re: Mary Poppins BWW reviews...

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:45am

I thought I'd start a thread for posters to contribute their reviews... although I realize many of you will opt to just start your own threads. That's usually what happens.

I will try to keep mine "spoiler free," and short... since I'm still running around NY seeing and doing many things. Feel free to post your reviews and thoughts here. I'm not claiming any squatter's rights!

* * * * *

I attended the performance of Mary Poppins last night (Thursday 11/9)... and was very disappointed. I knew something was seriously wrong when the two children came running out on stage and were better suited to play Veruca Salt and Pugsley Addams than Jane and Michael Banks. They were squealing, "devil child" brats... precocious and horrifying... spouting stilted and forced "adult" dialogue that obviously was written by someone who had never met a real child. These were not lost young kids looking for guidance and attention from their father... but rather jaded grown-ups inside children's bodies, in search of a new therapist... and always looking for their key light and to make sure their agents or casting directors were in the audience. I knew at that first "slick meeting" of these children, I wasn't going to care what happened to them for the rest of the evening... and I was right. And this latest show from Disney was doomed for me, from the first five minutes.

It's a theme park show with a bigger budget, and chock full of completely misguided, half-realized concepts and little noticeable creative direction. Mary Poppins (both the books by P.L. Travers) and the classic film were always episodic in their story-telling. Mary takes the children on a series of seemingly mundane "errands" or ordinary outings which always turn into something fantastic, memorable and magical. The adventures in this stage musical are executed with the seeming intent of "let's make it big, loud, and get on with it." The magic doesn't sneak up on you and surprise you as it did in the film and the books. You're hit over the head with it right away, every time. None of these episodes are built with much thought on construction, and the same could be said for the "frantic" choreography. It starts at full-throttle and goes nowhere, because it has nowhere else to go. There is no arch, no "crescendo" and no climax... no architecture. It's all in-your-face, messy entertainment.

I found no heart in this Mary Poppins, and no acting to speak of on stage anywhere. It was devoid of human beings. Just cardboard cutouts and wind-up toys with no "inner workings." Dan Jenkins and Rebecca Luker came the closest to "acting" particularly in the second act. I don't blame them for falling short... their roles are conventional at best, and badly developed, and sloppily conceived at worst. But they tried their best (given their high level of talent), and occasionally came close to succeeding at finding a grain of "truth" in their characters. I kept wishing Rebecca had been playing Mary Poppins herself, as there were one or two moments on stage where she commanded it with a presence and ability that Ashley Brown never even came close to.

Ashley is too young for the role. She has a gorgeous voice and a winning stage presence, but she's not an actress. Not yet, at least. And fortunately for her, she wasn't asked to do much more than stand stiffly and grin incessantly for the entire evening. Again, no acting was spotted here at all. I kept looking for it. Burt (Gavin Lee) is a completely forgettable role, amounting to not much more than Cockney furniture. He never takes command of the stage, but dances and sings his way through the show like a featured chorus boy, pulled into the spotlight for a specialty number... he's never a star. Jane Carr as Mrs. Brill has great comic timing, and makes the most of dialogue that otherwise wouldn't come close to being funny.

The new songs are terrible. The lyrics are pedestrian, and the music is instantly forgettable. And the "old standards" from the film have all been jumbled, familiar melody lines have been unjustifiably altered, and new bridge, verse and chorus sections have been written (none of which match their originals). It's as if they took the classic score, added some new confusing material, put it all in a big blender on "high," and poured out the jumbled mixture into this show.

The special effects aren't very special either. I've seen shows with one-tenth this budget have ten times the "magic." And I've seen Disney come up with better tricks in their touring arena shows from decades ago. And all you have to do is go to any Cirque du Soleil show to see truly imaginative, cutting-edge theatre magic in ten minutes than you'll see all night at the New Amsterdam.

The costumes are perfectly predictable, just as one would expect them to be greeting any of these characters from Poppins at a Disney theme park of your choosing. The sets vary from brilliant (the bank set), to extravagant (the Banks home) to seriously bad (the Jolly Holiday sequence). In fact, the entire Jolly Holiday scene looked like it was lifted from the Bob Mackey days of the old Carol Burnett Show... and I have no idea why. I kept waiting for Carol herself to come out from stage left in a spoof of the Disney film. Sadly, I never came remotely close to being that entertained all evening.

I have no doubt that this "Mary Poppins" will be a hit. The audience ate up the mediocrity with a giant spoonful of sugar. They loved it! They HAD to love it, as they sat there with their children, and their sodas, and chocolate bars, and candy wrappers... it was a thousand dollar evening for them. So by GOD, this show was GOOD... and don't you even think of telling them it wasn't. I'm sure they will spread the word to their friends that it was a magical evening and worth every penny.

