Ice show a Disney sampler> Performers skate through abbreviated versions of classic films

If there are human-sized Dalmatians on the ice, it must mean that Disney on Ice is in town (at least, that’s what it said on the wall-to-wall concessions booths).

Merciless merchandising aside, the 4,218 in attendance at Wednesday night’s ice show at the Cumberland County Civic Center enjoyed a kind of Reader’s Digest condensed version of four classic Disney films.

The evening started with Mickey Mouse, in his sorcerer’s apprentice garb from “Fantasia,” saluted the power of imagination, explaining how the four elements — wind, water, fire and earth — could be used in the telling of stories. His friends, Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Goofy, aided in this opening segment.

Also revealed this early in the show was a subplot, as Cruella de Vil sent her henchmen, Horace and Jasper, out to capture 15 Dalmatian puppies. This skein ran through most of the evening’s remaining scenes.

Show-goers soon found themselves transported to the tropical surroundings of the 1967 film “The Jungle Book.” After the opening number “Bare Necessities,” Baloo the bear tried to protect Mowgli the man-cub from the giant, hissing python Kaa and the villainous tiger Shere Khan. The highlight of this scene was the colorful production number “I Want to Be Like You,” in which the monkey king, Louis, tries to coax the secret of fire from Mowgli. Before and during the song, vibrantly hued monkeys spilled onto the ice from everywhere, even from above.

Perhaps the evening’s highlight was the first act’s third scene, as the 1989 film “The Little Mermaid” was re-enacted. The vignette tells the story of Triton’s daughter, Ariel, falling in love with the human Prince Eric, and of the deal she feels forced to make with the evil sea witch, Ursula.

More than anything else, this scene shows how much more music has been utilized in newer Disney films, as four songs, including “Under the Sea” and “Part of Your World,” were worked into it. Pairs skaters Yulia Myskina and Viatcheslav Kouznetsov brought Ariel and Prince Eric’s love to life in their solo number.

After an intermission during which Dalmatians popped up in the audience, much to the chagrin of Horace and Jasper, the second act opened with the 1964 Disney classic “Cinderella.” Almost everyone knows this drill by now: scullery maid, evil stepmother, haggish stepsisters, fairy godmother, pumpkin coach, dancing until midnight, glass slipper, happily ever after.

Following two such upbeat numbers, the classical-style “Cinderella” couldn’t help but drag somewhat. The high point was the pairs skating of Delene MacKenzie and Bob Moskalyk as Cinderella and the Prince, along with the maid’s transformation during the song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.”

The second act’s second scene was a real clinker, as it gathered together some of Disney’s most forgettable villains to skate to “Nothing’s Quite as Good as Being Bad.” (Audience members were actually asking each other what films the various villains were from, not a good sign). The scene was supposed to lead into the finale, featuring Cruella de Vil, but a number featuring a gigantic devil and skating skeletons probably isn’t the best choice for the preschoolers who filled the audience.

Finally, Cruella, Horace and Jasper corner the puppies they’ve been chasing all show long, but still the Dalmatians elude them, while multiplying all the time, until there are 101 of them on the ice. Sabrina Crotenko was comically entertaining as Cruella, but the sight of MacKenzie and Moskalyk as the skating adult Dalmatians Perdita and Pongo was a little odd, to say the least.

The three featured solo skaters all seemed to be having a little trouble with the ice on their first night in town, but managed to turn tumbles into comedic touches. These mishaps certainly didn’t have the feeling of doom that results from Dick Button clucking, “He is going to receive a couple of tenths’ deduction for that.”

Despite a handful of first-night screw-ups, Disney on Ice proved largely entertaining for the families there Wednesday, and it should continue to be so for the remainder of its five-day run.

Disney on Ice will be performed at 3 and 7 p.m. today, noon, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. For ticket information, call the Civic Center box office at 775-3458 or Ticketmaster at 775-3331.