Mary Poppins

Rosie Ashe was BRILLIANT in the role. And she was so nice to talk to at the stage door afterwards, as was Laura Michelle Kelly. Stage dooring isn't really common in London and I only do it if there's someone I really want to meet, but at Poppins it felt like I was on Broadway...no-one was in a rush and both Rosie Ashe and Laura Michelle Kelly spent ages talking to me. I was a very grateful fan! No, Rosie didn't run up and down the stairs. How does Miss Andrews meet her end in the Danish version? In the London one (and on Broadway), Mary slides up the banister (great effect!) and uses her powers to put Miss Andrews in a cage (like a giant version of the one her lark was kept in) and pretty much blows her up, lol. Have you got the OLC?

I'm not keen on the Danish 'Temper, Temper' just going from that photograph. Too bright and happy toys. Before Disney raped the scene in London and on Broadway, the original ORIGINAL toys in the London production were ridiculously creepy and not bright and happy like that. Even the toned down toys (with the stupid frog and rabbit) were not as nice as those toys. Oh well...

And no, Stiles and Drewe had no idea that the Sherman brothers originally intended to write a song called 'Practically Perfect' when they wrote theirs. That song is actually the oldest out of the new bits of the score...they wrote that in the mid-90s as their 'audition' piece for Cameron Mackintosh and it's what got them the job.

You were asking me what scene 'Anything Can Happen' is---to me it looks like that is the weird solar system scene. That scene changed a lot. In London it was originally done with ladders reaching up to the stars, and there would be these people on the ladders who were effectively 'painting' the stars (it was a nod to the original books). For some reason---I have no idea---they changed all this for Broadway and completely redesigned the scene so that it involved some bizarre giant umbrella...no ladders, no stars. They later incorporated that change into the London production in its final year. I didn't really care for it.

I see your point about the toys looking jolly. I've only seen blurry videos of "Temper temper" in its original design, so I can't really judge on that design. But I must say that the contrast between the jolly-coloured toys and their evil actions worked rather well. Their empty faces/eyes and mechanic movements also added to their scariness.

Is the "Playing the game" number using the same melody as "Temper temper"?

And no, I haven't gotten the Mary Poppins CD yet, but it's next on my list of stuff I'll buy! The souvenir stand at Det Ny Teater didn't seem to be up and running, as the brochures were delayed. All they had were posters and the sweet "SSSSSSSH!" Det Ny Teater cough lozenges. I suspect (or hope) they'll get cast albums too when everything is up and running. They had that for both Phantom and Les Mis.

operafantomet wrote:
Is the "Playing the game" number using the same melody as "Temper temper"?

No idea; I've never bothered investigating what that song is about or what it sounds like. Does anyone know? I imagine the melody would be completely different since Temper Temper is pretty dark.

And Poppins is scheduled to open in Australia in July with a replica production, with quite a few names in it. Philip Quast will be Mr Banks and Marina Prior will be Mrs Banks. They've even cast Debra Byrne as the Bird Woman...I don't know whether to be excited by the idea that Australia's musical theatre diva is in the production, or sad that after her own debacle in Sunset (was that show cursed?), Debra Byrne is reduced to the Bird Woman...

News article: http://www.australianstage.com.au/201003093267/news/industry-news/australia-s-mary-poppins-announced.html

Official site: http://www.disney.com.au/marypoppins/#/home/

Meanwhile the Dutch production is going into the same theatre that Phantom played with Henk Poort and Joke de Kruijf:

Scorp wrote:Philip Quast will be Mr Banks

OHAIPHILLIP! <3 <3 <3 <3

That man can do no wrong. UNF.

Saw the US tour at the Buell last week and, while I had a good time, it was definitely a mixed bag. There were parts that dragged, but the big sequences were worth it (I especially loved "Step in Time"). Most of the additional music wasn't up to the standard of the classic tunes, although "Practically Perfect" was nice and catchy and "Brimstone and Treacle" was a delightfully evil ode to spare-the-rod-spoil-the-child excess. I really liked the way the sets and costumes contrasted between the dreary everyday Victorian world and the color and chaos Mary brings in her wake. There were some obvious "covering a scene change" bits, though, and the bank backdrop was a disappointment--it looked great, all forced-perspective imposing and severe, until the doors in it opened and caused the entire scrim to wobble. Caroline Sheen had the unenviable job of filling Julie Andrews shoes, but she did very well along with the rest of the cast.

