Review: LSPR PAC 19-2B Summons the Enchanting NANNY MCPHEE

Seven unruly children wreak havoc in their home, scaring away the latest woman unfortunate enough to be hired as their nanny. The widower father is left in exasperation until one day a seemingly magical and definitely very mysterious nanny showed up at their front door.

The story might sound familiar to the theater-going crowd, bringing to mind such classics like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Or others might recognize it as the plot to Nanny McPhee, the 2005 British film starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth. But this time it's an original stage musical adaptation based on the film (script also penned by Thompson), brought by London School of Performing Arts Community's Performing Arts Communication students, batch 19 class 2B.

Where Mary Poppins is practical perfect in every way and Maria von Trapp is cheery and spry, Nanny McPhee is stern, stiff, and dressed in all black. She uses her magic not to entertain or clean up after the children, but to give them measles, more reminiscent of a wicked witch then a caring nanny. Yet her ways might just be what the Brown family needs; someone to say no to the children's antics in place of their very loving but clueless father. Things get more complicated when an ultimatum came from the family's elderly benefactor: the father must remarry or lose the financial support.

The family-friendly romp ran for about two hours, an ample time to get to know the large cast of main and supporting characters. The student actors portrayed the varied personalities with infectious glee. Though there remains a minor problem for several of the children characters: the inherent ridiculousness in casting 20-somethings as young children. The cast is uneven in their ability to believably portray minors.

As with most local community and school productions producing plays in English, the cast's ability to enunciate their lines reliably is another pivotal aspect. Nanny McPhee's cast performs decently in this regard, though one major character has noticeable difficulty in delivering their line clearly.

But overall the cast plays off each other really well with clear dynamics and palpable chemistry. It is all the more important as the story heavily depends on its colorful cast of characters rather than any deep story or morally heavy themes. To name some stand outs: Megawati as Christianna Brown plays the most convincing child character with an aura of perpetual curiosity and youthful energy; Liza Fransiska plays the widow Selma Quickly is quickly a fan favorite, bringing great humor to a character everyone loves to hate; Lisa Reideka plays the matriarch Adelaide Stitch with excellent gravitas; Allyana Maghfira plays Evangeline, the sweet and meek scullery maid, charmingly; and Sarah Dwi Agustina takes the narrative helm as the titular nanny, both subtle and powerful and a joy whenever she's on stage.

The original songs, written by Aura Ramadhan (who also directs the show), draw inspiration from Disney and classical Broadway musicals with light, pop-sounding show tunes as well as a couple more emotional ballads. The numbers were woven seamlessly to the script, highlighting narratively and emotionally important scenes. It should be noted, however, that a few numbers ran for a bit too long and would benefit from further editing. All the songs are sung competently, though one stand out was a heart-wrenching number sung by the character Evangeline who was about to be sent away from the house for the sake of the children.

There are also some dances set to the music (choreographed by Reideka), usually done by the children or the ensemble and work to accentuate the tunes rather than being its own draw. This is not to say that the choreography was wasted; rather, it works alongside the original music to elevate the scenes to greater height.

Nanny McPhee's production design (led by Tirza Jovanca) beautifully complements the script. The main piece of the set is a quite elaborate one of the Brown house, where stairs and doors enable varied ways for the characters to move between settings. The costumes were also likewise fun and colorful, though several would benefit from more opaque fabric as the audience can see that a few of the children were wearing another costume under their first one - used to great effect in a hilarious and delightful scene of quick costume changes.

Technical issues were mostly minor and non-intrusive for a school production, excepting a couple scene changes that ran for a bit too long.

Overall, Nanny McPhee is a fun night's out for the whole family with a lighthearted story and lively cast. Moments like the aforementioned quick changes and a surprise appearance by a very adorable donkey mascot made the night full of smiles and laughter. One thing for sure: the extraordinary Nanny McPhee, with her overly big nose and black draping clothes, will stay in your memory for a long time, right between Mary Poppins and the Wicked Witch of the West where she belongs.

Photos: LSPR PAC 19 2B