Mary Poppins LA Review 11/22 09

[karatekid1]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 5:10pm

Hey guys,
Last night I attended the tour Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson theater here in LA. I had seen the show in New York in summer 2008, and really enjoyed the show. I loved Gavin Lee and the rest of the cast and the sets as well as the effects were amazing. The one disappointing thing was that I wanted to see Ashley Brown as Mary but i got Megan Osterhaus as her understudy, and she was very good. But when I found out that Ashley would be coming on tour to LA I had to get tickets.

Now cut to last night, I attended the show and When I get to the Theater I see that Ashley is out again, and Im getting an understudy for Mary as well as George Banks, and Katie Nana. i though that this was a lot of understudies for a tour that had just started in LA not even a week ago. I was very disappointed before the show had even begun. But i was pleasantly surprised that the understudy Gail Bennet was Amazing!! She sang beautifully and acted the part so well that I cant believe that she was not principal. So if you get her as an understudy don't worry she is so good you will forget about Ashley.
Gavin Lee was as great as he was in New York, the set was obviously not as impressive as NY but did the job, and the final flight still brought people to their feet like in NY. Overall it was great and this show really deserves more credit than it gets.

Also for those of you who have seen Ashley Brown, I wanted to know if she is known for missing a lot of performances and if shes that great as Mary?

[nealb1]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 6:15pm

KarateKid, thanks for the great review. Sorry you missed seeing Ashley. Just like with any job, these actors are employed through a union/company that gives them sick and vacation time. She could have been out due to illness or a prior commitment, or it could have been a vacation day. Who knows?

[bway1261]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 6:16pm

I saw Ashley on tour and thought she was great. She has a beatiful voice and I truly enjoyed her performance. I don't think that she misses many performances, but I could be wrong.
Updated On: 11/23/09 at 06:16 PM

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:35pm

I went to the November 17th performance with a full cast and I'm going to post my review here which I sent to family and friends of what I saw that night. It's LOOONG and very detailed with comparisons between its three artistic forms that I've seen or read: the novels, the movie and the stage production. Hope you enjoy it.

MARY POPPINS

Ahmanson Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
November 17, 2009

** ½ or ** ¾ or ***

Probably will be higher when I see it again on Dec. 6, 2009


Mary Poppins holds a very special place in my heart whether it be the books, the movie version, or the current musical theatre production on Broadway and now touring throughout the United States.

As a child this was the first book that I can remember being read to me by a teacher in school. When I was in the 5th grade, my fifth grade teacher who I perceived of looking like and being Mary Poppins introduced the books to us and I became a lifelong reader reading all the other books in the series. That love for reading led to my career as a school librarian!

During my college years a dream came true as Walt Disney transferred the novels, six at the time, to the Big Screen utilizing live action and animation for the first time in a film. It was a beautiful sight to see it on the Big Screen at the Graumann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood when it debuted in 1964. I made many trips there to see it and became a huge fan of the films’ stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The movie version of Mary Poppins had its own merits which I will elaborate on in my review of what I saw at the Ahmanson.

When a musical stage adaptation was announced in 2004 I was so excited, but unfortunately it was being done in London at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End and traveling there wasn’t on my agenda. P.L. Travers who had not been pleased with the film adaptation by Disney got her wish for a darker version utilizing scenes and stories that were not in the movie. Since its initial premiere in London and transfer to Broadway in 2006 most of the darker elements have been exorcised. The last one, “Temper Temper” was removed when this touring company debuted in Chicago several months ago and finally on Broadway this past month when Laura Michelle Kelly who originated the role of Mary in London made her Broadway debut. So sad!

Now for my thoughts on what I saw at the Ahmanson on November 17th:

WAS IT

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS?

YES AND NO!


Let’s start with the Main Characters and the differences in the three artistic forms.

Mary Poppins is the main character of the books, a magical nanny who sweeps into the Banks home on Cherry Tree Lane and takes charge of the four Banks children. She never openly acknowledges her strange and magical powers, and feigns insult whenever one of the children refers to her previous adventures.

In the musical version, Mary continues her characterization as moderately friendly and helpful from the Disney film; however, she is also noticeably vainer than her film portrayal, in keeping with the books.

In the show at the Ahmanson we were treated to the Original Broadway Cast Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown and she was wonderful! I had heard mixed things about her performance but I found her to be absolutely delightful!?

