‘Mary Poppins’ buoyed by letter-perfect star – The Mercury Information
It can be difficult to do justice to an iconic character like Mary Poppins, the “practically perfect” British nanny from the children’s books by PL Travers and the 1964 Disney film based on it.
The Tri-Valley Repertory Theater is blessed with a flawless Mary in its production of “Mary Poppins” at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. Rachel Powers has a bright smile, impeccable demeanor, and a beautiful voice that make her ideal for the role. The memorable image of the umbrella-swinging nanny gliding through the air also goes smoothly over the stage.
The stage musical itself is not that flawless. With a book by Julian Fellowes from Downton Abbey, the musical mixes elements of the books and the film into a hodgepodge that isn’t too faithful either.
Only some of the memorable songs in the film by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman appear in the stage musical, and the rest have often been rewritten to better fit the relatively melancholy tone of the stage show. Completely absent are “Stay Awake”, “The Life I Lead”, “I Love to Laugh”, “Sister Suffragette” and “Fidelity Fiduciary Bank”. They are replaced by many new songs by the composer George Stiles and the lyricist Anthony Drewe, which cannot quite keep up with the old ones.
As always, the mysterious Mary Poppins turns up unexpectedly to meet the new nanny of Jane (an irritable Juliana Morrow, alternates with Emily Joy Kessel) and Michael (exuberant Eliana McKean, alternates with JD Cerruti), the misbehaving children of Mr. and Mrs. to be banks. Although her focus is on the children, Mary’s real job is to foster a closer relationship between them and their parents.
Mr. Banks (an overly bourgeois Venis Goodman) is an emotionally distant banker who puts precision and order first, as he notes in a song called Precision and Order. Now he’s even more work-obsessed than usual because, with an atypical glimmer of humanity, he approved a risky loan to an idealistic businessman (kindly Jordan Smith) instead of a potentially lucrative but shamelessly exploitative speculator (a sober, unscrupulous Jim Rupp). Sorrowful Mrs. Banks (a subdued Alexis Rodgers) is so used to alienation that she doesn’t expect anything else. But Mary Poppins has a way of bringing sleeping or downright inanimate things to life.
Robert Lopez has a permanent goofy grin as the ubiquitous Bert, Mary’s chimney sweep and all-rounder, who acts as a kind of narrator and introduces scene after scene with short, dark excerpts from “Chim Chim Cher-ee”. long before the actual song appears.
There are relatively insignificant appearances from characters from the original Travers books, such as a statue coming to life (graceful Jenny Hudson) and an immortal wizard shopkeeper (a lovable Kirsten Torkildson). The biggest addition from the books is Miss Andrew (delightfully sinister Jennifer Bell-Olson), Mr. Banks’ tough and harassing nanny who acts as the evil opposite of Mary Poppins – and also a practical explanation for why Mr. Banks is like this emotionally stunted as he is.
Director Daren AC Carollo gives the show a polished staging. Martin Flynn’s set, imported from the Berkeley Playhouse production, captures a multitude of scenes with its moving parts. The songs are skilfully played by the orchestra under the direction of Jo Anne Fosselman and sung well by the cast, and Kelly Cooper’s choreography is entertainingly lively for big numbers like “Step in Time”.
Bert sings about what a fun vacation it is with Mary, but she’s had funnier trips than this musical. It’s bittersweet and sometimes pretty dark. Still, the sparkling presence of Mary Poppins itself provides the scoop of sugar necessary to deliver the medicine in a generally pleasant manner.
Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.
‘MARY POPPINS’
By Julian Fellowes, George Stiles, Anthony Drewe, Richard B. Sherman, and Roger B. Sherman, presented by the Tri-Valley Repertory Theater
Until: July 31st
Where: Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, one break
Admission Tickets: $ 29- $ 43; 925-373-6800, www.trivalleyrep.org
