By Raphael Sugarman
If Snow White looks particularly content and nurtured at this year’s “Disneyland Adventure” ice show, it is in no small measure due to the efforts of Flushing native Matt Santorelli.
Santorelli is also responsible for getting Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy to each show on time, for making sure that Mr. Incredible and other superheroes live up to their billing at media photo shoots and that Alice in Wonderland always has a window seat on airline flights “so she is free to daydream.”
Santorelli is the new tour coordinator of the Disney ice show, which is scheduled to perform in 36 U.S. cities during its 2008−09 run, as well as a trip to Japan planned for later this year.
On the job only since August, Santorelli is charged with making all the hotel and transportation arrangements for the 57 performers and more than 40 crew members, concessionaires and others who travel with the skating troupe. He also oversees publicity for the cast.
“It is pretty challenging to juggle all the different responsibilities I have,” said Santorelli, 28. “I really put a lot of effort into making sure that everything runs smoothly. When our performers are happy, the audience is happy and we get to put on a great show for everyone.”
Though he may be a newbie to the world of tour coordinating, Santorelli is certainly no stranger to the magical kingdom of Disney, nor to the worlds of acting and design.
After graduating from PS 120 and IS 237 in Flushing, he attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, where he studied visual arts and cultivated his love for comic book design.
Instead of heading off to college to study acting, he chose to take a job as a performer at Walt Disney World in Orlando. For nearly a decade, the once−shy Queens kid got a chance to learn his craft on one of the most unique and diverse stages in the world. He walked on stilts and played in the “Hunchback of Notre Dame” as well as several other productions.
He also spent three years as an ensemble performer in “Disney Live,” where he mastered the role of one of the Honey Helpers in the “Winnie the Pooh Show.”
After more than a decade on the stage, and despite his love of performing, Matt sensed it was time to try something new. Determined to remain with the Disney company he had grown to love, he decided to throw his name in the hat for the tour coordinator’s job for Disney’s new ice show when the position opened up over the summer.
“I had been around the stage so long and like being around actors, so I thought that I would have a unique understanding of what they needed,” he said. “I felt that I could also help visualize things like proper positioning of actors and camera angles when it came to publicity shoots.”
Disney management agreed, as Matt beat out several other applicants for the job, despite being new to the world of big tour management. Perhaps what attracted them to Matt was that while he clearly understands the primacy of Disney’s business side — and the need for the show to run flawlessly, on stage and off — he also remembers what it was like to be a little boy.
“My family would pile into our blue station wagon and drive down to Disney World in Orlando, my parents and my brothers Andrew, Troy, Adam and I,” he recalled.
“What always stuck in my head was that they used to have these character breakfasts, and Pinocchio actually fed me breakfast. To this day, he is still my favorite character.”
“Disneyland Adventure” will play at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., from Jan. 14−19 and at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford from Jan. 21−25. Tickets are available at arena box offices, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster Charge By Phone at (631) 888−9000, (201) 507−8900, (212) 307−7171 or ticketmaster.com.
