Browning has case of nerves over show
Source: |
Vancouver Sun |
Date: |
October 24, 2001 |
Author: |
Lyndon Little |
Kurt Browning isn't going to try and hide it.
He's as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking
chairs.
You'd figure a man who has won four world figure skating
championships and performed in countless shows for Stars On Ice would
be beyond an ordinary case of the jitters. But the 35-year-old native
of Caroline, Alta., is about to make that most anxiety-riddled of
artistic steps: From performer to performer/creative director.
"Before this, I've always just been somebody who brought their
skates and costume and showed up," admits Browning, who takes his Kurt
Browning's Gotta Dance into GM Place Friday evening.
"I've never been involved in production or done a live show with my
name on it. This is a first for me. I can guarantee you, I'm not
taking any of this for granted. So I'm nervous. Extremely nervous. Not
really about my own skating, but mostly that my guests are happy and
the fans get what they expect."
In an era when skating entertainment normally consists of a show
put together for an 80-city tour, Browning's adventure into production
stands as something special. It's strictly a one-night-only event that
has the ambitious goal of bringing together the skating, dance and
music worlds into what is hopefully one coherent package.
Apparently it's economically feasible to attempt such a thing
because network giant NBC is backing the project and plans to air the
show on Dec. 2.
On the skating side, Browning and business partner Steve Disson
have lined up talent such as Scott Hamilton, Josee Chouinard, Nicole
Bobek, Steven Cousins, Brian Orser, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd
Eisler, Renne Roca and Gorsha Sur as well as the husband and wife
pairs team of Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen.
Non-skating guests -- who will do their numbers on a separate stage
-- include Browning's wife Sonia Rodriguez, the principal ballerina
with the National Ballet, and her normal male dance partner Rex
Harrington; Barenaked Ladies' singer/guitarist Ed Robertson; Tony
Award winning dancer and choreographer Ann Reinking as well as
singer/dancers Tommy Tune and Ben Vereen.
Browning is particularly excited about finally getting the
opportunity to collaborate professionally with his wife.
"We've had a couple of previous ideas to work together that, for
whatever reason, didn't happen," he explains. "Either the money didn't
come through or the timing wasn't right. Then you start to realize, if
we don't do something soon our careers are going to be over and we're
going to be saying to each other, 'How come we never did something
together?'"
Always a multi-dimensional skater (from Marlboro Man-type cowboy
themes to Gene Kelly's Singing in the Rain to Humphrey Bogart's
Casablanca), Browning continues to stretch himself
professionally. Dance, it seems, has always held a special appeal.
"I think, without really knowing it, I was always sort of drawn to
shows where there was dance involved," he says. "When we discussed the
show Steve said to me: 'I know your wife's a dancer and people I've
talked to who have watched you skate have noticed that dance has had a
lot to do with your career.'"
Browning sees Gotta Dance as a chance for hard-core skating fans to
experience some of the other side of the arts.
"We're not, by any means, going to be recreating the wheel," he
cautions. "But we want to do something different. I'm trying to
stretch the boundaries of figure skating a bit. If you watch figure
skating it doesn't necessarily mean you watch ballet. Or that you even
know anything about Broadway.
"But after watching this show, if you're a skating fan, you're
going to know a bit more about those worlds."
IN SHORT -- There is a rehearsal for Friday's show booked for Riley
Park Arena today between 1 and 3 p.m. that is open to the public
. . . Hamilton, who has retired from regular show touring, is a late
addition to the Gotta Dance cast.
Copyright 2001 Vancouver Sun
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