It was, following in the great tradition of seasonal pantos, a lot of riotous fun! Kurt Browning (hey, he’s got the same birthday!) made a superb Peter Pan — he’s still got the moves!
I wish it were in Vancouver — I would’ve taken my nieces and nephew, all five of them, they would’ve loved it!
CIBC Visa sent me two complimentary tickets and hosted a reception afterwards for photo ops with the cast, plus free food and beverages. As you can see, Kurt Browning has a following:
the Kurt Browning fan club
*spoiler alerts after the jump*
As you can see by the cast of characters, there’s a lot more to this production than in the regular Peter Pan story: the Energizer Bunny, a pirate dressed like Slash from Guns ‘n’ Roses, a rapping crocodile, singing mermaids, that sort of thing…
There are also plenty of references to Canadian and Ontario politics and economy, “in-jokes”, and shameless plugs for CIBC Visa, who obviously sponsored the performance this afternoon even though the Bank of Montreal is the major corporate sponsor (I wonder how they pulled THAT off? BMO must’ve been feeling generous). It was a show for all ages, and there was even a segment called “Are You Dumber Than a Fifth Grader?” spoofing the Fox show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” when three kids were brought from the audience to trump Captain Hook.
Oh, and speaking of Captain Hook, Ross Petty makes villainy look like more fun than any other role — he was the PERFECT villain, all dastardly and muahahaha:
When I first saw Tinkerbell, she reminded me of Cyndi Lauper.
I’m not a Disney fan and I could’ve done without the typical Disney schlock about ‘believing in yourself’ but the musical numbers were very entertaining (everything from Queen’s “I Want It All” to The Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”) and the jokes were more hit than miss.
My recommendation? See it. Sure, I got the tickets free (thanks CIBC Visa), but given the choice between the monetary equivalent of Eaton Centre Christmas shopping and seeing this production, I’d take the production. It puts me in a far better mood!
I think my favourite number was The Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” — a YouTube version here:
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“Wouldn’t it be Nice” was rolled into a production of Peter Pan? Wow!
Now that set me off reminiscing, watching other Beach Boy vids on YouTube and taking stock of my BB and Brian Wilson records…
Kurt Browning is my Kindergarten teacher’s nephew, and I met him once when I was a kid. Nice guy.
“Kurt Browning: nice Alberta boy” seems to be his reputation. He is much loved!
Kevin, it gets better: the numbers include a Pussycat Dolls song and “Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not)”!
My 15 year old and 11 year old went to see Peter Pan. They loved it. Their favorite part was when the Hip Hop Crocodile came out. He brought down the house! Great show – they couldn’t stop talking about the croc!!
[...] also went to aviation museums, festivals, the air show (both days), musicals (Peter Pan was the latest), Doors Open, and more had I been in town more [...]