#1
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.
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.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