~LCD

Scorp wrote:

operafantomet wrote:
Is the "Playing the game" number using the same melody as "Temper temper"?

No idea; I've never bothered investigating what that song is about or what it sounds like. Does anyone know? I imagine the melody would be completely different since Temper Temper is pretty dark.

And Poppins is scheduled to open in Australia in July with a replica production, with quite a few names in it. Philip Quast will be Mr Banks and Marina Prior will be Mrs Banks. They've even cast Debra Byrne as the Bird Woman...I don't know whether to be excited by the idea that Australia's musical theatre diva is in the production, or sad that after her own debacle in Sunset (was that show cursed?), Debra Byrne is reduced to the Bird Woman...

What I don't get is why they had such a hard time finding a Mary Poppins for the Aussie production. Apparently they've searched high and low and held multiple auditions, and even auditioned English and American ladies for the part:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/articles/2009/11/16/1258219793888.html

Also: Mackintosh said today from London that this was “the most exhaustive search for a performer I have undertaken in the 30 years I have been bringing my productions to Australia".
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2010/03/09/1267896784247.html

But still they ended up with an Aussie girl; Verity Hunt-Ballard from Adelaine.

LadyCDaae wrote:Saw the US tour at the Buell last week and, while I had a good time, it was definitely a mixed bag. There were parts that dragged, but the big sequences were worth it (I especially loved "Step in Time"). Most of the additional music wasn't up to the standard of the classic tunes, although "Practically Perfect" was nice and catchy and "Brimstone and Treacle" was a delightfully evil ode to spare-the-rod-spoil-the-child excess.

I agree with you about it being a mixed bag. Not being familiar with the movie and not knowing the songs before I entered the theatre made it an interesting experience as such, as I had no idea what to expect at any time. But there were parts I felt dragged. I must say though, that when I came home several of the songs (Practically perfect, Chim-chim-cheree, Temper temper) was stuck in my head and I've grown rather fond of the show.

Who did you see as Bert?

Gavin Lee--very good! Also of interest to the board: former Canadian Raoul Laird Mackintosh played George Banks.

~LCD

LadyCDaae wrote:Gavin Lee--very good! Also of interest to the board: former Canadian Raoul Laird Mackintosh played George Banks.

~LCD

Ah. Lucky. I was looking forward to seeing Gavin, but I ended up seeing his understudy. Luckily, the guy was good, because otherwise, I would have been upset about it.

Anyone knows who is Valentin ("Temper temper") in the Original London Cast Album?

I won main floor tickets to the NY show on Sept 10th. I'm excited.

Scorp wrote:

operafantomet wrote:
Is the "Playing the game" number using the same melody as "Temper temper"?

No idea; I've never bothered investigating what that song is about or what it sounds like. Does anyone know? I imagine the melody would be completely different since Temper Temper is pretty dark.

Ansering my own question: I've now listened to "Playing the game", and although it has a HINT of Temper Temper, it is not even close it atmosphere and nerve. A lot of people over at YouTube say it's so PREEETTTTYYYY, but to me it was mostly dull and uninspiring. Maybe I listened to it with lots of prejudice, but I don't think it holds a candle to the original scene.

ML6, you lucky thing!

operafantomet wrote:Anyone knows who is Valentin ("Temper temper") in the Original London Cast Album?

Late to reply, and you might know the answer already, but according to the CD insert, it's Nathan Taylor.

So, last night I saw 'Mary Poppins' on Broadway! (As I wrote back some time ago, I won free tickets.) I was seated on the main floor, on the right of the stage. It was a pretty perfect view. I bought a shirt. And because I purchased a shirt, I got their 15 dollar poster for five. So I splurged and decided to get it because I could have the actors sign it.

The show was perfection. I couldn't find any flaws. Laura Michelle Kelly and Gavin Lee ... I never felt so lucky to see the original leads on stage. They had WONDERFUL chemistry. Even with the children. Jonathan Freeman (the voice of Jafar from Aladdin) was playing Admiral Boom, and he was hilarious. It was funny listening to him talk becaus all I could think of was ... Jafar is playing a nice guy.

I sat next to two people who were seeing the show for the first time. They got an earful from me during the enter'acte. I told them they were lucky to be seeing/hearing the original leads from the London show. I told them they should stage door.

