Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Disney’s Classic Tales Skate Into the Crown by JANICE BURTON When James Black skates onto the ice at the Crown Coliseum, he will be every little girl’s dream — Prince Charming. Black, and the remainder of the Disney on Ice cast, make it their business to make dreams come to life, and the upcoming show at the Crown is no exception. This year Feld is bringing the Princess Classic show to Fayetteville. The audience will have the opportunity to journey through the magic of some of the most beloved Disney stories visiting Ariel’s kingdom under the sea, Belle’s cursed castle the Arabian palace of Jasmine and the cold hearth that Cinderella called home. “The Princess Classic show features seven of everyone’s favorite stories,” explained Black, a former World Champion who has appeared in the show for the past five years. “It has Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and finishes with the whole story of Cinderella. It’s got everybody’s favorite story in there.” And while the material they have to work with is magic on its own, Black and the cast strive to bring the magic of ice skating to the show. “Our cast represents 11 countries in the world, and we are all world-class fi gure skaters,” he said. “Not only are you getting to see these amazing stories come to life, you are also getting to see some amazing skating. I do several triple jumps, and you will see the same level of professional skating that you see on television right in front of you on the ice.” Black was a member of British World Championship team for a number of years before joining Feld. He was the 1999 British Junior Men’s Champion. He won third place in the 2000 British Championships. Black noted that his skating style is “energetic” and that he “likes to make diffi cult things look easy.” “I really like for the audience to know that I’m having a great time out there,” he said. “I fi nished my competitive career in 2004, but still wanted to skate,” he explained. “Feld’s Disney shows are the biggest ice shows in the world, so that led me straight to them.” Black fi rst performed in 100 Years of Magic, but then made the move to the Princess Classic show. Even though he’s been skating in the show for the past fi ve years, he added that it is always fresh. “It doesn’t get old,” he explained. “Even though you get used to the traveling and living out of the suitcase, you are given this amazing opportunity to travel to some places that most people don’t have the opportunity to visit. We’ve played every continent except Antartica. It’s been fantastic.” Black said one of the things that keeps the show so fresh for him is the enthusiasm of the audience. “One of the fi rst things people will notice if they haven’t been to a show before, is that the children come dressed as their favorite character — in this case their favorite princess,” he said. “It’s something we love to see. We also see the audience loving the show that they are seeing on the ice. You can see how they relate to it, and even in the adults you can see how they remember the story. We love to see their smiling faces, and we love noisy crowds.” The show is two hours of spell-binding magic, with a 15 minute intermission that will allow you to catch your breath and grab some great Disney gear. If you want to catch the magic, you’ll have several opportunities. The show starts on Thursday, Nov. 4 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 7. On Thursday the show begins at 7 p.m. You’ll have two opportunities to see the show on Friday, one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 7 p.m. Saturday’s show are at 2 and 6 p.m., and the show ends on Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit www.atthecrown.com. JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Sinbad the Comedian Brings Laughter to the Crown by KIMBERLY SMALLS The son of a Baptist minister, David Adkins grew up in Michigan. As a student he had a wide range of interests, participating in everything from the math club to the marching band to playing on the school’s basketball team. All of those experiences became fodder for Adkins, who the world knows as Sinbad — a comedian who began his career on Star Search, where he beat out Dennis Miller. On Friday, Nov. 6 Sinbad will make a stop in Fayetteville to share his wit and humor at the Crown Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The comedian and actor was hugely popular during the ‘80s and ‘90s with his HBO comedy specials and television role on A Different World and starring in such fi lms as Houseguest, First Kid and Jingle All the Way. Most recently, he appeared in last season’s Celebrity WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Apprentice with former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Sharon Osborne, Cyndi Lauper and Darryl Strawberry, among others. Sinbad is one of a handful of comedians who does not use profanity in his act. His lack of profanity makes his show family friendly. However, the comedian has not always been so “clean.” Sinbad initially started out using profanity in his routine but he cleaned up his act. In January, he told the Bay State Banner, “I was dirty when I started, but then I changed it up when my father came to one of my shows, and it worked. I found out I could talk about more stuff.” However, not using profanity did not hinder his career. In the ‘80s and ‘90s he saw his biggest success with television and movie roles and HBO specials. Although he hasn’t been seen much this decade, he’s has been touring and recently performed his Comedy Central television special “Where U Been?” at Club Nokia, which was later released on DVD to even greater success. And in December, he will perform as a special guest on the Prince Welcome 2 America tour. Tickets for the Sinbad show are can be purchased through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by contacting the Crown Auditorium at 910-438-4100. Kimberly Smalls, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. NOVEMBER 3-9, 2010 UCW 9