Mary Poppins 10/28 Evening Review Spoilers!!!!

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 10:32pm

I got to see The Producers and Poppins yesterday. Firstly, The Producers isn't in as bad of shape as people on this board have conveyed in the past. I thought the cast for the most part had a very good amount of energy. John Treacy Egan did a great job with Max. Hunter was out and Stacey Todd Holt was on as Leo. Holt, while his first few moments in the show were lacking. The audience warmed him up and he gave a strong performance. Overall, I enjoyed it and was expecting far worse than I saw.


SPOILERS AHEAD!







Now on to Poppins. I like the show a whole lot. People have said that ACT I is heavy on exposition and a bit too long. I thought it was a fine length and didn't bore me one bit. I was disappointed with some of the cuts made to the songs. For example, during "Spoonful...Sugar," the cuckoo clock in the kitchen's bird chirped and you're expecting the hear "a robing feathering his nest..." and instead the song jumped to "the honey bees that...". The sound effect and the lyrics didn't match which I thought was odd. While I think that London's "Jolly Holliday" is a bit dreary, ours is far too over the top and breaks stylistically with the show. Those who haven't seen it will see what I mean. Bert's costume in that scene (which is different from the London costume) makes him look like Willy Wonka, it's a bit much. The performances were very strong from everyone except for Daniel Jenkins. I didn't care for his singing or speaking voice really. Jane Carr as Mrs. Brill had some wonderful comedic moments, but also had a couple of moments that I thought her line delivery was off. Rebecca Luker was pretty good at the beginning of the show. By ACT II, she was astounding. Ashley was cast almost perfectly. She'll only get better as the show runs. My only thing I had against her performance was her accent slipping into a slightly Irish Mary Poppins. It was very minor, just a word or two here or there, none the less, I heard it. Gavin Lee is excellent as Bert. It's so nice that we get to have him over here in the role. Henry Hodges and Kathryn Faughnan were on last night for the kids. Both had the accents down perfectly! Overall, this is a very moving show. I like that its ending is both happy and a bit sad. For all its panache, it keeps it grounded and a bit more salient. I felt for Bert at the end. 9.5 stars out of 10! Enjoy the show!
Updated On: 10/29/06 at 10:32 PM

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 10:49pm

Glad you enjoyed Poppins. I truly believe that this show is only going to improve more and more as the cast gets comfortable.
When I saw it on 10/18 the running time was almost 3 hours with one intermission. What is the current running time now?

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 10:50pm

i was there last night too, and definitely agree with your review

i can't wait to see the show again...

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 11:07pm

The running time is about 2hours 45 minutes. It might be slightly less, I was done stage dooring at 11:10 and I didn't wait all that long. Gavin Lee was out 10 minutes after the show. A side note, there was an incredibly rude woman at the stage door who kept yelling to the actors to get their attention. She was using their character names, not their actual, names. I just didn't think it was very respectful or showed much regard for the talented actors as people. When Rebecca came out, the woman turned to me and said "who's she?" I responded, "her name is Rebecca Luker, she played Mrs. Banks." As soon as I had finished saying this she shouts "Mrs. Banks! Mrs. Banks!" I turned to the woman and said "Maybe you should try her real name, Ms. Luker or, if you feel comfortable doing so, Rebecca?" She didn't respond to that but she used everyone's real names thereafter.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 11:35pm

I have noticed that as well. Before I leave the theater to the stage door, I make sure that I know most of the cast members names, or at least their first names. I think it is disrepectful for grown people to call the actors by the character name.

However, when we were waiting for Ashley Brown to come out, this cute little 3 or 4 year old girl was asking when Mary Poppins was going to come out. She wanted to see Mary Poppins as her birthday present so her parents got her front row seats. Ashley nearly missed the little girl until we pointed her out. I guess it is rare for actors to look anywhere but eye level with most people at the stage door.

[Christoph]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:29am

Totally agree with you. It was a completely captivating and outstanding show. Even better than I was led to believe. Ashley Brown is outstanding and I am so glad Gavin Lee made the jump from London. The children were both dynamite - never overdoing their roles or mugging. Oddly, everyone seems down on Daniel Jenkings as Mr. Banks, but I think he did a fine rendition humanizing a role that was largely stiff until the end and I liked the fact that he did not overdo the accent.