Um, little things about the show:

Playing the Game - sounds nice, but I prefer Temper, Temper. Why? Because the song absolutely makes no sense. The children are rotten, and they must be punished. They sorta semi got sent to hell, but I didn't like that Mary Poppin took their toys instead of letting the toys have their say on how they were treated. :/

Anything Can Happen - ... The umbrella. I own the book, and as Scorp had said, the umbrella looks funny on stage. The whole point of the scene is they are in the heavens. Where do we see a huge umbrella in the sky? ... Never. So, I was pretty upset with that.

Stage Door - I got signatures from the main cast - Mr. Banks, Mrs. Banks, Jane, Michael, Gavin Lee and Laura Michelle Kelly. (Jonathan Freeman I did not, he snuck out from the crowd.) I got pictures taken with Gavin and Laura. Aparently, Gavin and I took a picture and the picture took off a little early, so we had to redo it. And he was SO SWEET. He kindly posed for another with me. Laura, I just flattered her and told her that she was very kind for coming over to Broadway for this limited time. She was really touched by what I said, and she kindly took a picture with me too.

Something random and creepy. Apparently the theatre is haunted by one of the original Zigfield Follies girls. The guy at the stage door (who watched the actors, provided the pens) opened the door and showed us the picture of the ghost on the wall (we could see it from where we stood). And wow. It was creepy. The ghost was creepy. She's apparently dressed in the same outfit. She was seen three weeks ago. She likes to walk around backstage and on stage before performances. Was going to do some research about this, since I never heard of it before.

I have a video of the Cast Bows where the do a reprise of 'Supercalifragilisticexpeilidocious'. It was cute. I'll show you guys on a later date. (I'm still in NY, using the hotel's free wi-fi.)

ML6 wrote:So, last night I saw 'Mary Poppins' on Broadway! (As I wrote back some time ago, I won free tickets.) I was seated on the main floor, on the right of the stage. It was a pretty perfect view. I bought a shirt. And because I purchased a shirt, I got their 15 dollar poster for five. So I splurged and decided to get it because I could have the actors sign it.

The show was perfection. I couldn't find any flaws. Laura Michelle Kelly and Gavin Lee ... I never felt so lucky to see the original leads on stage. They had WONDERFUL chemistry. Even with the children. Jonathan Freeman (the voice of Jafar from Aladdin) was playing Admiral Boom, and he was hilarious. It was funny listening to him talk becaus all I could think of was ... Jafar is playing a nice guy.

I sat next to two people who were seeing the show for the first time. They got an earful from me during the enter'acte. I told them they were lucky to be seeing/hearing the original leads from the London show. I told them they should stage door.

Um, little things about the show:

Playing the Game - sounds nice, but I prefer Temper, Temper. Why? Because the song absolutely makes no sense. The children are rotten, and they must be punished. They sorta semi got sent to hell, but I didn't like that Mary Poppin took their toys instead of letting the toys have their say on how they were treated. :/

Anything Can Happen - ... The umbrella. I own the book, and as Scorp had said, the umbrella looks funny on stage. The whole point of the scene is they are in the heavens. Where do we see a huge umbrella in the sky? ... Never. So, I was pretty upset with that.

Stage Door - I got signatures from the main cast - Mr. Banks, Mrs. Banks, Jane, Michael, Gavin Lee and Laura Michelle Kelly. (Jonathan Freeman I did not, he snuck out from the crowd.) I got pictures taken with Gavin and Laura. Aparently, Gavin and I took a picture and the picture took off a little early, so we had to redo it. And he was SO SWEET. He kindly posed for another with me. Laura, I just flattered her and told her that she was very kind for coming over to Broadway for this limited time. She was really touched by what I said, and she kindly took a picture with me too.

Something random and creepy. Apparently the theatre is haunted by one of the original Zigfield Follies girls. The guy at the stage door (who watched the actors, provided the pens) opened the door and showed us the picture of the ghost on the wall (we could see it from where we stood). And wow. It was creepy. The ghost was creepy. She's apparently dressed in the same outfit. She was seen three weeks ago. She likes to walk around backstage and on stage before performances. Was going to do some research about this, since I never heard of it before.

I have a video of the Cast Bows where the do a reprise of 'Supercalifragilisticexpeilidocious'. It was cute. I'll show you guys on a later date. (I'm still in NY, using the hotel's free wi-fi.)

