The show is titled “Skating to Infinity and Beyond,” themed after “Toy Story” and the importance of friendship told by the toys. Characters that will appear in the show include Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Bo Peep, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head, Barbie and many other “Toy Story” characters.

The New Ulm FSC had over 60 skaters ranging from ages 3 to 80, and this year’s show will be featuring Madison Xaphakdy, a decorated figure skater at Go4Gold Skating Academy in Minnesota. Her most recent competitions include the 2023 Midwestern Sectional Final Intermediate Women and the 2023 Upper Great Lakes Regional Intermediate Women, where she placed second in both competitions. Other skaters in the New Ulm FSC come to New Ulm from Comfrey, Courtland, Fairfax, Gibbon, Lafayette, Madelia, Searles, Springfield, Sleepy Eye, St. Peter and Winthrop.

Katrina Berbrich will be the show director for “Skating to Infinity and Beyond,” her fourth time directing a show for the New Ulm FSC. Berbrich chose the show theme because of the multitude of roles that the skaters could play as from the Toy Story Franchise.

“The process behind the scenes usually has to do with the audience appeal,” Berbrich said. “‘Will the show appeal to many ages?’, And also having lots of characters. With ‘Toy Story’, we’re taking the themes of friendship in ‘Toy Story’ 1, 2, 3, and there’s so many characters that are fun to play, whether you’re Jessie or Barbie or Woody. The girls all seem to really love those characters and getting to portray them. It’s very much choosing something that’s fun and I am able to come up with a way to put it together into a two-hour performance.

show are available in advance at the New Ulm Hy-Vee, $10 for adults and $5 for students, with ages 5 and under free. Tickets will also be available at the door, $12 for adults and $2 for students. For more information about the New Ulm FSC, visit nuskate.org. Staff photo by Ari Selvey A group of the older girls on the New Ulm Figure Skating Club pose in their costumes for their upcoming performance of “Skating to Infinity and Beyond.” Back row (l-r): Calleigh Frederickson, Annika Wyffels, Elizabeth Borgen, Emma Hoffmann, Allee Johnson, Miranda Konakowitz, Sage Boyle. Front row (l-r):Natalia Frederickson, Emma Mason, Mollie Berdan, Ellie Hoffmann, Isabella Hoffmann, Elsie Weicherding. Staff photo by Ari Selvey A group of the younger girls on the New Ulm Figure Skating Club pose in their costumes for their upcoming performance of “Skating to Infinity and Beyond.” Back row (l-r): Claire Kral, Ava Pagliari, Adeline Hoffmann, Chloe Gilles. Middle row (l-r): Emma Kral, Jorja Weicherding, Sutherlyn Lecy, Lucie Lanz. Front row (l-r): Chloe Enamorado, Emilia Enamorado.

“Because if you think of ‘Toy Story’, ‘Toy Story’ itself maybe doesn’t have that many songs that you can think of from the movies. So when I’m putting the show together, I might take a few songs from the movies like ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ and ‘Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl,’ but then I’m looking for outside songs that can be pulled into the scenes. Our scenes this year center around friendship, so some of our songs are really fun Andy Grammer songs about being a friend, or they pull into those themes that come from the character. We have a little production that is about Legos, and we have lots of songs from the Barbie Movie that we were able to pull into those scenes. We have a pop version of ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ which ties into Buzz Lightyear’s aesthetic. Then also just fun songs like ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ and ‘Crazy Train’ that just fit into the story points and are hopefully appealing to anyone from a little kid who might come see the show to your grandma or grandpa.”

In order to put together the many costumes needed for such a show, Berbrich and the parent volunteers order from dance-specific websites to fill out the needs of the characters’ portrayal.

Berbrich, a New Ulm FSC alumnus herself, says her love for figure skating came from her mother and has been an important part of her life.

“I was a skater my whole life,” Berbrich said. “My mom is a coach, and was my whole life. So I kind of take after my mom in a lot of ways [laughs]. She used to direct shows forever ago, back when the club was located at what is now the recreational center… I love all of the creativity that I get to bring [to the show] and I love getting to choose music that people of all ages want to dance to and skate to and listen to. There’s some kind of magical feeling when you’re backstage during that show, and the kids just love getting to be able to perform a show with an audience and spotlights and curtains, and getting to be those characters in front of the public of New Ulm. It’s a really fun community event and a really cool display of talent that a lot of places aren’t able to offer. I’m glad that New Ulm and our parent volunteers come together to put on this production.”

The New Ulm FSC held tryouts for the show in October and have been practicing since January, with many of the props and other aspects of the show being put together over the summer. By the time the show comes around, the club will have been practicing their two-hour show for only seven weeks.

Berbrich would like to especially thank all of the volunteer work that has gone into the show from the community and parents.

“I want people to hear a general thank you to all of the families,” Berbrich said. “Because I am so grateful to all of the families that bring their kids to our club to skate and let them have that experience, but also those families that give back to the club. We have these amazing parent volunteers who pull off so many things from ordering costumes to organizing the concession stands to helping with organizing media and creating props. To me I think that the whole show just wouldn’t run, no matter how I organize it, we really need those parent volunteers, and it’s so awesome that we have this community of parents that wants to do that.”

The shows will be at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2 and 1 p.m. Sunday March 3. Tickets for the show are available in advance at the New Ulm Hy-Vee, $10 for adults and $5 for students, with ages 5 and under free. Tickets will also be available at the door, $12 for adults and $7 for students. For more information about the New Ulm FSC, visit nuskate.org.