Over the last couple of months, it has been my great pleasure to reacquaint myself with the joys and delights of Mary Poppins, which is the next production at the Racine Theater Guild. I’m quite certain that I have not seen the film start to finish in at least 33 years. (I remember watching at least most of it Thanksgiving Day 1982. Because of a strange scheduling snafu, I ended up eating two complete Thanksgiving dinners that day- one with the family of my voice teacher Cherie Carl, which was expected, and a second one with my pastor and his wife, which was not. I told her that I already had plans for the day, but that morning at church she told me how excited they were to have me that night, and I couldn’t bear to disappoint her. So I came that evening and ate a second Thanksgiving dinner, after which we adjourned to the living room to watch Mary Poppins. 33 years later, I still associate that film with severe stomach pains and a dread of ever eating again – which may be one reason why I haven’t watched it since, save for the occasional brief clip.)
It turns out that Mary Poppins tells quite a poignant story about redemption – of stepping beyond one’s own emotional or mental scars – of finding one’s sense of self – and of giving up self-centeredness in favor of a more loving and compassionate outlook. It’s also a rollicking good time, full of terrific (and often dark) humor and wonderful, engaging music. Kathy and I saw it on Broadway and absolutely loved it, so we were excited when it was announced as part of this current season of the Racine Theater Guild.
Well ahead of that, I had already reconnected with Mary Poppins via a superb and moving film titled “Saving Mr. Banks,” which tells the true story – somewhat truthfully – of the contentious collaboration between Walt Disney & Co. and the woman who wrote the original novel, P. L. (Pamela Lyndon) Travers. She was very reluctant to release the book to Disney and insisted on playing a significant role in how the film would be crafted, in the hopes that she would prevent the film from trivializing what was an deeply personal story for her. This is a film that everyone needs to see, not only for its own merits but also for the way in which it enhances our understanding of and appreciation for this familiar story.
A year or two before that, Kathy and I had the great pleasure of seeing the stage version of Mary Poppins on Broadway, and it ranks among the most amazing productions we have ever seen. And we were so fortunate that our seats up in the first balcony were ideally situated for that astounding moment when Mary Poppins flew over our heads and out of sight. She flew right in front of our awe-struck eyes, and we cried our eyes out. It was one of those moments you remember for the rest of your life.
As for the RTG’s production, I have had an absolutely terrific time with our wonderful cast. They seem as excited as I am with bringing this story to our stage, and to a person they seem committed to the dual purposes of Working Hard and Having Fun. I couldn’t be more pleased about that. And because we had a fairly strong turnout for auditions, we were in a position to be very choosy with just about every single role. What’s especially nice, though, is that we have very talented and skilled performers who are also very nice, appreciative, positive people who work with each other so beautifully. I probably shouldn’t start singling people out, but I really do need to mention the splendid people we have as our leads. Jamie and Rob, our Mary and Bert, are absolutely wonderful in their respective roles and also fit together perfectly as an onstage pair – and set such a positive tone for the rest of the cast to emulate. Rob has really captured the easygoing joy of Bert, before we’ve even made it to the stage. And Jamie is really putting her inimitable stamp on the role of Mary Poppins in every way.
For our Mr. and Mrs. Banks, we have Brian, a valuable veteran of the RTG who has been in many shows over the years and is perfectly cast in this latest role – and Megan, who debuted for us many years as an orphan in Annie and returned a few years later as the mayor’s daughter in The Music Man. You can’t imagine how wonderful it is to welcome her back to our stage as a beautiful, assured young woman for the beginning of what I trust will be a lengthy and fruitful new chapter with the guild. Among other notable members of the cast, I need to single out Ashley Mulder, who was our Lady of the Lake in last spring’s Spamalot. She was in another production of Mary Poppins not long ago, so she knows this show inside and out. I can’t begin to describe just how incredibly helpful she has been, in addition to performing her own role splendidly. And I would be amiss if I didn’t mention a talented aunt and niece, Betty and Marcee, who are in the same production for the first time in their lives – as the Bird Woman and Miss Andrew, respectively, and doing a great job. And my hats go off to all of the talented singer/dancers in our cast, including Eric and Ian, who add some tremendous sparkle to the proceedings.
And of course, you can’t do Mary Poppins without those two Banks children- and those are roles that demand quite a lot, both theatrically and musically. Bela and Christopher are terrific, albeit in different ways. Bela is a remarkably assured young lady who is very comfortable onstage and is dispatching her role with crisp assurance that perfectly befits the character. Christopher is less experienced but loves theater with a ferocious passion and is giving 1000% to the show. (When he says “I love you, Mary Poppins” at the end of the show, our hearts collectively melt!)
As I have watched them, it has become increasingly clear to me that the two children are in many ways the central figures in this show- in desperate need of joy and love love as well as firm guidance. And thanks to Bela’s and Christopher’s performances, we find ourselves fervently rooting for them right from the start and find our hearts cracked wide open by the end, when true happiness finally finds its way into the Banks family.
This show and story is also about caring for the children in our midst- who are, after all, so very vulnerable – and that has played out in real life, as well. It’s been neat in these rehearsals to observe the tremendous kindness and patience of the principals in the cast towards the two youngsters. And that goes as well for director Doug Instenes, who is always so careful to treat the children with whom he works with dignity, affection and affirmation- while also setting clear boundaries and insisting that those boundaries be respected. He wants any children who participate in shows at the guild to not only have a fun time- but to also learn important lessons about focus, perseverance, cooperativeness, personal responsibility, and passion – and to understand all that it takes to create meaningful and exciting live theater. (Of course, it’s important for we adults to learn those lessons along the way as well!)
So much of this show is really about finding joy – embracing it – and sharing it. And all you have to do is listen to a couple of lines of “Let’s go fly a kite …. up to the highest heights! Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring!” to sense where all of this is headed – to a place of real joy.
There is still much to be done. Sets and costumes are still be finished ….. many technical matters (such as flying Mary) are being worked out ….. but what I’ve seen within the last couple of nights has been remarkable and inspiring. I hope you’ll come along for the ride if you possibly can!
Mary Poppins runs from December 4th to December 20th. Go to racinetheatre.org or call (262) 633-4218 for more information.