Sounds great! I hope Gavin and Laura stay for another couple of years on Broadway purely for selfish reasons...then I can relive the OLC with them when I come to NY for Evita...

Never knew that about the ghost. Interesting! The New Amsterdam looks like a beautiful theatre. Would love to see the inside.

Scorp wrote:

Sounds great! I hope Gavin and Laura stay for another couple of years on Broadway purely for selfish reasons...then I can relive the OLC with them when I come to NY for Evita...

Never knew that about the ghost. Interesting! The New Amsterdam looks like a beautiful theatre. Would love to see the inside.

Sadly, Scorp, Laura is leaving in October. And, I may be mistaken, Gavin might be leaving not long after that. That was the one thing I forgot to ask them - if they're extending their stays.

Yes, creeped me out when you see the picture of her. The guy in charge of the stage door was talking to me, and I asked him if he has seen her. He said no. But he knows a few people who had. Now that I'm at home, I can look it up.

Here we are! Read this! Olive Thomas' Ghost

Loved reading your review, and what a cast you saw! Only thing cooler would be to have Rosemary Ashe back as Mrs. Andrews, but that would almost be too much, he-he.

I totally agree about "Playing the game". I find it inferior to "Temper, temper" both in content and music.

Aw, thanks lady! I will also add that I had Mrs. Banks understudy, and she made a point to say that we were a REALLY KIND AND GENEROUS audience. Apparently everyone, down to the stage hands, were so thrilled with the applause, the laughter, the 'aww's' and the overall mood that it really made their performances stand out. And she was happy we were really kind to her. A lot of people didn't even notice (though it was mentioned in the programe) and overall, she said it was one of her best nights as a understudy. I made a point to tell each and every lead that they did a fantastic job and thanked each of them for making my night truly awesome.

If it was Disney Theatricals or Cammie that was behind the 100 free ticket giveaway on facebook, I also have to thank them. What they did was truly special (and it made my night). And they even sent me a little letter in my email thanking me for showing up and hoped to see me again. Talk about class!

Honestly, I never had so much fun at a musical before. I also have to thank dear old Scorp. If it wasn't for him years ago telling me all about his excitment with the OLC I would have never been so over-the-moon that night.

Yikes, who knew that Debra Byrne of all people was the Bird Woman in the Oz production? So weird to see her go from Fantine to Norma Desmond with more than a few issues to ravaged Bird Woman in the space of 20 years...

If anyone is in Copenhagen on October 15. you can join the "Cultural Night" event at Det Ny Teater.

The actual content varies depending on what musical they're playing (their Phantom event was fantastic!). This year it's Mary Poppins, and here's some of the stuff you can see/do:

*Free guided tour at the theatre, both backstage, over stage, under stage, on stage and at the roof top (if it's similar to the Phantom one)
*A demonstration on the scene changes and how the technical aspect works
*A demonstration on how Mary Poppins fly
*If you bring your camera, you can also be depicted together with Mary
*And probably more

All you need to go is to score a free ticket at the entrance!
http://www.detnyteater.dk/grupper/kulturnatten-fredag-1510/

operafantomet wrote:If anyone is in Copenhagen on October 15. you can join the "Cultural Night" event at Det Ny Teater.

The actual content varies depending on what musical they're playing (their Phantom event was fantastic!). This year it's Mary Poppins, and here's some of the stuff you can see/do:

*Free guided tour at the theatre, both backstage, over stage, under stage, on stage and at the roof top (if it's similar to the Phantom one)
*A demonstration on the scene changes and how the technical aspect works
*A demonstration on how Mary Poppins fly
*If you bring your camera, you can also be depicted together with Mary
*And probably more

All you need to go is to score a free ticket at the entrance!
http://www.detnyteater.dk/grupper/kulturnatten-fredag-1510/

All that sounds amazing! Would love to be a part of it but unfortunately I don't have time to go to Copenhagen at the moment. I've heard so many great things about this production so just to see the actual show would have been great.

I definitely recommend their production! Though their practically perfect Marry Poppins (Charlotte Guldberg) is now pregnant and has been replaced with someone called Anne Suppli, cause she can't do the flying any more. Have no idea how Suppli is in the role. The named Guldberg now... alternates as evil nanny AKA Miss Andrew! Didn't see that one coming.

