Does Mary Poppins fly???

[Phantom487]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:07pm

Does Mary Poppins fly in the stage musical??? In all the pics and video clips I have seen, there has been no flying....

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:22pm

i'd hope so... its kinda important

[apdarcey]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:23pm

i feel like i read somewhere that she flies out over the audience during the act 1 finale.

[Chip1012]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:29pm

yes she flies

[timote316]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:28pm

I read an article just today that says she flies to the cieling of the theater at some point.

And I don't think its THAT important, just adds to the "magic" of Mary. However, she's known for her flying (in fact, its on the marquee), so she has to.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:31pm

Mary DOES fly. She flies above the rooftop and back back to the top of the stage. But in Act 2, she returns down flying down from the top of the stage during 'Let's Go Fly A Kite'. And at the end of Act 2, she flies over the stage and suddenly straight down to the auditorium and over the audiences on the stalls and then fly upwards and then disappeared at the top of the theatre!!!!! I personally have not seen Witches Of Eastwick/Peter Pan, so I think this flying is just AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

[jo]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:51pm

I did see WITCHES OF EASTWICK a few years ago and that was why Mary Poppins' flying ( which I saw two weeks ago in London) was no novelty to me. What would probably be more interesting to the audience was Bert's "walking" the sidewalls of the stage and the ceiling ( unfortunately the spotlight caught the harnesses attached to him - but you have to suspend disbelief when you are in the theatre ).

I'd rather see CHITTY fly! CHITTY'S flying is not just a technical wonder - it has some emotional overtones, too ( you are actually rooting for him to make it, as he flutters his wings tentatively at first)


Updated On: 4/13/05 at 11:51 PM

[Corine2]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:54pm

"Ma, i'm gonna kill myself, ma swallow a pill myself."
Forbidden Broadway SVU.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 12:30am

She does hover over the audience up to the ceiling. I was sitting right underneath her path, and even though I saw how they did it and everything, it was still pretty amazing.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 12:31am

sounds pretty impressive to me. what's the big deal with the Witches, what do they do?

[Chip1012]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 1:58am

sounds thrilling! I'm in love with the cast recording.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 6:04am

RentBoy: at the end of Act One of The Witches of Eastwick, the witches first flew up from the sofa to the top of the proscenium, and then out into the auditorium over the audience. Due to the set-up of the wires they could be moved up, down, sideways, criss-cross with each other and finally, back to the stage. Sure the wires were fairly obvious, but it was a pretty great effect (when it worked!), and the actreses were adlibing jokes about collecting air miles, "I can see my house from here", trying to catch people looking up their skirts etc. All good fun!

Personally, I think the flying was better done in Witches, but it was still great top see the expression on the face of my neice (who is too young to have seen Witches) as Mary Poppins flew right over her head!

[Sant]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 9:36am

With WITCHES OF EASTWICK the big deal was - at least for someone who hasn't seen the Peter Pan musical - that they were above the audience. Had it been just up from the sofa and there 'on stage', it wouldn't have been a big deal. But once they were flying over the orchestra pit into the auditorium, the audience just went nuts! Sure everyone could see the wires but it didn't matter, it still looked cool.

[LouW95]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 9:46am

I was a quite disappointed with many parts of the stage version of Poppins. The brief flying parts were really nothing new or very exciting. Considering Poppins was a product of Disney and MacIntosh, I expected much more creativity. The special effects in Lion King and many scenes in Chitty are far more enjoyable on all levels.

[Jon]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 11:16am

"You're on a wire."

"No I'm not - I'm flyin'!"

"You're on a bloody wire - I can see it!"

"Watch me pass this 'oop around my body. See - no wire!"

"That hoop's got a hole in it!"

"Well of course it's got an 'ole in it. If it didn't 'ave an 'ole in it, it wouldn't be an 'oop!"


Sorry - just felt like quoting Monty Python...

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 2:53pm

I saw Witches of Eastwick and I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the flying. First of all, I could see hands come out from the back of the sofa they were sitting on to attach the wires. More importantly, none of the actresses did anything with their bodies . . . they all looked like cows being hoisted up on a rope.

[Sant]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 4:20pm

"None of the actresses did anyhting with their bodies..."

In those ankle-length evening gowns???

The main point was the FLYING, not some air-acrobatics.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 4:24pm

Well, I'm not talking Cathy Rigby, but you can still try to hold yourself upright and try to look like you're flying . . . instead of appearing that you're being hoisted up.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 5:51pm

Did Rose Kennedy own a black dress?

That's like asking if Sweet Charity has dancing...or if SPAMALOT has jokes.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 7:59pm

Chitty is a girl....

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 10:03pm

I REALLY wanna see WoE.... but I still think the special effects in MP is still pretty amazing!

[henrybutler]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:48pm

can anyone explain how her final flying works in MP? i understand that she flies out into the house and up "away" and that you can see the flying apparatus, but how do the wires take her from one side of the proscenium to the other? can you see the machinery and gear on the ceiling of the new amsterdam before and after the show? where does she "dissapear" to? does she go to the back of the house? and if so, how does she make it back to the stage for a bow?

[James885]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:00pm

The flying in Mary Poppins is really nothing special to anyone who's seen Peter Pan, or any other show where the actors fly(I haven't see WOE). At the end of the show, during the Spoonful of Sugar Reprise, she flys over the stage and then hovers out over the audience. At that point, she extends the umbrella and begins to rise toward an opening at the top of the theatre. You can't really see the harness unless the one of the lights catches on it (I remember that the stage is mostly dark at that point).

Once she goes through the ceiling, she has to make a dash back down to the stage for curtain call. It's very impressive to someone who's never seen flying before, which I'm guessing a good chunk of Mary Poppins' target audience has never seen.

Still, I think the best flying effect I've seen was the flying during Peter Pan. The audience flight at the end was wonderful.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:03pm

I don't know all the details henrybutler, but I did sit in front of some people who were going to be working with the British tour and were in NYC and had gotten a whole tour. They told me that there's an elevator waiting for her when she finishes flying and she has 90 seconds to get down the elevator and around to the stage for her curtain call.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:07pm

"they all looked like cows being hoisted up on a rope."

I hope you don't mean in London, because they did no such thing. They were shocked, and amazed while using thier arms to lift themselves higher and higher.

It was a blast to watch them having so much fun.