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Kurt Browning skates into Neverland in Ross Petty musical
| Source: |
CTV.ca News |
| Date: |
December 3, 2007 |
| Author: |
Saira Peesker |
Kurt Browning's newest program has just what one might expect from one
of the most whimsical figure skaters to grace the ice -- a flashy
spandex costume, tons of fancy footwork and even his record-setting
quadruple axel.
As the title character in Ross Petty's Peter Pan, now on stage in
Toronto, Browning plays to the crowd, fights pirates while on
Rollerblades and treats skating buffs to a taste of his signature
quad, although this time he does it attached to the harness that helps
his character take flight.
One of six fairy tales reinvented by Petty's twisted writing team over
the last 12 years, the Petty-produced version of Peter Pan borrows its
music and humour from the never-ending storybook of pop
culture.
Neverland's new look
Neverland is the home of Tiger Lily Enterprises, an off-shore tech
support call centre staffed by Bollywood dancers.
It's a place where one of Captain Hook's pirates is a Bay Street
banker -- hired for his experience in hostile takeovers -- who swabs
the deck while drinking lattes and Hook's feared crocodile is a
Cristal-swigging breakdancer.
At first glance it seems odd that a 40-something man is playing the
boy who never grew up. However, the audience quickly learns the
problem facing the play's characters: the Neverland gang has started
to age.
The usual repertoire of silly games and pirate hunts is losing its
punch for the aging band of lost men.
One of the best jokes in the show comes right off the top, when
Browning's character is searching around the Darling children's
bedroom for his shadow.
"I'm going to look for my shadow," he said. "Or as I call him, Elvis
(Stojko)."
Songs include the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't it Be Nice (if we were
older)," sung by overgrown Lost Boys Chad, Miguel and Keith; James
Brown's classic "I Feel Good" as performed by a plotting Hook and
Smee; and the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha (wish your girlfriend was hot
like me)," performed by the Lost Boys in the Neverland talent
show.
The youthful opening night audience, which included a large smattering
of kids dressed as pirates and one festive mom in a lime-green puffy
shirt, seemed to eat up the bizarre spectacle.
Performing under pressure
As a four-time world champion, Browning has no problem putting on a
show, telling CTV.ca he was happy to discover that his penchant for
working under pressure works as well onstage as it does on the
ice.
"I've always needed an audience to perform better as an athlete,"
Browning said, one day before the show's official opening night,
Nov. 29. "The more pressure, the more people, the more lights, the
better I did... I'm not really nervous because I feel so
prepared."
Getting to that point, however, was no minor task. Aside from having
to learn a lifetime's worth of acting tips in the months before the
opening, "the Wayne Gretzky of figure skating" (according to
Wikipedia) also had to bone up on his singing abilities.
While comfortable with his pitch and tone, Browning said the challenge
was learning to sing louder, as well as getting used to the laughable
idea that he was attempting to be a vocalist.
"I'd keep stopping and laughing... like, 'I'm actually trying to
sing,'" said Browning, who performs versions of Kermit the Frog's
classic "It's Not Easy Being Green" and the theme from TV show The
Greatest American Hero, "Believe it or Not."
"They were like 'yes, we're actually trying to sing here. It's a
musical.'"
Ross Petty's Peter Pan runs until Jan. 6 at the Elgin Theatre in
Toronto.
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