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Smith: Browning tackles new challenges in Peter Pan
| Source: |
Globe and Mail |
| Date: |
November 30, 2007 |
| Author: |
Beverley Smith |
Kurt Browning is no longer just a Skater Boy extraordinaire. In the
family musical, Peter Pan, that opened at the Elgin Theatre on
Thursday night, he morphed into Guacamole Boy. He is dressed from
shoulder to sock in green, after all.
From the skating world’s perspective, it’s not a stretch at all for
Browning to go toe-to-toe with professional dancers, not missing a
beat, even without blades on his feet. He’s had plenty of
training. Probably one of the best routines he’s ever done on ice was
choreographed by a ballet dancer. And he’s married to one. He’s like
a chameleon on ice. He’s Humphrey Bogart. He’s a rock star. He’s a
snake. His strength, at least one of them, was his ability to skate to
any kind of music.
And, knowing Kurt, always boyishly playful, it’s not a stretch for
him to be cast as the boy who never grew up. Although off the ice, he’
s very grown up, with two children and a home, it seems as if he was
born to the role. And silliness isn’t far from his reach. Remember
the clown routine that he made famous as a pro skater?
What is unusual and rather quite unbelievable, is to hear Browning
sing. You heard that right: he SINGS two songs in Peter Pan. He’ll
never pass for Josh Groban and he knows it, but it’s amazing to think
that he’s tackling it.
Other skaters in the past have admitted to warbling: Elvis Stojko took
on a singing role in the musical Grease, which played in Toronto. You
can hear Emanuel Sandhu singing his own songs on his website, if you
really want to badly enough. Mark Rowsom, a former Canadian pair
skater at the world championship level, is a professional singer in
Ontario.
The 1980 Olympic champion Robin Cousins from Britain turned an
incredible career as a skater into an equally incredible career as a
musical singer. Think Cats in London, England. And more and more,
people are getting to know the incredible singing voice of Marc
Ferland, who 25 years ago, was a budding Canadian skating star before
injuries stopped his career. The Quebec-born Ferland performed at
Skate Canada in Quebec City in early November. If he’s not careful,
Ferland will start stealing the show.
Ferland is from Browning’s generation of skaters. Browning at age 41,
is only two years older. And right now, he’s taking a crash course in
musical theatre. He ad-libs admirably, but as a skater, he always
did. Toller Cranston used to say he was amazed at how Browning could
make a mistake look intentional.
Kurt Browning is 41 years old, happy to be going to work on the subway
for a change, and unafraid to leave skating behind. He’s testing the
waters to see what comes later.
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