Disney ‘Fairy Tales’ will appeal to grandparents A dream come true
By John Benson
Just as the sun rises in the east, seemingly all press materials surrounding a touring Disney Live! production will herald the show as appealing to both kids and adults.
While that may be true, the upcoming Mickey Mouse show “Three Classic Fairy Tales,” which comes to Youngstown on Friday for two performances at the Covelli Centre, is truly different. In fact, it’s downright old school.
That’s because this upcoming show isn’t “Frozen”-centric. Instead, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy take the audience on an unexpected quest and journey into Disney movies of yesterday.
After finding a magical storybook, the gang discovers the stories of Snow White searching for her one true love, Cinderella getting ready for her magical night at the ball and Belle finding happiness in the most unusual place.
“What we really love to see is that with ‘Snow White’ being the first full-length animated feature film, a lot of the grandparents know that movie from back in the day,” said show performance director AJ Peterson, calling from Las Vegas. “And, of course ‘Cinderella’ being a little bit older, parents have grown up with that. And ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is still not in the generation of today where kids might not know it.
“So it’s kind of like the parents and grandparents have grown up with these and are kind of passing it down.”
Thematically, all three stories are linked to dreams coming true. That’s something Peterson can relate to having appeared in the original production of “Three Classic Fairy Tales” in the role of Prince Charming and other ensemble members.
The actor-dancer toured the globe for years with a special 2008 memory including opening the show in Shanghai, China.
Not only was he a performer but also the dance captain. Naturally, this led to his current position as performance director, which means his role is to maintain quality control, if you will, while the production is on the road.
Considering he’s been in the position of the performer, Peterson knows how demanding life is for the dancers.
“I think what’s the most demanding for the performers is they’re playing multiple roles in one show,” Peterson said. “We have 18 people and during the show you’ll see more than 25 of your favorite Disney characters. So I think the hardest part for the actors is just switching it up.
“They’re all actors and dancers so they do a wonderful job of bringing the choreography to life. And we have great costumes.”
Apparently those costumes aren’t limited to the actors and dancers with Peterson noting audiences young and old really get into character when attending “Three Classic Fairy Tales.”
“We have girls wearing tiaras and little boys dressed up as Mickey Mouse,” Peterson said. “Even the parents get into it too. It’s really nice to see they took some time to get ready and come and enjoy and experience our show.”