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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.