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PETER PAN
Browning ready to take flight
| Source: |
Toronto Star |
| Date: |
November 24, 2007 |
| Author: |
Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic |
When you realize you're going to meet Kurt Browning, a whole bunch of
numbers come to mind.
In the world of ice skating, he's been a four-time world champion, a
four-time Canadian champion, a three-time Olympic team member and
three-time World Professional Champion.
But now, at the age of 41, he's flying off in a new direction –
literally – playing the title role in Peter Pan, this year's family
musical from Ross Petty, now in previews at the Elgin Theatre and
opening officially next Friday.
The guy who bops down the street is still boyishly jaunty, with the
slightly tentative spring in his step of someone who's always going to
feel more comfortable on a surface that's been well-Zambonied.
For more than 20 years, he's been out there on the ice, but now he's
soaring through the air with Tinker Bell as his guide.
Back in his childhood days, the Alberta-born Browning hit the blades
soon after he could walk. He had his first serious coach when he was
11, but it wasn't until he was 14 that the sport really grabbed hold
of him.
"I was at a seminar at the Glencoe Club in Calgary," he
recalls. "Chris Cross was singing `Sailing' in the background. I kept
repeating a simple pattern – step out, present, cross over, return –
and, suddenly, I went, `Wow! I feel this inside me.' That's the first
time I really felt skating was more than getting from here to
there."
There was no looking back. As he quickly rose to the top of the heap,
everyone wondered how he did it. He laughs now when he reveals what
his secret weapon was.
"When I was an amateur, it was all very straightforward. I'm going to
do whatever I have to do to win, because if I don't, then somebody
else will. I hated losing – no one knows what to say to you. If you
win, it's so much easier.
"I was a clean, simple machine: have fun, skate hard and win."
And win he did, including an astonishing three-year stint from 1989 to
1991 when he captured both the Canadian and World Amateur
Championships each year.
Then it started to go wrong. "When you start talking about all the
things I've won," he says with disarming modesty, "don't ever forget
that I also lost the biggest competition in the world you can
lose."
Browning is referring to his 1992 ordeal at the Winter Olympics, which
began with a back injury that curtailed his training process and sent
him off to Albertville, France, ill-prepared.
"I was on the world stage without a shield and a sword," he
remembers. "I was vulnerable. I was injured. I shouldn't have gone. It
was awful."
What did he do after his defeat?
"I went skiing with some teammates. Made a few jokes. Then I left them
behind and I lay down in the snow. Tips of mountains. Puffy white
clouds. Albertville sky. I had a good little cry, then I partied
really hard and the world was a beautiful place again."
Ask him if the experience damaged him permanently and his eyes flash
with momentary anger. "Destroyed me? Never. A month and a half later,
I came in second in the World Championship and my mother said, `Of all
the medals in your life, that's my favourite because no one knows how
hard you worked to get it.'"
Browning's mother died in 2000 and he keeps that medal next to a
picture of her.
Ask him for the happiest time in his life and the answer comes without
hesitation: "The day I filmed `Singin' in the Rain.'" (The wonderful
tribute to Gene Kelly from his 1994 CBC-TV special You Must Remember
This.)
"All the people I trusted and loved most in the world were there. It
was a really tight rink that day.
"I suddenly had the realization that something special was happening
to me. I was cutting edges so deep, everything was perfect. It had
nothing to do with competing or medals. It just had to do with
skating."
Browning admits that now, "I'm concerned with how I'm finally going to
find my way off the ice and live the rest of my life," but he looks on
performing in a musical like Peter Pan as the first step.
"Singing, wow!" he gasps with awe.
"It's like living in this house for years and suddenly discovering
there's a rec room in the basement with a bowling alley."
Still, he admits, "I want my sons to learn how to skate because it's
just too much fun not to."
And looking back on his whole program, from top to bottom, he
smiles.
"Hey, I'm proud my life will never make a Monday night movie."
Sidebars:
GETTING PERSONAL
1. What was your first job?
My first non-skating job didn't happen until I was 20. I worked at
Chi-Chi's in Edmonton as a waiter. The lunch rush, the whole thing. I
lasted six months – I definitely got fired. We got Quality Service
Checks. I always thought I was a good waiter because everybody had a
good time, but my QSC was 75 per cent. I thought that was pretty good
and they told me it was the lowest in North America.
The average was 97 per cent.
But after I won my World Championship medal I went back and they threw
a big party for me.
2. If you weren't a skater or actor, what would you be doing?
When I was a kid I wanted to be an architect. I started to take
drafting classes, and I did good drawings but I was so slow they told
me I couldn't really ever do it for a living.
3. What's on your iPod?
As a young guy who went out to all the bars and partied hard, I was a
big fan of INXS. I still am. I'm also a Stones, Doors kind of a
guy.
4. What's the last good movie you saw?
We just took my 4-year-old to see Ratatouille and I spent half my time
looking at how much he was loving it. I loved it too.
5. What TV show must you watch every week?
Now it's mainly all kids TV.
We watch a lot of Backyardigans and can sing all the songs
together. For me, it's Lost.
I'm a big sci-fi fan. I like anything spacey and time travel and all
that goofy stuff.
Richard Ouzounian
THE ESSENTIALS
1966
Born on June 18 in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., to Dewey and Neva
Browning. Two older siblings, Wade and Deana.
1982
Competed in his first Canadian Championships and placed 12th in the
Novice Division.
1988
Was the first skater ever to perform a quadruple toe loop in
competition at the World Championships in Hungary.
1989
For three consecutive years, starting this year, Browning would win
both the Canadian and World Championships.
1993
Wins his fourth Canadian and World Championships.
1994
Finishes 5th in his third and final Winter Olympics at
Lillehammer. Carries the Canadian flag in the opening
ceremonies.
1996
On June 30, he marries Sonia Rodriguez, a principal dancer with the
National Ballet of Canada.
2000
Inducted into Canada's Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
2003
His first son, Gabriel, born on July 12, 2003. (His second son, Dillon
born on Aug. 14, 2007.)
2006
Appears on Fox television show Skating with Celebrities.
2007
Plays title role in Peter Pan for Ross Petty's annual holiday
musical.
Richard Ouzounian
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