This year’s ice show is “Little Mermaid on Ice,” and will feature a full cast skating to the music of the classic Disney version of “The Little Mermaid.”

In the story, the Ariel is the youngest daughter of King Triton. Though she was born a mermaid, she dreams of living on land as person. An evil sea witch named Ursula grants her wish, giving her legs in exchange for her voice. However, the deal is revoked if she cannot get Prince Eric to kiss her. Ariel is assisted by her sea friends along the way.

The show features the of over 75 NUFSC skaters from Comfrey, Courtland, Fairfax, Gibbon, Hanska, Lafayette, Madelia, Mankato, New Ulm, Searles, Sleepy Eye, St. Peter, and Winthrop.

Director Katrina Berbrich said the production of the ice show takes roughly a year of planning to put together. The moment this year’s show is done, they will start work on next year’s show.

Annika Wyffels (left) and Leah Sandmann (right) practice skating with the “water” ribbons. The fabric is used throughout the ice show to create the illusion of an undersea world.

Auditions for the ice show began in October with rehearsals starting in early January.

“We have a team of eight coaches working on choreography to bring this together,” Berbrich said.

Translating any stage story to the ice rink poses a challenge. “The Little Mermaid” has an extra challenge in that the story is set, in part, under the sea. Creating the illusion that ice skating scene are taken place underwater takes some creative problem solving.

Berbrich said several parents of club members have been working to create props and set pieces to give the impression of water. Some of the more elaborate sets include Aerial’s grotto and Prince Eric’s ship and castle.

In some cases, the cast will be making waves. Throughout the show, skaters will be waving blue ribbons and fans to symbolize the ocean tides.

Mollie Berdan as Flounder leads Sage Boyle as the chef, Elizabeth Borgen as Ursla and Zoe Evers as Flotsam.

Berbrich praised on the club members for their work bringing the show to life. She said one of the benefits of this production is the skaters were familiar with the story and were extremely excited to be involved.

“The show is super fun with much loved music and iconic characters,” Berbrich said.

The lead character of Ariel will be played by senior Allee Johnson who skated with NUFSC for 14 years.

“I am very excited for this,” Johnson said. “I love playing all the different characters.”

In previous ice shows Johnson has played a variety of characters ranging from the Queen of Hearts to Barbie.

Back: (L to R) Clair Beranek, Close Gilles and McKenzie Lilleodden Middle: (L to R) Adeline Hoffman, Ruby Peterson, Ziva Juracek, Sutherlyn Lecy, Lucy Lanz and Cassy Rewitzer. Front: (L to R) Madden Larson, Jorja Wicherding and Brynn Bauer.

Johnson said one of the best part of playing Little Mermaid is she gets to interact with the entire cast of characters.

“It is fun to seeing all the characters together,” Johnson said. “I also get to skate with the younger club members.”

Berbrich agreed that one best parts of “The Little Mermaid” is how the entire cast gets to skate together.

“I love how much of the story is told through music,” Berbrich said. “We have multiple big musical numbers with the whole cast.”

The biggest numbers of the show are the opening number “Fathoms Below,” “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl.”

The song “Part of Your World,” is typically considered a solo, but in the ice show, Johnson’s Ariel will be accompanied by younger skaters who provide backup with wave ribbons.

NUFSC’s production of “The Little Mermaid on Ice” will have three shows; 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday March 1 and 1 p.m. Sunday, March 2 at the New Ulm Civic Center. The show run time is two hours with a 15-minute intermission.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite or at the New Ulm Hy-Vee customer service counter.