Mr. Banks
George Banks is Mary Poppins’ employer. He works at the Bank in the City of London, and lives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane with his wife and their children. In the books he is rarely present but is gruffly loving of his wife and children. In the film he has a more prominent role as a cross, coldhearted man who wants order and largely ignores his children and wife, but later on his attitude changes for the better. His role in the stage musical is similar to the film, but he has an additional back-story drawn from the original books, in which he was tormented by a cruel nanny, “The Holy Terror”, Miss Andrews during his childhood. Although it added to a better understanding of his character I just didn’t like the scenes with her in the stage play and they could have been eliminated for me. In the film David Tomlinson who was much older played Mr. Banks and in this production he was much younger and played very effectively by Karl Kenzler.?

Mrs. Banks
Mrs. Winifred Banks is the wife of George Banks and mother of Jane and Michael. In the books she is the struggling mistress of the Banks household. In the film she is a valiant and fervent suffragette and feminist, albeit one who is treated somewhat satirically. In the stage musical she is a former actress who is under constant pressure from her husband as she struggles to enter his social circle. In the film Mrs. Banks was played by Glynnis John and in this stage adaptation she is played by an OBC member, Megan Osterhaus. I loved her and this interpretation of the character is much better than the movie‘s. For me she was the best of the female performers next to Ashley Brown!

The Banks’ Children
In the books there are FIVE Banks children: Jane, Michael, John, Barbara and Annabel. Jane and Michael are the eldest and go on most of the magical adventures with Mary Poppins. John and Barbara are toddler twins who only start going on adventures in the second book. Annabel is the youngest and joins the family midway through the second book. Only Jane and Michael appear in the film and stage musical. In the film the Banks’ children were played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. In the Ahmanson production the roles are shared by dual performers: Katie Balen and Bryce Baldwin (I saw them) and Bailey Gray and Carter Thomas (Hopefully I’ll see them on December 6th!) The Banks’ children are definitely less kind and “brattier” in the stage version than those we see in the movie.

Bert (Real name is Herbert Albert)
Bert is one of Mary Poppins’ few friends. He normally draws life-like picture on the pavement with chalk (a screever), but when it rains he instead sells matches and is thus known as the Matchman in the books. Mary sometimes goes on outings with Bert on her Second Tuesday off. In the film Bert is a combination of the Matchman and the Sweep and has a more prominent role in the children’s adventures, including taking care of Mary’s Uncle Albert (Mr. Wigg in the books). In the stage musical he acts as a narrator and far-away friend of Mary and the Banks children. And that portrayal I did not like at all. He really is rather distant and I prefer the version created by Dick Van Dyke in the movie which is more similar to the characterization in the books.

In both the London and Broadway productions the role of Bert was played by Gavin Lee who was nominated for an Olivier in London and a Tony in New York, but did not win either award. To be honest Gavin Lee was not what I expected or wanted from the character in the musical. Yes he can sing and dance, but not as well as Dick Van Dyke. And in the number “Step in Time” where he climbs on the walls it was disappointing for me, but maybe it was because we were too close (in the front row) and all the magic with it was lost. That being said I still loved “SIT”, one of the two best musical numbers, but the magic not so much!

Now for the periphery characters who really are important in the books, but not so much in the stage production.

Miss Lark
She lives next to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane and is the owner of two dogs: Andrew and Willoughby. Originally she only had Andrew, who is pure-bred, but the mongrel Willoughby joins the family at Andrew’s request with a little help from Mary Poppins. She constantly appears throughout the books and is usually appalled by the magical antics of Mary Poppins. She appears in the film and stage musical as a very minor role and in the stage production there is no Willoughby only Andrew who is a puppet. In Los Angeles she is played by Wendy James.

Admiral Boom
He also lives along Cherry Tree Lane. He is a former Naval Officer who lives in a house shaped like a ship with his wife Mrs. Boom and his assistant Binnacle who is a former pirate. Admiral Boom often appears in the Banks children’s adventures but he is never fazed by the unusual happenings that surround Mary Poppins. He is remarkable for his use of colorful sailor’s language. Although the books are intended for children, he never actually swears; his favorite interjection is “Blast my gizzard!” In the film he is a neighbor of the Banks family who fires his cannon to mark the time, far less salty and more of a proper kind of sailor, insistent on order and punctuality. In the stage musical he only appears as a very minor role. In Los Angeles he was played by Mike O’Carroll who also played the Bank Chairman and made no impression on me at all.

