The show was Toy Story-themed and centered around conveying the importance of friendship. Over 60 skaters from three to 80 years old were featured in the show from the NUFSC.

Katrina Berbrich was the show’s director, the fourth show she has directed for the NUFSC. Berbrich said the show’s theme was chosen to appeal to all age groups.

“I picked all the music to go with it because I wanted to pick music that anybody would enjoy,” she said. “From young kids to grandma and grandpa coming to the show.”

This includes classics like “Kung Fu Fighting” and “Crazy Train”, alongside a reimagined pop version of “Fly Me to the Moon” which played during a solo performance by Sage Boyle as Buzz Lightyear.

Buzz Lightyear (Sage Boyle) and Woody (Emma Hoffmann) celebrate as they make their way back to Andy in a prop RC car. The show re-told the first Toy Story movie to explain to Forky what friendship means.

The first two performances were held at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the New Ulm Civic Center. Berbrich said, aside from pre-show jitters, everything went successfully.

“I’m always a little nervous because there’s so many things that have to happen all together,” she said. “It went beautifully. Kids pulled it off, they skated fantastically. We have acting practices leading up to the show and they got out there and were their characters. Honestly, I’m so proud of the skaters and all the work they put into it.”

The show made use of plenty of props as well to aid with the story. A quartet of aliens acted out the game machine claw scene from Toy Story using a prop claw lowered from the rafters. An RC car prop was piloted by Woody and Buzz to re-enact the climactic scene where they’re chasing Andy’s moving truck.

Berbrich said these and other scenes have led to positive reception from audiences.

“It seemed very positive,” she said. “I’ve heard lots of good things. I’ve heard a lot of people were really excited about the aliens and the claw machine dropping down. A lot of people telling me the duet that’s a unicorn and a dinosaur; they think it’s really cute.”

U.S. National Development Team Figure Skater Madison Xaphakdy performs a solo routine during the intermission for “Skating: To Infinity and Beyond” Sunday. Xaphakdy is a 4-time Minnesota State Figure Skating Champion.

During the intermission, U.S. National Development Team Figure Skater Madison Xaphakdy performed a technical solo routine. Xaphakdy is a 4-time Minnesota State Figure Skating Champion and a qualifier for 2023’s U.S. Figure Skating High Performance National Development Camp.

Emma Hoffmann and Allee Johnson played Woody and Barbie respectively. Hoffmann said after the preparation that went into the show, going out and performing was an incredible experience.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I was just so glad to be out there performing for everybody.”

Hoffmann and Johnson agreed with Berbrich’s assessment of the audience’s reception. Johnson said the show resonated with little kids.

“I think they really enjoyed it,” she said. “Lots of the little kids came up to us. They talked to us and wanted hugs and pictures. I definitely thought they had a lot of joy watching the show.”

Both Hoffmann and Johnson had unique takeaways for what they learned from this show to apply moving forward.

“Get excited,” Hoffmann said. “Do as much as you possibly can during practice. Have fun with it.”

“Learning more about your character,” Johnson said. “Watching other people, how they’re performing their character, and how they get in the role.”