Troy Goldstein, who plays the heroic Hercules in the new "Disney on Ice" production of "Happily Ever After. . . Featuring Hercules," figures he must've been born on the ice.
"My mother was an international skating coach and my sister was my skating partner. . . . I guess I was born with ice skates on," he said during a telephone interview while on the West Coast leg of the show's tour. (The production will play nine performances in the Delta Center, March 17-21.)Goldstein's father, a physicist, "was the rational, sensible one who held it all together. His support was the backbone of what made my skating career work."
The athletic young skater, who's won silver and bronze medals in several competitions, has been hitting the books as well as the ice. He recently graduated from law school (taking correspondence classes from the California State Bar while touring with "Disney on Ice") and found time to squeeze in the bar exams while the show was playing in the Los Angeles area.
But juggling books and skates -- and a young family -- seems to keep Goldstein both grounded and energized. His father once told him, "Everyone has the same amount of time -- it just depends on how they use it."
For the last five years, Goldstein has lived in Las Vegas. "Now I look to my wife, Lisa (who is also an attorney), and my little 13-month-old daughter, Shelly," for the kind of familial support he once got from his parents.
Goldstein almost became part of the "Disney on Ice" family five or six years ago when he was approached about doing the role of Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast." But he was still competing at the time and wasn't quite ready to shift into a profes-
sional production.
Choreographer Sarah Kawahara, who was familiar with his work, called him again when the "Happily Ever After" production was being put together. Now, the timing was right.
"It's just incredible, some of the things they've put together for this show," he said. "It's not really just a 'kids show.' Adults will sit there and wonder 'How is that done?' And they also appreciate the other aspects -- the lighting, the choreography, the world-class skating."
This is Goldstein's second year with the company, and he's found that touring isn't as grueling as some people make it out to be. "I've been to cities where I probably would never have been if I was in a regular job."
Goldstein was looking forward to returning to Salt Lake City, "one of my favorite cities for skating when I was competing." He has fond memories of an exhibition program on the rink at the Triad Center, where he skated with Rosalind Summers and others.
JONATHAN VAUGHT,company manager for "Happily Ever After," has seen a lot of changes since he first began skating in the Disney shows 14 years ago.
"Back when I started, we had two shows -- and that kept us all busy," he said during a telephone interview at one of the show's stops in Southern California."Now we have seven ice shows touring, and it's huge.
"We're the biggest producer of ice shows in the world and the biggest employer of skaters."
Feld Entertainment, which also produces the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shows, as well as all of the "Disney on Ice" productions, has also mounted three other new ice shows, which have yet to come to Salt Lake City: "Grease on Ice," scheduled April 13-14 at the Delta Center; "Anastasia on Ice," which will probably arrive later this year; and "The Little Mermaid," which just opened on the East Coast and will move West sometime next year.
Vaught, who didn't take up skating seriously until he was 15 and moved from Augusta, Ga., to Orlando, Fla., began with "Disney on Ice" in the chorus in 1985. He gradually moved up as a jump skater and principal dancer.
"At the ripe old age of 30, I became performance director for one of the shows, and I've been company manager for two years," he said. (Last season he was with Feld's "Aladdin" production.)
Vaught noted that performers in the Disney shows "not only have to be talented as skaters but also have to be able to work inside some big, bulky costumes. It's a skill that some don't learn until they join the show."
The "Hercules" show, for instance, features quite a few larger-than-life mythological characters. The cyclops is 13-feet tall, but there's only one skater inside the costume, maneuvering it smoothly around the rink.
"When you're competitive, you learn to skate and perform in lightweight costumes, but we obviously want a different look, and 'Disney on Ice' costumes aren't constructed the way an ideal 'skating costume' would be built," Vaught concedes.
The show's "Happily Ever After" theme includes such beloved Disney characters as Snow White and her Prince (plus the Seven Dwarfs), Beauty and her Beast (another awkward skating costume), Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Aladdin and Jasmine. These characters are in the opening sequence, before the show shifts into the fully staged presentation of the romantic adventures of Hercules and Meg.
The fairy tale characters glide around the ice in the familiar "ice dancing" style of skating. But the "Hercules" segments become far more adventurous and spectacular.
"We keep a lot of people very busy," Vaught said. "Each show has an average of 100 people, including cast, crew, staff and concession workers -- plus a support office in Sarasota, Fla., and the main Feld Entertainment office in Vienna, Va. Then multiply that by seven or eight shows.. . . "
PERFORMANCES of "Happily Ever After . . . Featuring Hercules" will be Wednesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. ("family night"); March 18 at 7 p.m.; March 19 at 4 and 7:30 p.m., March 20 at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 21, at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $9.50 to $22.50 (premium rinkside seating). There are $2 discounts for children for some performances. All seats on opening night are discounted $5. (There are no discounts on "rinkside" seating.)
Tickets may be purchased in person at the Delta Center box office or any Smith'sTix outlets. For telephone orders, call 467-TIXX (8499) or 1-800-888-8499. For group sales, call 325-2554. For general information, call 325-SEAT (7328) or 1-800-358-7328.