Talking Princess Tiana, New Orleans and Disney magic with ice skater Sequoia Bernard

It all starts with a wish, and what better to wish upon than a star?

Tiana has a wish, and she’ll share it with audiences at “Disney On Ice presents Magic in the Stars” through Sunday at Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, 275 S. River Road in Baton Rouge.

The show puts 56 Disney stars on the ice and in the spotlight. Of course, there’s Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy. There’s also Raya (“Raya and the Last Dragon”), Elsa and Anna (“Frozen”), Mirabel (“Encanto”), Woody, Buzz, Moana and more of your favorites. Jiminy Cricket welcomes the crowd and introduces the theme for the evening — “that the most fantastic, magical things can happen.” The starting point: a wish, well, wishes, as separate stories unfold on the ice, fueled with “cutting-edge figure skating, high-flying acrobatics, unexpected stunts, innovative lighting, thrilling special effects, eye-catching costumes and stunning set designs,” according to producers Feld Entertainment.

Skating in the role of Tiana is Sequoia Bernard, 27 and a native of Delmar, Maryland. Tiana, a waitress, originated in the Louisiana-set animated film “The Princess and the Frog.” The character, whose wish is to open her own restaurant, is patterned after the legendary late New Orleans restaurateur Leah Chase. 

After wrapping performances in Hidalgo, Texas, on Monday, Bernard took time to talk about Tiana, the rigors of a traveling production and her childhood memories of New Orleans.

Tell us how you got into skating.

So I was doing gymnastics originally, and then had an interest in learning how to figure skate. I started in New York because I was living there at the time and did skate classes, and I competed for a couple of years and then it shifted into coaching once I was in college. But I knew I always enjoyed more so the acting and theatrical part of skating more than competing. So that became more of my focus of doing local rink shows and things like that. And then I got into Theatre on Ice. After that, I decided to try out for Disney.

Tiana has a lot of Louisiana ties, of course, and she is known for being the first African American Disney princess. How do you feel about that whole aspect of it?

So there is, to me, a large magnitude of responsibility with that character. I mean, obviously Tiana’s very hardworking and resilient, which are characteristics that already exist within, I would say, the Black community, especially African American women. So just keeping that in mind is always something very important to me.

Also, the fact that there aren’t very many African American females with a platform within figure skating in general. It’s very minimal, it’s not as common. So to be able to represent this kind of character figure skating and then tying in just the cultural background of Louisiana, I think it’s something really special to be able to show and to have little kids or full-grown adults to be able to see that in a show I think is very special and magical in its own way that I definitely love having the honor to portray her for sure.

Have you ever been to New Orleans? And if so, have you ever eaten at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant (which Leah Chase turned from a barroom/sandwich shop into one of the country’s first African American fine dining restaurants)?

No, I haven’t (eaten at Dooky Chase’s), but I have been to New Orleans. I used to go quite a bit when I was younger. My mom had a bit of business that she would do down in New Orleans. She would take me with her. So I’m definitely familiar with the food and the culture and the music. The music is honestly one of my most prominent memories of that city. So definitely a fun place for me and I can’t wait to visit again.

So will you have time for that while you’re in Louisiana with the show?

Yes. I already planned a trip to at least spend a day and a night over there before we start our shows for the week. Excited to just kind of look around. Also, I’m sure the last time I’d been there was also before Katrina, so I’m interested to see how things have changed and shifted since then. I know that was a hard time.

Back to “Magic in the Stars,” what are the usual day-of preparations for the cast?

We basically all have our warmup and ice time to get used to the venue and acclimated with the ice and things like that. Obviously, our show involves very many characters. We tell over 13 different stories. So we have a lot of ice time to make sure everyone gets their chance to kind of warm up and be in the right head space and get their body ready to work and be ready to go.

Now your character and story, will it be in just one place in the show and then you’ll show up at the finale or how does that work?

Tiana’s the second number of the show. So first, it’s the opening and then it’s Tiana and then we have a kind of semi-finale of Act 1, which has all of the princesses on the ice and she will be out there and then she’ll make another appearance in the finale.

For someone who’s never been to a “Disney on Ice” show, what can they expect to see?

A lot of interactive moments. “Magic in the Stars” is definitely a show that’s really good at tying in the audience, making them feel a part of the stories.

It’s also one of the first shows that has all five — Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy — and then Pluto makes an appearance in the finale. So that’s super fun. But honestly, you’ll feel like you’re right there in Disney World with seeing so many characters out there. It’s great.