Disney skaters bring fairy-tale princesses to life

Prince Charming, Cinderella and a handful of other Disney characters will strap on their ice skates starting Wednesday for Disney On Ice's latest show at the Thomas & Mack Center, at Tropicana Avenue and Swenson Street.

"Dare to Dream," produced by Feld Entertainment, focuses on scenes from three Disney stories: "Tangled," "The Princess and the Frog" and "Cinderella."

Charming "is quite an athletic prince as much as he's laid back and regal," says James Black, the skating actor who plays the character. "If you ask him to do a trick, he can do it, of course. He's Prince Charming."

An international cast of skaters will bring the Disney characters to life, giving audiences an action-packed show with triple jumps, half-lifts and other athletic skating moves, says Black, who is a former world-ranked competitive skater.

The show focuses on three Disney princesses as they search for what makes them happy in life.

The opening scene is set in New Orleans as Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog" tries to open a restaurant.

"Dare to Dream" is the first Disney on Ice show to feature both the human and frog personas of Tiana and Prince Naveen, Black says.

In the second scene, Cinderella finds her Prince Charming while Rapunzel really lets her hair down in the third act.

Before the show ends, people will be swinging from Rapunzel's hair, Black says.

For more information on the show, visit disneyonice.com.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @StripSonya on Twitter.