Mary Poppins Starts Previews Tonight! EDIT-Reviews!- Page 3

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 6:31am

Having seen the show in London, I was disappointed to say the least in Ashley Brown's portrayal of Mary Poppins and the show on a whole. She didn't exude any sort of charm, wit or personality and did this 'thing' walking up the stairs that was more comical and inappropriate than anything. At the end, the children express "we love you, you know". To be quiet honest, I wondered why. The show itself is good, with necessary changes made to Temper Temper (significally shortened) and Jolly Holiday (much brighter and happier) but as was expected, it is dumbed down for Broadway/American audiences and that saddens me it a way. What made it so special in London is sorta lost. Although Gavin Lee is brillant in every scene along with the rest of the cast.

Great stuff- choreography in this show has always been a stand out, music of course, sets as in london and finally the hard working emsemble!!!

On another note, I sat in the $20 seats and people there have no theater etiquette at all! I had to summon the 'head' usher guy and express to him that 6 people in front of me were constantly talking, eating and being disruptive (swaying to the music ect...) I thankfully have never had an experience like this before and I hope I don't have some sort of bad luck now.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 8:39am

How were the $20 seats....the view?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 8:54am

In what ways was it dumbed down? Through portrayals of characters?

Thanks for the reviews.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 9:51am

kec, Yankeefan posted the song list from the Playbill on another thread and "Temper Temper" was indeed still there.

[jv92]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 10:13am

How much merchandise was there? Did they use the London souvenir progra or make a new one? Did they add a five story gift emporium to the theatre or just a larger than usuals souvenir counter? You can never tell what useless crap Mackintosh and Disney will sell at their shows.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 10:15am

The $20 were fine. You could see everything perfect. In response to dumbing down the show, they reworked some dialogue to make it 'sweeter' than in London. For instance, I don't recall Michael saying "I love you" to Mary Poppins in the London production. Also, some lyrics were changed in "Being Mrs. Banks" and "percision and order". Overall, would I see it agian? Yes. I would have to give it a second chance due to my experience with audience members last night which probably influenced my opinion.

SPOILER.....


The flying royally sucked compared to London. It was so weak and uneventful, I couldn't believe it. In London, she literallt flew across the audience towards the mezz. while here, she flies to stage left and right for the 1st act finale and then for the 2nd act finale, she flies into the audience, does a dive and goes stright up past the balcony. Its hard to describe but when you see it, you know.

[jv92]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 10:59am

How was "Being Mrs. Banks" (the best and most needed new edition) changed?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 11:00am

Thank you all for your reviews! I can't wait to see it. Does anyone know if it will tour?

[Just_John]

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

They're NOT selling Standing Room. I went yesterday and waited for an hour to find they weren't selling standing room at all, so I bought a $20 ticket in the balcony. But I guess that could change. The people standing in the back could have been ushers or people taking notes on the actors.

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 11:56am

GYPSY1527 - Michael Banks' "I love you, Mary Poppins" has always been in the show in London.

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 11:58am

"Temper, Temper" was still there.

I snuck a quick peek at some of hte merchandise. I don't know about London, but they had some cute t-shirts. One was light blue and said "practically perfect" while another was a "supercali..." shirt and then they had the basic Mary Poppins tee.

I would have looked more, but there were lines out the door. Perhaps the choreography was not lacking, but rather the energy of the ensemble. I thought "Step in Time" and "Supercali" were fun to watch, but didn't really impress me.

Perhaps the fact that shows have so many tickets left is because the price is 110 dollars and from what I can see, there is no discount out there.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 12:09pm

I don't think Cam Mac is sh*tty with his shows' merchandises... I was very pleased with the London production... the brochure is obviously very lovely and I wonder... do they sell the barbie doll and the parrot head umbrella on Broadway? cuz they were NICE!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 2:15pm

For "Jolly Holiday" are they still dancing statues?

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:28pm

Saw it in London. Loved Kellys performance. Was gonna see the Broadway production today but decided against it.

As far as Ashley Brown is concerned, I LOVED her in "Beauty and the Beast". I went on a random night to revisit it with some friends and was shocked at how good she was. She is def the best "Belle" to appear on Broadway.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 4:16pm

How did Ashley Brown fair with the British accent? I read she worked especially hard on it and spent three months in London prior to rehearsels beginning working with a dialect coach, so I'm interested to see if that work payed off..

Updated On: 10/15/06 at 04:16 PM

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 4:29pm

Do they have souvenier programs yet?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 6:51pm

26 days left until I'm there!

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 9:36pm

For "Jolly Holiday" are they still dancing statues?
- Yes, and the changes made to the set in that scene really enhance it. Its much brighter and the ensemble costumes are great! Initially, there were these green drap things in London that I truley didn't like, not attractive. Here, they have added a brighter backdrop, had the ensemble pieces reworked (much more playful and fun)
Do they have souvenier programs yet?
-not that I'm aware of. They have a crap load of merchandise, same as in London (althought I didn't see the double decker bus with Mary poppins logo on the side(
Accents
-Fabulous!!! I couldn't believe how well everyone pulled it off. They all blended in really well together (gavin and the rest of the cast) and I'm sure some poeple couldn't tell the different between Gavin's true accent and the other's 'acquired' accents.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 9:58pm

What is the background now?

In London that whole scene was full of pastels of dark green and gray.

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 10:07pm

My parents just got back from the UK and they brought me the souvenir program from the show. The title page lists the UK opening night as well as the NYC Opening night which leads me to believe that they might be planning on using the UK program on Broadway for a while. However, the fact that a previous poster mentioned that they were not aware of souvenir programs being available might indicate that they will be making a new one as it seems that if they were planning on using the UK ones, they would have had boxes to sell at the theatre last night.

[zerodanny]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 11:51pm

How long will we have to wait to see some pics or footage??...Would love to know what kind of merchandise they have!!!

[ScottInLA]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 12:56pm

>>>On another note, I sat in the $20 seats and people there have no theater etiquette at all! I had to summon the 'head' usher guy and express to him that 6 people in front of me were constantly talking, eating and being disruptive (swaying to the music ect...) I thankfully have never had an experience like this before and I hope I don't have some sort of bad luck now.

It was no better in London for me. I saw it back in August, great seats--except for the darling little cherub a row behind and a few seats over who insisted on singing along. Luckily she only knew the songs from the film, so I was able to actually hear the actors for the rest of the numbers. Her mother clearly thought it was the most adorable thing ever, too, since she refused to make any effort to keep her quiet.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:28pm

"Ashley spent three months in London learning the accent"
Boy that's how rumours spread, it was a week or two tops.
I read an interview where she said she grew up singing with the record, so she had a good start.

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:37pm

Does the Bird Woman sing a song/have a solo?

I'm a huge Cass Morgan fan, who is playing her on Broadway, and would like to know what her role consists of. I have no prior knowledge of the play aside from seeing the movie when I was very young.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:54pm

i'm seeing it next weekend :)

how were the balcony seats, btw? are you in the clouds?