It wasn't exactly a whole new world, but it was an entertaining one when Walt Disney's World On Ice hit the Delta Center on Wednesday night.
This year's show was an on-ice adaptation of the mega-hit animated movie "Aladdin," and there had been plenty of magic to go around long before the 31 blue genies skated their way through the show's finale.There was skating and comedy and fabulous costumes and great props and fireworks - literally.
Most of the storyline came straight out of the movie. And if the abbreviation was somewhat disjointed and confused in spots, no one was complaining much. After all, what kid - and what parent - hasn't seen the "Aladdin" video more than a few times?
However, trying to catch up on the narrative was the show's one real weakness - long bits of exposition left more than a few of the youngsters looking around for something more interesting. (That and the 15-minute intermission that stretched to 25, pushing the show to just over two hours.)
But the skating and production numbers more than made up for the slow spots. They ranged from good to spectacular.
Accompanied by the Oscar-winning music and lyrics of Alan Menken and Tim Rice, the Disney touch was evident as Aladdin and Jasmine skated their way through the palace guards in the marketplace of Agrabah.
In that one, performances by the Tevloski Teeterboard Act were both a surprise and a delight.
But there was also Aladdin's adventures in the Cave of Wonders, his discovery of just how good a friend a genie can be, and his parade into Agrabah.
As always, the costumes were spectacular and the sets were amazing. They managed to bring both Iago the evil parrot and Abu the monkey to life.
The skating camel was great - although if you're sitting in the front rows you may want to prepare for the spitting - and the skating elephant was even better.
The production also made great use of some inflatable characters, including a huge snake and a couple of a giant genies.
The star of the show, in more ways than one, was Jaimee Eggleton, who played the title role. Not only was his the central character, but his figure skating displays were the hit of the show - both on his own and in pairs with Jennifer Perez (Jasmine).
(Perez did have a few problems, taking several falls.)
And Jimmie Santee did the seemingly impossible as the Genie - not only did he pull off some nifty skating moves despite the big costume, but his use of body language animated a character trapped behind a mask.
All in all, Disney's World on Ice did just what it set out to do - entertained the youngsters and those who brought them to the show.