Reviews 2013
Reviews 2013
✭✭✭✭✩
music and lyrics by Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman, book by Julian Fellowes, directed by Nigel West
Drayton Entertainment, Dunfield Theatre Cambridge
March 6-April 28, 2013;
Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend
August 7-31, 2013
Mary: “Anything can happen if you let it.”
The City of Cambridge has built a lovely new 500-seat theatre, the Dunfield Theatre Cambridge, in the beautifully preserved old town of Galt. The city has asked Drayton Entertainment to run the new theatre year-round and Drayton has given the people of Cambridge (and the rest of Southern Ontario) an opening show to remember. Now playing at the Dunfield Theatre Cambridge is the first regional production of the Disney/Cameron Mackintosh musical Mary Poppins. With this show Drayton has reached such a high level of expertise that this Mary Poppins compares favourably with the original production in London in 2004 and with the touring production that reached Toronto in 2011. Not only that, but in many crucial respects the Drayton production is better than the original.
The Drayton production can’t be expected to have such extraordinarily expensive features of the original production as a full-scale two-storey house with removable roof for the Banks family to live in. The topiary garden that comes alive in the park scene is gone. And Bert does not do his magical tap-dance arch around the inside of the proscenium that wowed so many.
Each of these aspects of the original production added to the spectacle of the show, but none of them actually enhanced the telling of the story, and this is precisely where British director Nigel West excels in his production for Drayton. What he makes clearer than in the original production is the parallel between the stories involving Mary Poppins and the two Banks children and the story of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. As the Banks children’s lives improve with the help of their magical nanny, their parents’ lives disimprove. Mrs. Banks’ attempt at courting a new social set fails and Mr. Banks makes a decision that he thinks will lead to his ruin. When he contemplates having to let the servants go and sell their comfortable house in London, we are reminded that the writer of the book for the musical is Julian Fellowes, who would later go on to create Downton Abbey, where the Earl of Grantham faces a similar difficulty on a larger scale.
In the original production, the story of Mr. and Mrs. Banks seemed like a way to pass the time between the spectacular scenes with Mary Poppins and her earthly helper Bert. Under Nigel West, the musical seems much richer since Mary’s ability to make the children see the wonder in the world around them also affects their parents, especially Mr. Banks, whose ideal of order and precision fails so completely. Indeed, in this production Mary appears to be sent to the Banks family to help out the parents as much as the children.
The production is beautifully designed. Set designer Christine Peters has used a mixture of painted drops with flown and rolled-in set elements to create the various locations with the result that the stage picture often looks like the illustrations of a children’s book come to life. Costume designer Rachel Bechtold has created a huge range of period costumes for the Banks family plus highly imaginative outfits for the numerous fantasy characters such as the statues of Neleus and Queen Victoria that come to life. Besides these, there are the life-sized versions of the children’s toys and amusing costumes with red-and-white stripes on the sides for the big extravaganza to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Kevin Fraser’s lighting is excellent in establishing mood and Dan Payne’s projections are used sparingly but to great effect in showing smoke rolling from chimneys, twinkling stars and flights of birds. British choreographer Leigh Constantine has created the wonderfully imaginative dance numbers, of which the two highlights are the colourful sequence in the park to “Jolly Holiday” and the exciting rooftop tap number for the chimney sweeps to “Step in Time”. Constantine conceives of quite a satisfying alternative to Bert’s proscenium dance.
The performances are excellent across the board. Of the three Mary Poppinses I’ve seen, Jayme Armstrong is by far the most sympathetic. She has a high operetta-like voice very similar to Julie Andrews’, a pert demeanour and a wry smile that makes us think she is enjoying herself as much as the children. This is a welcome departure from the severity that Richard Eyre encouraged in the original Mary Poppins and suits the overall mood of the musical much better.
Mark Ledbetter, who played the role on Broadway, is a genial narrator as Bert as well as a fine singer and athletic dancer. His Bert and Armstrong’s Mary have a real chemistry together that makes us wish we knew more about them and their past. On the other hand, Bert’s ever-changing professions and his equanimity about Mary’s comings and goings suggest a contentment with change that Mary seeks to instil in her charges and is the exact opposite of what guides Mr. and Mrs. Banks until they, too, see the light.
James Kall is the best Mr. Banks I have seen. Unlike other actors in the role he carefully gradates his character’s slide from his stable beliefs into despair. Also, he somehow makes us see the child inside the adult that his adult self tries so hard to repress. Jackie Mustakas is a fine Mrs. Banks, who makes her character’s dilemma quite clear in wishing to support her husband while disagreeing with his rigidity. Unlike previous actors in this role, she really does give the sense of a woman who once had a profession (as an actress) and has not fully settled into the unexciting life of a mistress of a household.
The Banks children are played at alternate performances by Trek Buccino and Jayden Greig as Michael and by Hadley Mustakas and Avery Kadish as Jane. I happened to see Trek and Hadley, who proved themselves strong singers and natural actors. In smaller roles special mention must be made of Jayne Lewis’s superb performance of two characters who are polar opposites – the kind old Bird Woman and the maniacal nanny Mrs. Andrew. Lewis’s operatic showdown as Mrs. Andrew with Armstrong’s Mary is one of the musical highlights of the evening.
The minor roles are all well cast. Karen Wood is very funny as the Banks’ maid and cook Mrs. Brill. Ted Simonett reminds one of Edward Fox as Admiral Boom and the Chairman of the bank. Patrick Stiles makes us care about the statue Neleus. Rebecca Poff is a boisterous Mrs. Corry, who runs a “talking shop”. And Arthur Wight gives generates great sympathy in the small but important role of Northbrook.
Drayton Entertainment Artistic Director Alex Mustakas made an excellent decision in choosing Mary Poppins to open the Dunfield Theatre Cambridge. It demonstrates that the new theatre is up to the complex technical demands of mounting such a production-heavy musical (including flying!) and that Drayton is capable of mustering a cast and creative team that compete with the very best. Tickets are going fast both for the Cambridge run and for the run later in August at Grand Bend. (Even with such a lavish production, the highest price ticket sells for only $40.00!) If you want to see a delightful show that really is fun for the whole family, you had better not delay.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.
Photo: (top) Mark Ledbetter as Bert and Jayme Armstrong as Mary Poppins (both in white) with ensemble; (upper middle) The Dunfield Theatre Cambridge; (middle) Trek Buccino, Hadley Mustakas, Gregory Pember, Jackie Mustakas and Jayme Armstrong; (lower middle) Mark Ledbetter as Bert. ©2013 Drayton Entertainment.
2013-04-02
Mary Poppins