Disney skater put hockey on ice.
Three Disney shows a day takes stamina, too
I t was a puck or a girl, and Jackson Stevens chose the girl.
A hockey player since he was a kid and a pro career out of the question, the 22-yearyear Brampton, Ont., native followed his heart and joined Disney On Ice where his girlfriend at the time was skating.
“If you really have a passion for the game, I guess you can find a way to stick with it,” said Stevens about hockey. There was semi-pro in North America or in Europe, for instance.
But with a background in the performing arts and a trophy to show for his junior pairs skating with his sister, the decision was easy.
“I love it,” said Stevens. “Sometimes we do three shows a day, but the stamina is still there. I think we feed off the energy of the audience.”
Stevens is an ensemble skater in Disney On Ice’s Rockin’ Ever After, which opened Wednesday at the Palace of Auburn Hills and continues through Sunday.
Rockin’ Ever After features characters from four Disney animated films — Brave, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid.
Stevens is in the Beauty cast.
“I’m in the Be Our Guest number,” he said. “It really goes over well with the crowd.”
Stevens was studying psychology at the University of Waterloo when the opportunity came up to audition for Disney. He’d been out of organized hockey for a couple of years.
“I have two sisters who are figure skaters,” said Stevens, “so when I expressed an interest in this, they were only too happy to help.”
It wasn’t a smooth transition from hockey to figure skates. “Those toe picks are killers. There are skaters who use them to do jumps and stuff. Me, I use them to fall down a lot.”
But after two years with Disney, Stevens is willing to stay a little longer.
The travel is a perk, he said. But he’s disappointed the NHL locked out its players. “Last year, I was able to take in the odd game when we visited NHL cities.”
Stevens hasn’t completely given up on his passion for hockey. Every now and then, he straps on the blades for a game of shinny with some of the crew members after a show.
Tickets for Rockin’ Ever After are US$18, $25, $47 and $55, available online at palacenet. com, disney.go.com/disneyonice, or by calling toll-free 1-800745-3000.
Performance times are tonight at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 and 5 p.m.