Mrs Brill
She’s the cook in the Banks household and in the book has an assistant, Ellen but she’s nowhere to be seen in the stage production. In the movie they were played by Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw who I adored. At the Ahmanson Valerie Boyle played Mrs. Brill and was very good but we saw one of her last three performances which ended on Thursday, November 19th. On Friday, November 20th Jane Carr who was in the OBC as Mrs Brill took over the role and I’ll get to see her on my next visit on December 6th.

Robertson Ay
In the novels he’s an important member of the household staff who is a very nerdish jack-of-all-trades who is constantly humiliated by Mr. Banks. In the play he’s there and still nerdish, more so than the books, but very strange looking. Andrew Keenan-Bolger plays the part and wonder if he is as weird looking in person as they’ve made him look in the play?

OTHER ENJOYABLE PEOPLE IN THE AHMANSON PRODUCTION:

Brian LeTendre as Neelus, a statue who comes to live in the park. His ballet routine in the first act is very good and reflective of the choreographer who comes from the ballet world, Matthew Bourne.

Nick Sanchez as Valentine, a toy who comes to life in “Playing the Game”. Too bad he didn’t get to do “Temper Temper” instead.

Q. Smith as Mrs. Corry who was in the books and leads into the song, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

All in all, there’s not a bad person in this cast. Kudos to them all!!!

BOOKS:

Mary Poppins, published in 1934

The original 1933 printing of Mary Poppins contained a version of the chapter “Bad Tuesday” in which Mary and the children use a compass to visit places all over the world in a remarkably short period of time. Because it contained a variety of cultural and racial stereotypes of Chinese, Inuit, Africans, and Native Americans, Travers responded to criticism by revising the chapter in 1981 to include animal representatives instead of people. At the same time, original illustrator Mary Shepard (daughter of A.A. Milne) altered the accompanying drawing of the compass to show a Polar Bear at the north, a Macaw at the south, a Panda at the east, and a Dolphin at the west.

Guess I heard the original version when I was a child, but my book that I own has the revised version. I remember when this was a furor and in 1981 we were pressured to take out many books with stereotypes in our libraries. I’m sure this was on the list for me to remove but I didn’t and worst of all, wish I had read the chapter from the books in my library to see what was causing the hullabaloo.

Mary Poppins Comes Back, published in 1935.

Mary Poppins Opens the Door, published in 1943.

Mary Poppins in the Park, published in 1952.

Two with vignettes and recipes are Mary Poppins From A to Z, published in 1962 and Mary Poppins in the Kitchen, published in 1975.

Two later books which I have NEVER read and are now out-of-print (Boo!) are Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane, published in 1982 and Mary Poppins and the House Next Door, published in 1988.

I’m now re-reading all the books and enjoying them just as much as I did when I was a child. I guess it’s called reliving your “wonderful” childhood memories.

MUSIC:

The original score for the film was composed by the Sherman Brothers and all the songs that were beloved in the film are in the stage musical. For the stage production new songs were composed by English composers, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the best for me being “Temper Temper” which is now gone from the stage production. Giant BOO!!

MUSICAL NUMBERS IN THE CURRENT STAGE PRODUCTION

* New numbers by Stiles and Drewe

ACT 1

Chim Chim Cher-ee

Cherry Tree Lane (Part 1)*

The Perfect Nanny

Cherry Tree Lane (Part 2)*

Practically Perfect*--The first good number in the Play IMO!

Jolly Holiday--Not as good as in the film

Cherry Tree Lane (Reprise)*,

Being Mrs. Banks*

Jolly Holiday (Reprise)

A Spoonful of Sugar--Okay, but not as good as in the movie

Precision and Order*

A Man Has Dreams

Feed the Birds--Loved it but would like to have been further back to see the superb staging better. Mary VanArsel who played the Bird Woman gave it an incredibly touching rendition!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious--Excellent, the BEST number in the first act with incredible staging; much better than the movie!