I didn't spend a thousand dollars last night... I won't be telling my friends how good it was... and I didn't find any magic last night either.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:51am

Mary Poppins 10/21 Matinee Review - A Very Jolly Holiday
Posted On: 10/21/06 at 07:38 PM


The title says it all. Mary Poppins surpassed my expectations which,(having seen Tarzan), were extremely low. The bad taste that Tarzan left is gone, banished to the depths of....well....where-ever Miss Andrew was sent. Had a seat in the middle of the row in the balcony - no leg room (or room to breathe for that matter). The VERY accomodating house staff moved me to a seat in the mezzanine (they have a row of chairs reserved for stuff like that, it seems). For the 6th preview (and 1st matinee), the show is in great shape.

"Mary Poppins" does not belong to the title character, but to Bert, played by the remarkable Gavin Lee, who, is the male equivalent of Christine Ebersole when it comes to a guaranteed Tony. He is a remarkable talent, singer, actor, dancer (dancing upside down ain't easy) and has excellent presence.

Daniel Jenkins, it seems, was trained for this show at the 'Enry
'Iggens school of speak-singing. A very underwhelming performance, mostly spoke-sung. He shines for a total of 5 minutes at the very end.

Rebecca Luker is divine as Mrs. Banks. A great actress with a beautiful singing voice. I think she's guaranteed a featured actress nomination, at least.

Henry Hodges and Katherine Doherty were great as Michael and Jane. Henry's grown up since Chitty. Being so young, I was surprised by the chemistry they have. They're a great team. (And I will say I was afraid for the safety of everyone on stage during their 1st entrance - PM me for more info).

Jane Carr and Mark Price were vastly wasted as Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay. Their shtick is a complete clunker and should be cut (but won't, 'cause then they'd have no parts).

Ruth Gotschall is great as Miss Andrew, the holy terror. She's the perfect combination of Miss Gulch from Wizard of Oz and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (her costume is even a nod to it).

Cass Morgan sings Feed the Birds very well.

And then there's Disney's newest property, the lovely and immensly talented Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins. I'll admit that when I first heard of the show transferring, Ashley was the first person to pop into my head. She does not disappoint. Her accent is impeccable, her singing is out of this world, and she's a pretty good dancer, too (and she isn't that hard on the eyes, either...) She's still developing the dark side of Mary, but that's okay. It's still the 6th preview.

The music, as always, is infectious. Matthew Bourne's choreography left a bit to be desired, at first, but eventually grew to what I was expecting from one of the pre-eminent choreographers in London. Bob Crowley's sets and Howard Harrison's lighting make the show. They are both excellent and I see Crowley picking up another Tony this year. Thank God he made up for Tarzan.

Julian Fellowes' book has way too much exposition. A lot of it could be cut - the kids in the audience were growing very restless about 15 minutes into the thing.

Temper, Temper: It has NOT BEEN CUT. It's a dazzling sequence and it did scare the crap out of many of the kids in the audience. It got extremely tepid applause, nobody knew what to make of it.

Stage door: Ashley and Gavin, and many others came out, posed, and signed autographs for the 5 people waiting. Didn't see Rebecca or Daniel, though.

Thanks, Disney. You've done it again.

Oh, yeah. She flies. Best flying on Broadway. The cutest part was that when everyone was cheering for her flying away, Ashley could barely contain her smile. It was a heart-warming moment for me as an audience member. I can't even imagine how happy she must feel. Even if she gets scathing reviews, she lucked out, plain and simple. She's the luckiest young-one on Broadway.




Updated On: 11/10/06 at 08:51 AM

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:52am

i loved it... going to see it again

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:53am

Whoa! Two very different reviews.

[Craig]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:57am

I haven't seen it here in teh states yet, but I'll say that I happen to enjoy much of the new score element. Especially "Being Mrs. Banks" and "Anything Can Happen" - which I find very catchy.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:05am

Gavin Lee- a Tony shoe in?

[Just_John]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:12am

a nomination maybe but as of now I think the tony is going to Raul Esparza.

[clydette]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:33am

"Henry's grown up since Chitty. Being so young, I was surprised by the chemistry they have."

I think you might mean matured - he's still around 4' 6". And he's really not that young - he will soon be 14 yrs old!!!! I would hope he could pull off being a 6 year old.
Updated On: 11/10/06 at 09:33 AM

[BJC899]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:54am

Didn't like it.

[Jan2]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 10:08am

When I saw it, I thought that Disney had finally gotten it right. Maybe it was because I sat front row for the first time in my life, but I absolutely loved it! Were there problems? Of course. But I still think that it is an amazing production. Ashley Brown really impressed me. Gavin Lee was adorable and if I had my way, he would definitely get a Tony nomination.

I think my favorite songs were 'Feed The Birds' and 'Step In Time.' The dancing was amazing in 'Step In Time.'

[jess20882]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 10:10am

i love mary poppins. period. i saw it last night and am still in love with it.

best12bars - why start a new thread (or should i say 'rant') when there are already four thousand others (including one i posted after seeing the show last night)?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:59pm

i love the london cast recording but this may be one of those shows that i like better in my imagination than i would in reality.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 10:15pm

I have heard many mixed things about Raul - both extremely good and extremely bad (the one high-point of his performance, many people have told me, was his Being Alive). Of course, I haven't seen it, so I'm NOT making judgements until I do.

