Crikey. What is there that I can possibly say about Mary Poppins that will ever do it justice?
Forget the movie. There are no (terribly) dodgy Cockernee accents in this production. And, to my annoyance, there are no animated dancing penguins.
What there is, though, is a true stage spectacle of the highest order. Now, I’ve seen inflatable palm trees and talking sphinxes, roller skating trains, and laser-generated cars, but nothing compared to the sheer showiness of this production.
From a full size house (all the action takes place in and around 17 Cherry Tree Lane), complete with cellars and nursery under the roof, flown in as required, to musical numbers performed upside down on the ceiling, to a Mary Poppins who actually can slide up the bannisters … technically, Mary Poppins is genius. But unlike others I could mention, Mary Poppins is about considerably more than just showing off how clever the crew are. Every member of the huge cast was perfect (ish – Bert was a tad flat in places) – opera singing Miss Andrews, break dancing Mr Banks, the incredibly versatile Bert, and, of course, the absolutely spit-spot perfect Laura Michelle Kelly as Mary Poppins. The two Banks children were brilliant.
The songs are, well, the songs from the film … but with a difference. The story is considerably different to that of the film, with the settings and meanings of the songs changing, some missed out completely, and some new ones added. The changes work well on the whole – although one new song, Temper Temper seems a little out of place, too dark, too Nutcracker-y.
The energy of the whole company was very much evident through all of the numbers, especially the remixed Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (there be video on the official site that shows just a little smidgen of what they have to do). A favourite bit? Too many to mention. I have a favourite character, though: Mrs Brill, the housekeeper, who managed to get the whole house laughing whenever she spoke (“Nnnnnnnnnmmmmmm”).
I really can’t recommend Mary Poppins enough – I know I say this about everything I see, but this time I really, really, really mean it. But be warned: it’s been 26 hours since it finished, and I still can’t get the damn song out of my head:
Step in time, step in time
Step in time, step in time
Never need a reason, never need a rhyme
Step in time, we step in time
Ever tried to find a religion that truly made sense of the modern world? That believes, as you do, that every Friday should be a religious holiday?