I knew I wanted to go see Mary Poppins for my birthday. I waited 6 years to see this show. I was in London 6 years ago. The group I was with wanted to see a different show. After buying my ticket for that show, I realized what kind of show it was and spent the next 3 hours trying to sell my ticket. I ended up leaving my ticket with the theater manager. He told me he would sell it after every other ticket had sold. I knew I was kissing that £40 goodbye. My friend suggested seeing Mary Poppins, which was also in town, but I couldn't justify spending another £40 (a total of £80, $160.00 in 2006) for one show.
Fast forward 6 years and 2 months later and I finally got my chance to see one of my favorite movies realized on the stage.
I wish I could say it was worth the wait. The audience was mostly children 12 and under. That is certainly the age the musical was aimed at. There were a couple big dance numbers including a very gimick-y Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious that just went on and on ad nauseam. There were some clever and some not-so-clever special effects. The best being Bert tap dancing upside-down above the stage.
The most disappointing aspect to me were the songs. Without exception, I found myself wishing every song, that was re-arranged, had been left alone. For example, Feed the Birds, reportedly Walt Disney's favorite song. I loved the voice of the Bird Woman, however the arrangement was dreadful. The duet included random pauses and felt overworked and formulaic, destroying the hauntingly beautiful emotion of the Sherman brother's original. Yes, the tune is the same. And, yes the text is the same. However, something musical theater struggles with is realizing that is not enough.
For your consideration, the following clips. Note the time for each is 3.50. So, why change a thing. You don't even have to listen to the entire thing. The first 30 seconds is enough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0adpbKfIp0I and the amazing Julie Andrews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHrRxQVUFN4
The play ends, much like the movie with Mary Poppins flying out of the Banks family member's live's. She flies up over the stage and out above the audience all the way to the top balcony and through a door in the ceiling. With all the flaws it was still a fun performance and Mary Poppins' exit was moving just the same.
