Review: Cast Makes 'Mary Poppins' Supercalifragilisticexpialidocus
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Sure, there are some familiar bits and pieces and numbers, but it’s got a lot of new parts to make it almost a completely different entity in its own right. It’s a concoction of the book series, the movie and original music and lyrics written for the stage adaptation.
The musical steps into some dark territory, but pulls back before scaring the children in the audience. When the toys come alive for the number “Playing the Game,” it becomes a nightmare for Jane (Brielle Fehlmann) and Michael (Parker Irwin), the two Banks children. Yet, the children have been treating their toys nightmarishly, so it’s a bit of revenge. It isn’t “Chucky,” but it’s a little on the dark side.
And that keeps the spoonfuls of sugar in the show from making the musical too sweet for adults.
In the title role is Kira Lace Hawkins, who people may remember as Clelia Waldgrave in last year’s “The Nerd,” Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi in “Hello, Dolly” or Violet Newstead in “9 to 5.” Whenever Hawkins is in a show, she commands the stage. As Poppins, she’s no different. She immerses herself in the role and becomes the magical being with a lot of tricks up her sleeve.
Poppins, as played by the indelible Hawkins, is firm and stoic, but her heart is grand. She makes the children take their medicine, and teaches them valuable lessons like be careful what you wish for, but she also knows when the children just need to have fun. Hawkins is great for this role because she comes off the same way in person – fun, but knows when to get down to business.
And, of course, Hawkins can sing. I’ve written that a number of times over the past three or four years. Whether she’s singing “Feed the Birds” or “Spoonful of Sugar,” she’s got the voice of a nightingale.
Best friend of Poppins is Bert (Justin Schuman). The character in the musical is a narrator, observer and – like Poppins – pushes the Bank family closer together. He seems to have a little of his own magic.
Schuman, unfortunately, is only at the Wagon Wheel this season for “Mary Poppins.” However, he’s an incredible find and one that hopefully will return to Warsaw for future productions.
Schuman doesn’t try to be Dick Van Duke, the actor who played Bert in the Disney film. He brings his own pizzazz to it and it’s a perfect performance.
Throughout the show, Bert sings “Chim Chiminey” or parts of the song, and Schuman can set the tone for that moment of the show by the way he delivers the lines. After watching Schuman for the first time Wednesday night, my guess is that he’ll make it to Broadway eventually. He’s got a lot of talent.
Schuman and Hawkins have great chemistry on stage as friends. Bert seems to have a bit of a crush on Poppins, but he’s clever enough to know Poppins is a being not like anyone else. Anyway, it’s easy to believe that Schuman’s Bert and Hawkins’ Poppins have been friends forever.
There’s a lot of cast members in “Mary Poppins,” and they all lend strong support to Schuman and Hawkins.
As George and Winifred Banks, Scott Fuss and Jennifer Dow, respectively, effortlessly play the embroiled parents who can’t see how their lack of involvement in their children’s lives are affecting the household. George wasn’t lovingly raised by his own parents, and now he’s doing the same thing to his. Winifred has become a shadow of her former self and it takes a push from Poppins to gain her self-confidence back.
Irwin and Fehlmann as the unruly children show a lot of promise. Over the years some local children have started their acting careers at the Wagon Wheel and then gone on to perform at the college or Broadway levels. Irwin and Fehlmann show promise that they can add their names to that list one day.
There are plenty of characters in the musical that aren’t in the movie version, like Robertson Ay (Javier Ferreira), Miss Andrews (Kristen Yasenchak) and Miss Corry (Christiani Pitts). I singled out these three particular roles because they were so well done.
Ay is the unintelligent butler for the Banks family. His little unintentional antics had audience members laughing opening night because Ferreira played the part so well. There’s one particular scene where Ay steps in a bucket, breaks a table and can’t stand up because of the slippery floor conditions that had many people around me laughing out loud.
Late in Act I, Poppins takes the Banks children to see Miss Corry at her shop in the park. Pitts plays her with a possibly Jamaican accent, but does the role so well you may wonder if she really has that accent. She’s surrounded by bright, colorful hippy clowns. Obviously, Corry and her scene aren’t in the Disney movie, but it makes the stage musical better and brighter. And I just found Pitts’ performance very fun. The scene leads to the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius,” and the stage version of that song is better than the movie version in my book.
One thing that “Mary Poppins” really doesn’t have in the film version is a nemesis. Miss Andrews, as played by Yasenchak, fills that role divinely in the musical. She doesn’t come in until Act II, but after watching the performance, you wish she had made her entrance in Act I. Andrews and Poppins could really have a go at it.
Maybe there’s a sequel there?
As for Andrews’ appearance, it has “drag queen plays Morticia Adams” written all over it. And that’s a compliment. I loved the look for the character.
There’s a lot of little things in the Wagon Wheel production of this show that makes it fun. From the dancing child penguin (who really, really steals the scene and needs his own credit in the cast list) to the costumes by Stephen Hollenbeck, I can’t imagine a better production of “Mary Poppins.” It’s just done right and a great way to start the 2014 summer season.
My rating (out of four): 3.25.
“Mary Poppins” is presented by Zimmer and The Wagon Wheel Theatre. Tickets range from $18 to $36. Discounts are available for college students and on designated performances for seniors. For more information, visit wagonwheeltheatre.org or call 574-267-8041.