Playing the Game*-YUCK! The replacement for “Temper Temper” is so disappointing!! I guess it’s still scary for young ones, but nothing like what was there before. I HATED IT! Go here to see what it was like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smMc2s8q5Yk

The courtroom trial by the toys is gone although the costumed toys are still in this number which is sung mostly by Mary Poppins now.

Chim Chim Cher-ee (Reprise)

Act 1 dragged for me especially at the beginning and probably the reason why I couldn’t rate it higher; Act 2 was definitely much better!

ACT 2

Cherry Tree Lane* (Reprise)

Brimstone and Treacle* (Part 1)--This is where the Holy Terror, Miss Andrews is introduced = Terrible scene and song!

Let’s Go Fly A Kite--Okay! The movie version is spectacular; this is not!

Cherry Tree Lane* (Reprise)

Being Mrs. Banks*

Brimstone and Treacle* (Part 2)--It was bad enough the first time but even worse having to endure it a second time.

Practically Perfect* (Reprise)--Excellent! This is definitely one of the better numbers done by Ashley.

Chim Chim Cher-ee (Reprise)

STEP IN TIME--SUPERB! THE BEST NUMBER IN THE SHOW IN WHICH BERT WALKS ON THE WALLS AND CEILING, BUT IT’S BETTER TO SEE FURTHER BACK THAN CLOSE UP!

A Man Has Dreams

A Spoonful of Sugar (Reprise)

Anything Can Happen*--The BEST NEW number in the show. You’ll come out of the theatre humming this one! Loved it!!

A Spoonful of Sugar (Reprise)

FINALE: A Shooting Star* is SPECTACULAR!!! Those sitting in the balcony and mezzanine will get a glorious surprise!

The sets are spectacular as are the costumes and lighting. The Banks home is like a pop-up book which opens in the front and back to reveal the various rooms in the house. The children’s bedroom flies in from the ceiling and you‘ll love the magic that comes out of Mary Poppins’ wonderful carpet bag in “Practically Perfect“.

Matthew Bourne’s choreography is mixed with some heavy moments in the first act but really wonderful in act two especially with the show-stopping “Step In Time“.

If you’re looking for a faithful recreation of the film in the stage version at the Ahmanson, you may be disappointed, as the musical more closely follows the tone of the books, with Mary being a bit more vain and acerbic than the sugary sweet nanny from the film. It’s certainly a bit darker than the movie, but there’s now a more nuanced and richer tale to be told. If only they had left in “Temper Temper”.

Will you like the stage show as much as the film? The best thing to do is go with an open mind and treat it as a separate experience. That’s what I did after I saw it and it not living up to my expectations. Now I’m reading all the books again and I’m looking forward to seeing it again on December 6th to look for more details from the original novels.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:55pm

Is her final flight over the audience?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:14pm

^Yes it is...the flight is specifically designed for each theatre.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:15pm

Yes.

I saw it recently and I really liked it. It was my first experience with Mary Poppins(besides pop culture) and liked it a lot. Ashley Brown has a delightful voice and is a amazing Mary. Mrs. Banks is fantasic, her rendition of Being Mrs. Banks(reprise) is breathtaking. Gavin Lee is a very funny Bert. The Banks children were very disiplined and on par with the rest. The entire cast is wonderful.

The sets combined with lighting were probably my favorite part of the show. The part in the park is so beautiful. The way the sky moves during Feed the Birds is so real, and very pretty. The whole concept of the sets and lighting is just spectacular.

As for the music, it is very enjoyable. Though I wouldn't run home and buy the recording(not soundtrack,haha) it didn't make me want to plug me ears. Standouts being the movie favorites(although I haven't seen the movie, I have heard the songs through culture) such as Super... and Spoonful of Sugar. My very favorite being Step in Time, aside from being a catchy song the amazing dance the goes with it is a great dance. Fantasic 11 o'clock number. Also Brimestone... to me isn't that bad, and the woman singing it has a knockout voice.

Overall, would happily see it again, extremly charming.


Andrew's website Pictures. I wouldn't consider him Updated On: 11/23/09 at 10:15 PM

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:40pm

Thanks for the photos of Andrew; very handsome! Glad to see it was the makeup that made him really looked weird.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:43pm

BwayTday, did you say "soundtrack"?! :)

[BwayTday]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 11:16pm

Gasp! How did that happen?! ***goes to edit it*** :)