London, Ontario Review: 'Mary Poppins' at The Grand Theatre

• Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic

What a jolly (mini) holiday to have travelled to London, Ontario, and take college friends Roger and Darlene to see the wonderful opening night production of ‘Mary Poppins’ now on stage at London, Ontario’s Grand Theatre.

If anyone needs another suggestion for a “practically perfect” gift this holiday season, give the joy of live theatre. Get your tickets quickly as I truly believe this ‘Mary Poppins’ will sell out soon.

Fans of the 1964 film version with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke will recognize similarities between it and this current stage presentation. We are introduced to the Banks family who live on 1717 Cherry Tree Lane in London, England. Father George Banks (Ben Carlson) works at the bank and is an extremely pragmatic businessman first and foremost. He leaves the running of the household to his wife, Winnifred (Alexis Gordon), an actress who gave up her stage career when she married her husband. This family experiences great difficulty in maintaining a nanny in the house on account of the Banks children, Jane and Michael, (Abi Verhaeghe and Hayden Baertsoen) who are badly spoiled for a lack of strong parental influence.

This family is truly in need of support as they have lost their way on many accounts. When Jane and Michael write an advertisement for a new nanny, they are most surprised when the mysterious Mary Poppins (Deborah Hay) swoops down from the sky and appears on their doorstep. According to Director Megan Watson, “What Mary Poppins teaches us is that often we already have what we need; it is right there in front of us…Mary asks us to see the world or our circumstances from a slightly different perspective – one  that always includes kindness, generosity and fun.”

Indeed, my friends and I had tremendous fun on this opening night and were not disappointed in the least. What made this production enjoyable was the fact the creative team made a wise decision not to replicate the original New York and touring production which made its way to the Mirvish stage a few years ago. Instead, as Ms. Watson states in her Program Notes, “We have taken great care in crafting this production to both reminisce and reinvent the story.”

The creative team succeeded in achieving this task, especially in its diverse casting of strong performers and a stellar team of creative behind the scene associates.

Projection Designer Jamie Nesbitt’s compilation of a vast array of gorgeously stunning visual projections greatly enhanced the grandiosity of Lorenzo Savoini’s set design of various environments which include the Banks’ home, the outside of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the rooftops of London just to name a few. Dana Osborne’s costume strikingly reflect the fashionable mode of the Victorian era. Bonnie Beecher’s lighting design strongly focused my attention on each scene.

Stephen Cota’s work in choreography was a terrific augmentation to the joy of the memorable songs. I especially liked his work with Bert and the chimney sweeps for ‘Step in Time’, ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ and ‘Jolly Holiday’. There were some special moments in solo bits especially with Jak Barradell’s dance number as park statue Neleus.

Since this story is iconic, most of us know a good majority of the songs. Musical Director Craig Fair didn’t disappoint as the joy of song emanated continually throughout the entire performance. There were a few tuneful ditties that still resonate with me. A few examples (although plenty more abound in the show): ‘Feed the Birds’ always bring a tear to my eye for its message of reaching out to the poor. ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ and ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ always bring a smile to my face and, once again, they did here.

As director, I’m sure Ms. Watson recognized the task she would have had on her hands because this tale is such a beloved one. Her visionary direction in diverse casting captured the magical essence needed to ensure this classic story will continue to be re-told. Jan Alexandra Smith’s Bird Woman hauntingly reminded me of our continued need to reach out to the poor. Her performance as Miss Andrew, George Banks’ former nanny when he was a child, is nothing short of spectacular fun. Miss Andrew is called ‘The Terror’ for a pertinent reason and Ms. Smith took every opportunity to show how that nickname rings aptly true. Phoebe Hu gives a delightfully cheeky performance as the housekeeper, Mrs. Brill.

The equally strong five member ensemble of Josh Graetz, Heather Kosik, Jamie Murray, Shakeil Rollock and Michele Shuster kicked their knees up with vivacity in ‘Step in Time’.

Hayden Baertsoen and Abi Verhaeghe are adorable as Michael and Jane Banks. Ben Carlson is a convincingly sound, matter of fact, precise, pragmatic, absentee of a father George Banks. As devoted wife Winnifred who does her best not to upset the apple cart in matters relating to the children and her husband, Alexis Gordon is a sweet, reassuring mother figure who learns a great deal from Mary Poppins about establishing what’s important in the creation of a family life.

Mark Uhre is dashing and charming as the chimney sweep, Bert, and the sometimes narrator to the story. Mr. Uhre dances a lively ‘Step in Time’ surrounded by a tightly knit ensemble who uniquely make this song an eleven o’clock number.

As the title character, Deborah Hay’s Mary Poppins is quite lovely. Ms. Hay commands the stage with a confident and zestful appeal especially in the way she introduces herself to Jane and Michael and using their imaginations. Along with the pearl bits of wisdom Mary dispenses throughout, Ms. Hay also playfully hints at a possible mysterious and underlying dark element about herself near the end of Act One in ‘Playing the Game’ with the toys in the nursery.

FINAL COMMENTS: Wonderful family fare this Christmas and holiday season. It’s worth a trip to the theatre. Go get those tickets, Spit! Spot!

MARY POPPINS

Runs to December 29 on The Spriet Stage at The Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond Street, London, Ontario.  For tickets, call 1-519-672-8800 or visit www.grandtheatre.com.

Performance runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.

Photo L – R: Hayden Baertsoen as Michael Banks, Abi Verhaeghe as Jane Banks and Deborah Hay as Mary Poppins by Dahlia Katz.

The musical is based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney film. Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Book by Julian Fellowes with New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

Director: Megan Watson; Musical Director: Craig Fair; Choreographer: Stephen Cota; Set Designer: Lorenzo Savoini; Costume Designer: Dana Osborne; Lighting Designer: Bonnie Beecher; Projection Designer: Jamie Nesbitt; Sound Designer: Brian Kenny; Stage Manager: Kelly Luft;

Cast: Christy Adamson; Hayden Baertsoen; Jak Barradell; Ben Carlson; Michael Cox; Alexis Gordon; Josh Graetz; Deborah Hay; Phoebe Hu; Heather Kosik; Jamie Murray; Shakeil Rollock; Antonette Rudder; Michelle Shuster; Jan Alexandra Smith; Giovannni Spina; Mark Uhre; Abi Verhaeghe; Sandy Winsby; Robert Yeretch