Review: MARY POPPINS at Musicals At Richter

On Saturday, July 25th, I had the pleasure of seeing yet another phenomenal musical at Musicals at Richter, MARY POPPINS! The outdoor ambiance at Musicals at Richter tremendously enhances my enjoyment of these productions, seeing these shows under the stars on clear nights! The moving set is elaborate, with a beautifully painted London skyline in the back, including Big Ben. A waxing gibbous moon arose behind the center of the stage and drifted towards and beyond stage left, throughout the course of the evening. Yes, for anyone who was unaware, the moon changes location in the sky during the night each night. It isn’t merely a time of the month and year thing. The true stars were on the stage, though, as Musicals at Richter has once again managed to acquire a cast so spectacular that it feels as if Musicals at Richter had hired professional ringers posing as local performers. Director Kate Kovacs combines her talents with music director Vincent Fontenelli, and choreographer Melissa Arizzi to help bring out the best in this professional-level cast! If I was a scout/recruiter for Broadway, I would have made some offers after the show!

Right from the start, Rob Fontenelli draws the audience in, with his spot-on vocals, accent, and mannerisms in “Chim-Chim Cher-ee,” excelling in the role of Bert, who is Mary Poppins’ friend, who leads or co-leads numerous musical numbers. Bert also shows care for the children, making him a highly likable character, coming alive on stage with a strong stage presence that commands the audience’s attention. Rob Fontenelli also clearly shows that he is having a great time performing the role of Bert!

Helen Seda leads this stellar cast as Mary Poppins. Through singing, dancing, facial expressions, mannerisms, and sharp line delivery, she brings Mary Poppins to life! Her stage presence and stage chemistry with the rest of the cast, combined with her clear enjoyment in performing this role radiates a positive vibe that makes this lead character highly likable! Mary Poppins resonates with audiences as someone who is able to simultaneously show love for the children she cares for, yet keep them well disciplined, within her own boundaries, which are fair, kind, and contribute to positive character-building, even if her rules and strategies may be highly unconventional. Mary Poppins makes it clear that she is her own person, playing by her own rules, essentially answering to no one, yet still grounded in common decency.

Katherine Hadermayer and Brendan Famulato shine as rising young stars playing Jane Banks and Michael Banks, respectively. Yes, that is correct, different last names for those cast members, despite their highly believable on-stage sibling dynamics, including remarkable singing harmony, both also contributing to impressive three-part harmony with Helen Seda! Katherine and Brendan’s tones, accents, and deliveries are consistently strong, whether their characters are joyful or cross at any given moment. Their performances excellently showcase the high talent that foreshadows further starring roles in future productions. The stage confidence and talent shown by these young performers stands out in their generation. Jane and Michael are the spunky children who Mary Poppins looks after and helps mold into more respectful and respectable youngsters.

George Banks and Winifred Banks are the parents of Jane and Michael. George and Winifred are excellently performed by Bob Roda and Laura Huling respectively. Both performers deliver with such sincerity that the audience can feel their pain, whether it is George’s fear of impending unemployment, or Winifred’s feeling of being underappreciated. Bob Roda and Laura Huling’s performances are so moving that the audience feels personally invested in our yearning to see George and Winifred Banks overcome their obstacles.

Beyond Mary Poppins to watch over the children, the Banks family has additional hired help. Joan Velez Roberts is real and relatable as Mrs. Brill. Nicky Eklund provides a hilarious comic moment as Roberson Ay, stumbling into major components of the set in pure slap-stick brilliance! He magnifies the quality and significance of his character by maximizing the impact of every line and movement.

Ashley McLeod is excellent as Miss Andrew, a dislikable Nanny who is more concerned with strict discipline than showing any genuine care or love for the children in her care. Miss Andrew is so unpleasant to the Banks children that they choose to run away, to avoid her.

Priscilla Squiers provides a strong performance as the Bird Woman, singing “Feed the Birds.”

Led by Hailey Mott as Neleus, several cast members stay perfectly still on stage, as statues, during a scene in the park, until they come to life. This is an often underrated and underappreciated talent. Having needed to stand still for a prolonged period of time, on stage, myself, decades ago, when I was in a college production of Tommy, I realize what a challenge this is, and how grueling it can be during rehearsals. I want these cast members to all know that I appreciate all the effort it takes to do this and want to reassure them that, yes, this does look spectacular, from the audience’s perspective, come show time.

Every member of this ensemble cast helps enhance the quality of this production. Other talented cast members include Chris Neville, Vycki Higley, Angie Joachim, Walter Rusczyk, John Paul Akter, Lori Mott, Christian Eklund, Barbara Kessler, Chloe Rysz, Katie Paniccia, Vivienne Bournos, Pedro Couy, Lucia Eklund, Jackie Alleva Sanfratello, Taylor Byrne, Nomita Ramchandani, Jackie Ziegelmeier, Sonya Alexander, Virginia Ruszczyk, Olivia Caulford, Sky Corradino, Emily Hughes, Zoe Morales, Victoria Mostacciuolo, Charlotte Neville, Noelle Neville, Mia Roche, Zoe Talley, Josh Tejada, Katie Ziegelmeier, and Natalie Ziegelmeier.

The talented band towards the front of house left, conducted by Vincent Fontenelli, also includes Max Abarientos and Jimmy Morcaldi on keyboard, Michele Alicky and Ella Dijlani on reeds. Patrick Harris on trumpet, Chris Hetherington on trombone, Samantha Marcial on cello, Don Hurta on bass, and Sedona Taylor on percussion.

I’ve known the song “A Spoonful of Sugar,” since I was a child, but it never dawned on me until this past year that the song breaks conventional musical arrangement styles, in that rather than verses, a build, and a main chorus, the song is strictly a main chorus. It remains a musical highlight.

There are so many well-known songs in this musical. Every one of them was excellently performed. The other big musical highlights include, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Playing the Game,” and of course, the two big ensemble numbers, “Step in Time,” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”  

This story is loaded with positive messages. They include the need for husbands to respect their wives as equal partners, for parents to spend time with their children, for wise investments to be those that are honest and truly benefit people, to care for our personal belongings, to talk to and about others with respect for their human dignity, to place our family ahead of our job, not to borrow trouble or jump to stress-provoking conclusions without knowing all the facts, to joyfully share our blessings with others, to seek the goodness within or bring goodness into that which is necessary yet unpleasant, to seek forgiveness when we need it, and to provide forgiveness to those who seek it from us. The story also challenges us to consider the proper treatment of pets. Much wisdom can be gleaned.

My favorite quote from the show is the excellently delivered Mary Poppins line, “In that, as in so many things, your information is faulty.” It convicts us to make sure we properly research whatever we present as an absolute fact, before we proclaim it as so.

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