella at the end of the show," Wilfand said. "It's just a great, twisted tale."
The "Fairy Tales on Ice" brand will remain the same, but each year the story will change, he explained. Next year will be a different fairy tale with an Aladdin twist.
"It's a really neat concept to grow a family tradition each year and to get people something to look forward to something every year," Wilfand said, then describing the unique spectacle the audience will see on stage.
"The visuals are if people saw the show last year in Hope, times five," Wilfand said. "We have a 30-foot castle set that does projection and laser mapping on it. It's really neat. We have a lot of special effects this year. We have a smoke bubble machine so it actually blows smoke bubbles." Snow machines, pyrotechnics, anything the audience can think of.
"It's a huge spectacle," Wilfand said. As always, there's a magical element, too. It will delight children and adults alike.
"Something we're known for is we do not do the old school Ice Capades stuff. We do the new modern twists on everything. You'll see things in this show that you would never imagine to be able to see on ice," Wilfand said.
This spectacular array of ice activities includes live singing, tap dancing, ballet, juggling, balancing and more. Many "Disney on Ice" alumni participate in the show, as do former Team USA skaters.
"The level of skating is very high, as well," Wilfand said. What's the appeal of seeing such fairy tale stories on an ice rink?
"I think the main thing that's most appealing is they can come see our show and kind of be swept away to a fantasy world that whether they were young and dreamed of this world or whether they're currently dreaming of it and watching or reading some of their favorite stories," Wilfand said.
They present a way to escape reality for a little more than an hour-and-a-half.
"We want to make magic and make memories, but most importantly giving people a way to escape what's real in their life and be able to come see some fairy tale fantasy with us on the stage," said the I.C.E. founder.
(Tickets: $40 to $20. More info and ticket purchase: HempsteadHall.com, or call 870-722-8565.)