The evening before the Sunday matinee I was walking along
the Mandurah Boardwalk and there was a group of young teenage girls in front of
me all singing Chim Chim Chere-ee. “This
is an encouraging sign”, I thought to myself. So it proved with the final
outing of a five show run packing out the spacious Mandurah Performing Arts
Centre with a high proportion of children in attendance. The cacophony at
intermission was quite something as was the excitement after the show with many
of the cast still in costume including Mary Poppins herself emerging to pose
for photos and sign autographs. Fair to say the children loved it with more
than a smile of remembered childhood from their parents.
There is no doubt this is a glorious production to look at –
from the colourful costuming of the massed cast to the detailed backdrops to
the multilevel set itself depicting the Banks household – there was an audible
gasp when the stage curtains first opened. Director Karen Francis certainly
likes to put on a spectacle and the scope and ambition of her big, crowd
pleasing musicals is both a joy and proven formula to attract a crowd. More
power to her for the ongoing results, creatively and one would hope,
financially to sustain the run of productions other independent theatre companies
simply don’t have the resources to mount on this scale.
In Kristie Gray she has a performer who shines in the
eponymous role made most famous by Julie Andrews in the Disney movie. Gray has
a wonderful voice that did more than justice to the cavalcade of beloved songs.
An accomplished singer, she also provided the vocal direction for the some
50-60 cast members. What was equally as impressive was her commanding stage
presence – there was a confidence here that really galvanised the whole show.
Her work with the Banks children played by Sebastian Coe and Maren Cosby was
particularly excellent.
Daniel R Nixon portrayed the chimney sweet Bert with real
cockiness and flair while Helen Kerr was a standout as Winifred Banks, the wife
and mother who struggles to find her own identity next to husband George (Jon
Lambert) and within his social circle. Both have fine singing voices as well; Nixon bringing the Cockney, Kerr the sweetness in their feature songs, Chim Chim Cher-ee and Being Mrs. Banks respectively.
Lambert has perhaps the unenviable task of playing the
distant Mister Banks whose emotional detachment is at the core of most of the
obstacles the family face. He does so with a certain gruffness and exasperation
that is likeable in its own way. The character’s preoccupation with events at
the bank where he works is paid off nicely with a funny burst of manic energy
as Lambert lets Banks finally loosen up.
Coe and Cosby were suitably wide-eyed or precocious as
required and there was a set of colourful characters Mary Poppins and her
charges encounter along the way, foremost among these being Bronwyn White’s
Miss Andrews who is the closest thing to being the villain of the piece in an
over-the-top portrayal that was amusing and eardrum threatening! Jeanette
Southall’s featured song as the Bird Woman was cruelled by her microphone
cutting out halfway through Feed The
Birds so I was pleased when she was able to be heard in a brief reprise in
the second half. Jo Bickford and Nicholas Gaynor added physical comedy as the
hired help and Brad Tudor high camp as Mrs Corry.
The scene transitions were very slick and Francis likes to
fill the stage with a big ensemble full of colour and movement (Choreography by
Andrea Beissel) for the main set pieces. The highlight undeniably is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious where
the massed cast found an entirely new gear and really attacked the lyrics and
choreography with relish. This is later reprised at the end of the musical and
it was an energy level that I would have liked to have seen a little more of
throughout. The other major highlight for me was Step In Time with Bert and the other chimney sweeps singing on a
well depicted rooftop. Beautifully lit and performed it was quite an evocative
moment.
Finally, the 12 piece Orchestra under the baton of Conductor
David Hicks generally played well though occasionally the brass section felt a
little out of sync for mine.
The star, however, is Gray as the flying nanny and indeed
she does, albeit briefly, with the aid of a harness. The children loved it
along with the flying kites, the movable statues and the brief appearances of a
real life dog that, if I’m not mistaken, once belonged to a certain Dorothy
Gale in another time and on another stage!
This was a fun production of an enduring family classic that
was enthusiastically applauded as the cast took well deserved final bows.
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