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Sure, there are some familiar bits and pieces and numbers, but it’s got a lot of new parts to make it almost a completely different entity in its own right. It’s a concoction of the book series, the movie and original music and lyrics written for the stage adaptation.
The musical steps into some dark territory, but pulls back before scaring the children in the audience. When the toys come alive for the number “Playing the Game,” it becomes a nightmare for Jane (Brielle Fehlmann) and Michael (Parker Irwin), the two Banks children. Yet, the children have been treating their toys nightmarishly, so it’s a bit of revenge. It isn’t “Chucky,” but it’s a little on the dark side.
And that keeps the spoonfuls of sugar in the show from making the musical too sweet for adults.
In the title role is Kira Lace Hawkins, who people may remember as Clelia Waldgrave in last year’s “The Nerd,” Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi in “Hello, Dolly” or Violet Newstead in “9 to 5.” Whenever Hawkins is in a show, she commands the stage. As Poppins, she’s no different. She immerses herself in the role and becomes the magical being with a lot of tricks up her sleeve.
Poppins, as played by the indelible Hawkins, is firm and stoic, but her heart is grand. She makes the children take their medicine, and teaches them valuable lessons like be careful what you wish for, but she also knows when the children just need to have fun. Hawkins is great for this role because she comes off the same way in person – fun, but knows when to get down to business.
And, of course, Hawkins can sing. I’ve written that a number of times over the past three or four years. Whether she’s singing “Feed the Birds” or “Spoonful of Sugar,” she’s got the voice of a nightingale.
Best friend of Poppins is Bert (Justin Schuman). The character in the musical is a narrator, observer and – like Poppins – pushes the Bank family closer together. He seems to have a little of his own magic.
Schuman, unfortunately, is only at the Wagon Wheel this season for “Mary Poppins.” However, he’s an incredible find and one that hopefully will return to Warsaw for future productions.
Schuman doesn’t try to be Dick Van Duke, the actor who played Bert in the Disney film. He brings his own pizzazz to it and it’s a perfect performance.
Throughout the show, Bert sings “Chim Chiminey” or parts of the song, and Schuman can set the tone for that moment of the show by the way he delivers the lines. After watching Schuman for the first time Wednesday night, my guess is that he’ll make it to Broadway eventually. He’s got a lot of talent.
Schuman and Hawkins have great chemistry on stage as friends. Bert seems to have a bit of a crush on Poppins, but he’s clever enough to know Poppins is a being not like anyone else. Anyway, it’s easy to believe that Schuman’s Bert and Hawkins’ Poppins have been friends forever.
There’s a lot of cast members in “Mary Poppins,” and they all lend strong support to Schuman and Hawkins.
As George and Winifred Banks, Scott Fuss and Jennifer Dow, respectively, effortlessly play the embroiled parents who can’t see how their lack of involvement in their children’s lives are affecting the household. George wasn’t lovingly raised by his own parents, and now he’s doing the same thing to his. Winifred has become a shadow of her former self and it takes a push from Poppins to gain her self-confidence back.
Irwin and Fehlmann as the unruly children show a lot of promise. Over the years some local children have started their acting careers at the Wagon Wheel and then gone on to perform at the college or Broadway levels. Irwin and Fehlmann show promise that they can add their names to that list one day.
There are plenty of characters in the musical that aren’t in the movie version, like Robertson Ay (Javier Ferreira), Miss Andrews (Kristen Yasenchak) and Miss Corry (Christiani Pitts). I singled out these three particular roles because they were so well done.
Ay is the unintelligent butler for the Banks family. His little unintentional antics had audience members laughing opening night because Ferreira played the part so well. There’s one particular scene where Ay steps in a bucket, breaks a table and can’t stand up because of the slippery floor conditions that had many people around me laughing out loud.
Late in Act I, Poppins takes the Banks children to see Miss Corry at her shop in the park. Pitts plays her with a possibly Jamaican accent, but does the role so well you may wonder if she really has that accent. She’s surrounded by bright, colorful hippy clowns. Obviously, Corry and her scene aren’t in the Disney movie, but it makes the stage musical better and brighter. And I just found Pitts’ performance very fun. The scene leads to the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius,” and the stage version of that song is better than the movie version in my book.
One thing that “Mary Poppins” really doesn’t have in the film version is a nemesis. Miss Andrews, as played by Yasenchak, fills that role divinely in the musical. She doesn’t come in until Act II, but after watching the performance, you wish she had made her entrance in Act I. Andrews and Poppins could really have a go at it.
Maybe there’s a sequel there?
As for Andrews’ appearance, it has “drag queen plays Morticia Adams” written all over it. And that’s a compliment. I loved the look for the character.
There’s a lot of little things in the Wagon Wheel production of this show that makes it fun. From the dancing child penguin (who really, really steals the scene and needs his own credit in the cast list) to the costumes by Stephen Hollenbeck, I can’t imagine a better production of “Mary Poppins.” It’s just done right and a great way to start the 2014 summer season.
My rating (out of four): 3.25.
“Mary Poppins” is presented by Zimmer and The Wagon Wheel Theatre. Tickets range from $18 to $36. Discounts are available for college students and on designated performances for seniors. For more information, visit wagonwheeltheatre.org or call 574-267-8041.
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