Supposing he does get negative reviews by the critics, I think the Tony is Gavin's. He's oozing with charisma and is a triple threat.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:20pm

I did not consider Best12bar's post a rant, it was a very well-written review--as usual--and he surely explains every negative point he points out. Plus, he was just setting up a place for all BWW users to not only post but find reviews of the show.
I happen to agree a lot with his comments on Mary Poppins. I know the show has not opened but I simply cannot see it having anything more than theme-park-show quality. Ashley Brown is indeed immensely talented and her voice truly fits the role and yet I was rather underwhelmed by her character at the end, I am not sure if it had to do more with her acting choices or if it was more the director's and creative team's responsibility. I am also going to add that while I am not a big fan of Rebecca Luker, she rather impressed me by creating a rather entertaining and fleshed out character out of a very underwritten role.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:26pm

I don't doubt that Gavin Lee is very talented, but a lot of people who are insisting that he's got the Tony in-hand are saying it's because of his dance up the proscenium. I'm sure that's very impressive and that he has dancing skills to aid the process, but that's not acting-award worthy. That's a feat of technical advancement. He'd better not be anything close to a shoe-in.

And Raúl is not going to get negative reviews. He hardly ever does. Critics adore him. If anything about that production gets consistent raves, I can almost guarantee you all it's going to be him.

Updated On: 11/11/06 at 11:26 PM

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 1:44am

I saw this show again tonight. I love it more every time. Tonight was my first time seeing it in the balcony - WOW, THERE IS NO LEG ROOM AT ALL! I was shocked at how cramped it was. 60 bucks for front row in the balcony and I couldn't feel my legs by the end of the show.

There were changes made to the "Spoonful of Sugar" scene - little things here and there.

I finally saw someone other than Henry - Alexander Gumley was on. He was adorably, but henry's voice is better. I love Ashley Brown, although I liked her line deliveries more in the past.

[zerodanny]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 1:57am

I haven't seen the Broadway cast and I haven't seen the changes to the show yet,I have seen it 5 times now and I think it is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!! The only thing I was a bit dubious about was "Jolly Holiday". The London cast Especially Laura Michelle Kelly(the original Mary) are amazing in every way! I have to say that from what I have seen of Ashley Brown "THE Today show" performance of "SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS" the more I watch it the more I like it..the accent is a bit weird..but on the whole she was lovely!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 2:04am

I loved it!

[jess20882]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 9:21am

caryme - matthew gumley or alexander scheitinger...

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 9:41am

What will the Tony go to? A supremely talented actor, who can sing the ass off a Sondheim score, or someone who can bounce around the stage to Step in Time? I despise the Tony committee as is, but that would be ridiculous.

I saw Mary Poppins last night, and I have to say that the closest thing to my opinion is what best12bars said a bit up. I see this as another huge Disney ‘problem’ taking up another theater for forever-and-a-half. The main thing I agree with, though, is how Mary Poppins’ magic doesn’t ‘sneak up on you’. It’s what ruins the show more than bad acting, unmemorable songs, or horrible sets. It ruins the heart and soul, and that’s the worst thing they could do.

I loved the books and the movies as a child, and I really had high hopes for this show. I see now that it’s just another one of those Disney shows...

[zerodanny]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 9:56am

Are you sure you saw the show?...blime, I can't belive what I am reading!!..could it be that the show is that different on Broadway?

Updated On: 11/11/06 at 09:56 AM

[Sant]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 10:16am

zerodanny, it's not necessarily any different but not everyone happen to like this show.

Haven't seen the Broadway version, but I saw the London production last summer with Scarlett Strallen and Gavin Lee. Neither role, Poppins or Bert, requires a lot of acting.

While not the worst show in the world, I don't think POPPINS is anything Very Special either. A mediocre show. It has its good moments.

But I'll never forgive the producers of the show for what they did to "Feed The Birds"! The best song in the film - one of the most beautiful 'Disney songs' EVER made - and now they've TOTALLY RUINED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kec]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 10:35am

Sant -- you didn't like the fact that the Bird Woman starts the song? I thought that made it more interesting, and just as beautiful as the original -- beautiful enough that it got the tears flowing for me.

As you say, not everyone is going to like the show. Danny, you say you understand that, but your responses seem to indicate otherwise.

[Sant]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:53pm

kec - I didn't/don't like the fact that the Birdwoman SINGS. Not just starting the song, but sings to begin with! The song was perfect when performed by Mary ALONE. Why ruin it? What really made the scene in the movie work so well that though it was Mary singing the song alone, the focus of the scene was on the Birdwoman - there was no need of her singing. Of course the stage is a different "animal" but still the song in the stage musical is totally ruined.
Updated On: 11/11/06 at 12:53 PM