Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Wed 14 Dec – Sat 14 Jan
Disney’s classic movie musical is given the full theatrical makeover in this touring production. The Sherman Brothers’ original hits, A Spoonful of Sugar, Let’s Go Fly a Kite and all those other memorable tunes are still in, but in true West End style the songs are even bigger and better than before. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an epically staged chorus number, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, that features a brilliant dance-along routine the audience can get in on. The extra songs, added by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, are seamlessly woven into the original score with the new material often introducing fresh characters and storylines from the original children’s stories.
The Banks children, in great need of a nanny, are much more badly behaved than you may remember from the film. Enter the practically perfect Poppins, who needs to teach both good behaviour to the children and the importance of family to their workaholic father. Bert, her friend and accomplice in transforming Edwardian London into a fantasy playground, is the perfect comic foil to Mary Poppins’s strict nanny persona.
The original Broadway production won a Tony for Best Scenic Design and it is easy to see why. 17 Cherry Tree Lane is recreated beautifully both inside and out and the rooftop scene is spectacular. The biggest treat is, of course, kept until the end. Just like Jane and Michael, you may not want Mary Poppins to leave, but you will want to see just how they manage to recreate her famous umbrella flight. Bert, not to be outdone, has his own moment of magic and his character is, literally, elevated beyond his role in the books.
No stage adaptation could ever reproduce the original film, or its standout performances from Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. What this stage show does is to go one better: to recreate the enchanting quality of the original stories, made all the more vivid through the immediate magic of the theatre. If you love the film, or even if you don’t, you won’t be able to resist falling in love with this high-flying family musical.
Tickets £22.50 – £57.50 Info 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES