By Ethan Breinholt
I had the honor of seeing Mary Poppins at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center Amphitheater in West Valley, Utah on Saturday, June 16, 2018. This musical adaption of Mary Poppins is based off the P.L. Travers stories and the 1964 Walt Disney film, with its book written by Julian Fellowes, and the Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. New songs and additional Music and Lyrics are written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Mary Poppins premiered on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16th, 2006, but made its first ever premiere in Bristol at the Bristol Hippodrome on September 15, 2004. I was very excited to see this show, as it was a show I have been actually been in during my senior year of high school (I was in the ensemble and played Von Hussler as well), so I was dying to see how Utah Cultural Celebration Center’s production of Mary Poppins differed from my high school one.
There’s no denying Mary Poppins is one of the best live action movies Walt Disney Pictures has ever made, so it seemed like a no brainer to turn this beloved classic into a musical, and I gotta say, Cameron Mackintosh’ stage adaptation is wonderful—a fine, fine job. It stays true to the Travers story and Walt Disney’s classic film, while also adding some new, very catchy songs, and new, interesting characters in the mix. We know the musical itself is great, but how did director Jim E. Smith’s production at the Utah Cultural Center fare?
Let’s start with the technical aspect of things. The costumes, designed by Margene Conde, Courtney Nakashima, and Alana Woodbury, were very well done. Some of the stand out costumes, for me, were Mary Poppins, Queen Victoria, and basically everyone’s crazy colorful costumes during the “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. The statues that were used during “Jolly Holiday” had gowns on that were patterned like they were actual marble, which I found pretty cool. The lighting, done by Brio Technologies, was good overall, but was hardly used in Act I, since the whole show took place outdoors in an amphitheater during the daylight. There were a few moments where the lights should have been on the actors when it was semi dark (around 9ish), and there were moments where an actor needed a spotlight, but they either didn’t have one, or they missed their upper body entirely. Brio Technology’s sound was overall good as well. Meaning, when you don’t notice anything wrong with the sound because you can hear the actors clearly, that’s definitely a good sign. There were a couple times the mic was off on a character or turned on mid-speech, but that’s expected of a show without a Broadway budget, so that kind of stuff is always forgiven. Especially for opening weekend. The sets were well-constructed by Dave Newton, Sandy Newton, and Stacy Shultz looked nice, and only one or two backdrops were used, which also looked very nice and well painted. The flying was done by Flying By Foy, and looks spectacular as Mary Poppins and Bert flew around the stage.
Josie Shumway is great as Mary Poppins. Her acting is top notch and her comedic timing is very good, which I think comes from Smith’s directing, because all of the lead actors had great comedic timing. And, of course, all the parts were clearly cast well. When Shumway says one of the snarky, witty lines that Mary Poppins is known for, she gives the audience real and genuine chuckles. Ben Plowman as Bert is very good as well, but doesn’t quite shine as much as a lot of the other cast. Nonetheless he is still terrific. Olivia Sundwell and Chloe Warnas both play Jane Banks, but I’m not entirely sure which actress played her the day I went, as the production never told the audience beforehand which actress was onstage that night, but whomever it was, they were great, and kept their English accent pretty constant throughout. Michael Banks is portrayed by both Brooks Walker and Gavin DeMoux, and whomever was onstage that night, also did very well. The two kids have very good chemistry to the point where you could very well believe that they are actually related. Brandon Cecala is terrific as George Banks; he was rude when he needed to be, yet, when he’s really struggling with his bank job in the show, you really believe him and feel for him. If you didn’t know, this show is not really about Mary Poppins, it’s about George Banks and his journey to become a better person, so it’s important to have an actor who can embody this, and Cecala does a fine job. Winifred Banks is played by Alana Woodbury, and she is great as the mom of Jane and Michael and acted her heart out in this role. There isn’t much to say about this character, because the character is fine, just fine, in my opinion. She’s a mom playing a mom, and Woodbury does it well.
Michelle S. Sundwell plays the “the villain” (I say “villain” because Mr. Banks is the true villain of the story), the Holy Terror, aka Miss Andrews, but it’s more fun to refer to her as the Holy Terror, because that’s basically the only thing she’s referred to in the show. Sundwell plays the Holy Terror with much—terror, if you will? She is frightening in the role, and seems to have so much fun being terrorizing and it shows. From the looks of it, this villain is modeled after classic Disney villains, like Cruella De Vil for example, and she does a great job embodying this. The character in general however, has only two scenes in Act 2. That’s right, Act 2. She’s only in the show to have an excuse for Mary Poppins to come back to the kids and for George Banks to re-evaluate his life, but this could have been done a different way without adding a whole new character. Either way, she is terrific when she is onstage. Sundwell also plays the Bird Women, who is a beggar trying to raise money to save birds from something, which I forgot what, or the show might not even say, I’m not sure. The Bird Woman is supposed to be a beautiful singer, and Sundwell, in fact, is. I literally got goosebumps watching her sing “Feed the Birds”, and the live band (who all do an amazing job as well) playing behind the singing just sounded beautiful to me.
As for the comedic reliefs of the show, Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay, the servants of the Banks family, played by Alyssa Powers and Don Taylor, respectfully–they are by far the funniest characters, and they play the parts so well. As far as I know, Robertson Ay is supposed to be played by a young man, around 18-30, but Taylor is an much older man, and I think he makes the role even funnier.
The ensemble in this production of Mary Poppins is great, for the most part. There’s usually (from my theatre going experience) a sore thumb in the ensemble, an actor who is way too over the top to the point where it’s distracting, or an actor who isn’t synced up to everyone else involving the dancing. In this show, there wasn’t a sore thumb, and they all, for the most part, do great, and interact very well with each other. However, there are also some ensemble members who look like they are having the time of their lives, and others look like they just don’t want to be there. Overall, I am impressed with the ensemble. I do want to highlight one ensemble member: Alexander Richey. Richey makes this show his own. He plays Northbrook, Valentine, and Poseidon as well as being in the ensemble. I found myself watching him during musical numbers, so impressed with his facial expressions and overall joy he gave off just from being there. Everyone in any ensemble ever should be like this fine actor. He enhanced the entire ensemble wonderfully.
There were some supporting characters who stood out more than others as well. I’ll give an example; Richey as Northbrook (yes, I’m referring to Richey again because I love this guy), is a down on his luck, very kind and loving man who desperately needs money for a factory, which will make a lot of profit an help a lot of people. Richey plays him so well, that I was genuinely, very upset that Mr. Banks was even thinking of rejecting him. He has so much believability in his performance that I wanted to see more of this character. Other supporting characters on the other hand, just didn’t seem in character.
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In the end, Mary Poppins in West Valley is a great show and the cast a crew did an amazing job.
Kids will really enjoy this show, as well as adults. Kids might not get the business chatter that goes on in the show, but they will love the practical effects in the show, like when Mary pulls out a huge plant out of her small purse (us adults know exactly how they do it, but the kiddies will never know). The first act is much more fun than the second, but I recommend that you stay till the second act, because “Step in Time” is the best musical number in the show by far. Oh, did I mention that the character of Willoughby is a dog, and since this show takes place outdoors the character is played by an actual dog? It’s the cutest thing. If that alone doesn’t get you to the show, I don’t know what will.
The Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley presents Mary Poppins, book written by Julian Fellowes, Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman
Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W 3100 S, West Valley City, Utah 84119
June 14-22, 2018, 8:00 PM.
Tickets: $5.00
Utah Cultural Celebration Center Facebook Page
West Valley City Government Facebook Page
Mary Poppins Facebook Event
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