I saw the US tour last night in Austin, TX. Can't say I was blown away by it.
Mary Poppins: Rachel Wallace
Bert: Case Dillard
George Banks: Michael Dean Morgan
Winifred Banks: Elizabeth Broadhurst

First the good:
The sets. I adored them. Very creative in regards to how the house comes out of the drop in the back then opens up like a pop-up book, then at one point turns around and opens up for the kitchen. And the children's nursery. And the rooftops. Loved the whimsical drawing feeling to it. I also loved the park sets. And the bank. I thought everything worked very well when we went to the bank scenes. Costumes, sets and all for those scenes.

I loved the bag-trick of pulling out all these huge items from this small bag. It really wowed the audience, and me. It was great to see a bit of magic like that onstage. I also loved how she created her bed out of a blanket. That was fantastic.

The cast sounded great, and had great energy. Stand-out performances, besides Rachel Wallace was Zac Timson who played Michael Banks and their maid...Mrs Brill? I think the character's name is? Played by Tregoney Shepherd who is a Phantom and Les Miz alum. I wanted more of the maid. She really had a presence.

The big numbers, Supercali-I-don't-know-how-to-spell was fine, and colorful, and Step-in-Time was fun.

But..now the bad.
Maybe I'm just getting old. I love the movie. My expectations for the musical were very high, and so I was disappointed in the story, and also most of the costumes. And it was loud. Louder than most musicals I've seen in Bass Concert Hall.

I also will say I was tired, and kind of grumpy last night. I'm cutting out coffee cuz I drink too much and I'm having withdrawal symptoms. So I might not have been in the best frame of mind. Although my husband, who was in a great mood, and quite perky last night felt the same way I did about it.

It was missing that extra something that the movie had. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the story they chose to go with was boring, and at times felt erratic. No reason for one scene to really be there, but Oh! We have to have a song and dance number now!
Mrs Banks: The character was bland. Even the costumes were bland. I didn't care about her, nor did I care about Mr Banks. They were mismatched. I wanted quirk. I wanted Mrs. Banks to be as quirky as she was in the movie. And Mr. Banks. He can be gruff, but there should have been something loveable about him and there wasn't.
Mary Poppins' costumes were overwhelming with color. Yes, she's supposed to be the center of attention, but man. I felt they went a tad too far. (side-note. The actress playing her must be dead tired after each performance. They put her through the ringer of dancing and singing and is on stage almost the entire time.)
Burt didn't seem to have any real chemistry with Mary Poppins.

There were moments I thought an LED screen or video would have enhanced some of the scenes. And I'm not one who usually likes projections. Burt's paintings. In the movie it's chalk on the sidewalk. I would have loved to have seen Burt draw something on the ground (I know the audience can't see it) but it appears on the backdrop. Then when the group goes in to the chalk drawing, the backdrop comes alive with color, and make elements move in it. And then, when it starts to rain, let's go with the drawing being wiped away by the rain and we're back to the static whimsical background. Just using the paintings wasn't working, and they were too tiny for anyone in the very back to see or get an idea of what was going on.

I also would have liked to have seen, as Mary Poppins' influence on the family grows, to have more color in the house, and in the costumes of the family and servants, so when Poppins finally leaves, she and the audience knows she really doesn't need to come back because they are all going to be all right.

The new songs were bland. Mediocre. And I hated. HATED that at the end of just about every single one of them they would end pretty much like DA-DUM. (everyone pose for the clapping now!).

I kept thinking back to the movie Amadeus. At one point in the movie Mozart says something about how operas are being written that they have to have a big ending at the end of each song so the audience knows when to clap. And of course he's talking about the operas written by Saleri.

The other thing that really bugged me was how I could predict what type of song would come next. Oh! Gotta have the big song/dance number here, oh! Now time for the ballad! Is there a book out there that composers are told to read if they want to write a musical to get it to the West End or Broadway? Seriously.

Mary Poppins reminded me so much of A Christmas Story, the Musical, I had to look up to see who wrote it and directed it just to see if it was the same team. Nope. Completely different. And the same problems I had with Mary Poppins were the same ones I had when I saw A Christmas Story, the Musical two years ago. (although I liked the house set in that one too. Wait *goes to check to see who the designers were* Nope. Different designers)

I may go back to see it later in the week when I'm a bit more rested and in a better mood.

I'm still grumpy and have a headache (day three--no caffeine), so there's a possibility that some of my grumblings are fueled somewhat by my mood.