Performance director brings Disney magic to life on ice E-mail
disneyBy Jeremy Johanski

After 30 years it’s difficult for anything short of a marriage or friendship to keep its magic, but Sue Brodie has been helping Disney on Ice “bring the magic to life” for almost 30 years.

Brodie, performance director for Feld Entertainment, will be gliding into Titletown Feb.10-14, showcasing a fantastic cast of skaters in Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics.

Princess Classics is one in a number of dazzling Disney on Ice performance spectaculars that has visited the Green Bay area and traversed the world in the past several decades. The shows have brought childrens’ dreams to life as Disney favorites from Snow White to Aladdin and The Little Mermaid to Tinker Bell have all made appearances.

This season, Disney Princesses including Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan and more will be skating into Resch Center for eight performances.

For 15 years, Brodie performed in numerous shows that toured the nation and world and had been a part of Feld Entertainment, the show’s production company, since 1973, minus a brief experience in the lights of Las Vegas. She has played several of the characters that she now assists in coaching for the shows and she takes to the performers with a mother’s care.

“I sometimes say I have 40 skaters, so I have 40 kids while I’m on the road,” joked Brodie. Indeed, the age of the group this seasoned veteran and master of the frozen stage generally works with averages around 22-year-olds.

“Many join us right out of high school or college or take a break from school,” Brodie explained.

While speaking with Brodie, even this writer was reminded of the Disney on Ice classics he attended as a child. Perhaps it’s time to dust off that snow cone collector cup from the 1980s and raise a mug once again.

Another previous attendee of earlier Disney on Ice shows approached Brodie a while back and as Brodie recalled, told her that he had remembered an infamous villain or two from his days attending the shows as a child. Brodie was at times playing those very characters.

As with most of the children who get their parents, friends or families to take them to the show, that former attendee was left with a great fondness for the show and is now a performance director just like Brodie.

It is the phenomenon of age that gives the show what Brodie called “a constantly rejuvenated audience to perform to.” It may be a fresh set of eyes watching each performance but the Disney stories and the impressions the performers make on those eyes leave similar impressions of awe and amazement in the hearts and minds of the young audience members for years to come.

“I still get a lot out of the performances today. Sitting in the audience I get to see their eyes and the awe as they holler the names of their idols…it’s amazing seeing these children see something they’ll never forget,” Brodie explained. “Even in hard times like now…families enjoy our shows together…almost as a survival kit when we come to town.”

Brodie and Feld Entertainment’s crew support a large operation that can handle just about any environment they perform in throughout a touring season. Ice rinks are great when a facility has them, Brodie explained, however the production crew can transform even an unlevel, warm surface into a performance-ready ice rink in just a few days of advance planning when setting up a show venue.

Ice can be laid into just about any stable environment for Brodie and her performing cast to lace up the skates. They can then take to the ice for rehearsal through performance even though much of the planning and preparation begins months in advance.

Preparations for this show were done beginning in summer with casting, training and choreography of the acts. Brodie’s group is tireless and enjoys what they do and practices to remain as close to perfect as possible in ensuring that the experience audiences’ have creates perfect memories for years to come.

Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics tickets are available through the Resch Center box office, by phone at 920-494-3401 and online at ticketstaronline.com. For more information and extras content about Disney on Ice, visit disneyonice.com.