Mary Poppins in Cleveland (with full review!)

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 10:50pm

I just got back from the sold-out Opening Night of Mary Poppins in Cleveland. A longer review will follow shortly, but just briefly, I was sort of blown away. This show has some pretty blatant flaws, and some of the deadest dead spots I've ever seen, and yet it just charms the audience. By the end, I was just thrilled. All the leads were great, especially Megan Osterhaus as the mother. Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee are still in top form, and the set toured very well. This was a show I didn't even expect to like, and I came away loving it.

Edited with full review:

"Poppins" Partially Perfect

There’s good news and bad news about the new touring production of Mary Poppins that “flew” into Cleveland’s State Theatre this past Friday night, and opened this past Sunday. The good news is that when this Disney show based on the stories by P.L. Travers as well as the indelible and completely unavoidable 1964 film of the same name hits its stride, it is fantastic. However, the bad news is that when the show hits a dead patch, and there are several such moments, songs, or even entire scenes, there is an audience partially full of bored children, simply ready to squeal and squirm. Lucky for the adults in the audience, who, it ought to be noted, are surprisingly far more likely to enjoy this show than their young children, the dry moments are easily forgettable and the great moments will shine through. And however unwarranted the many production numbers may be, and no matter how preachy and, well, sugary their messages may be, their sheer power to overwhelm the senses with an immense feeling of undiluted Disney-fueled happiness just cannot be ignored. And though it isn’t to say kids won’t enjoy this show, as there is certainly enough “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” to go around for the entire, eager, kid-filled, and pretty much sold-out audience, there are many subtleties for discerning theatergoers to appreciate underneath all the obvious clichés.
The reason this show is so ridiculously enjoyable can be attributed, I believe, to two major aspects: the sets and the performances. For starters, I should note that even Mary Poppins herself is eclipsed as the star of the show by the set. Mere words cannot do this contraption justice. It has to be seen to be believed, and, even at that, often as you are watching it, you can’t even believe what you’re seeing. This Tony-award-winning set has been altered to be at least somewhat reasonable to cart from city to city in, apparently, around seventeen large trailers. The house of the Banks family, hard-nose husband George, caring, frustrated wife Winifred, and mischievous children Jane and Michael, unfolds like a picture book to reveal most of the rooms, with a kitchen and attic, which serves as the kids’ room, as well as the rooftop upon which the chimney sweeps dance, folding out from the front and back. Sometimes, this massive set is even lowered from the rafters, flown in from the wings, twisted, turned, and unfolding before your eyes so quickly that seemingly everyone in the audience had open jaws before the next scene even began. If this show did not feature the set that it did, the show might not have been nearly as impressive. The technology by which Mary Poppins flies over the audience, or Bert the chimney sweep tap dances upside down from the proscenium prove that touring productions don’t have to leave all the technological magic behind on Broadway, despite the fact that it is incredibly difficult to transfer all this around. However, it is certainly all worth it to see what the audience sees on the State Theatre stage.
The well-cast ensemble of performers in this tour is the second element to Poppins’ success. Led by original Broadway cast members Ashley Brown as a spot-on Mary and Gavin Lee as a rambunctious Bert, the entire ensemble does justice and then some to the classic songs as well as some new ones. The leads, supported by the rest of the wonderful cast, especially Megan Osterhaus’s well sung, tender Winifred and Aida Neitenbach and Justin Hall’s simultaneously funny and touching performances as Jane and Michael, carry this massive show on their backs, and live up brilliantly to the classic legacy of Mary Poppins. Brown’s beautiful voice doesn’t disappoint, even after hearing Julie Andrew’s lauded take on the role from the film, and Lee reinvents Bert as something of a madcap vaudevillian with panache. Even right down to the smallest roles, such as Andrew Keenan-Bolger’s memorable servant Robertson Ay, the entire cast seems very happy to be weaving this classic tale as a modern stage show, and it really shows through in the insatiability with which the show goes on.
Unfortunately, much of the music really gets repetitive and often wears on the audience. Though there are beautiful voices singing the songs, both new and old, some of it just causes the audience to check out until another, more exciting song pops up. To be honest, the newer material, specifically written for this show by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, mostly can be attributed to the slowness. The classic songs everyone knows, such as “Supercal”, “Step in Time”, and “Chim Chim Cher-ee” just hold up better. The book, by Julian Fellowes, is not especially notable, though it does a suitable job of recounting the story of a mystic nanny stepping in to tame two out-of-control children, while discreetly helping to soften the no-nonsense father, and bringing the entire family together in the process. The story is simple, and the best part of the evening comes when the plot is thrown out the window, and we can hear the gorgeous voices sing, see the set turn, or watch the talented dancers tap up a fury. No matter the fairly blatant flaws in this production, it is a good thing that they are overshadowed by the dazzling elements it prominently features. And if the audience can stay awake through a slow beginning, and many dead spots, mostly in the first act, they will be rewarded immensely by a “family show”, that has a little bit to say for everyone. Still, a warning is still in order: beware restless children.
Mary Poppins plays through August 9th at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theatre. Tickets can be bought at Playhousesquare.com.

Updated On: 7/20/09 at 10:50 PM

[inick122492]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 10:56pm

Just like you I thought I was going to hate but I just was amazed! It was such a fun afternoon at the theatre. I saw it on the Sat matinee and had pretty good orch eats. I actually loved it.

[wizard2joe]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 11:00pm

Was the new song replacing Temper Temper any good?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 11:03pm

Wizard, it wasn't as awful as I had been led to believe, but it was much less effective than Temper, and also less interesting. Though, it was nice that Mary was a part of the new number. Shame they think kids can't handle the way it was originally staged...though it should be noted that this was not aimed at kids really at all. My little sister went and was bored, but the adults I went with loved it.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 9:42am

OMG - read the thread title and thought "oh no - they're doing a sequel" !