4 – 30 November
As Mary Poppins flew away over our heads at the end of this dazzling production, a bewitched audience rose as one to roar its approval for this musical theatre masterpiece.
Directed by Richard Eyre with choreography by Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, delightful illusions from maestros Paul Kieve and Jim Steinmeyer and a set of wonders from designer Bob Crowley, this Cameron Mackintosh/Disney production has been given an excellent platform on which to thrive. Twenty years since the show premiered here, the stagecraft and storytelling of Mary Poppins has managed to reach new giddy heights.
When was the last time you saw someone tap dance upside down at the apex of a proscenium arch? When did you ever see a whole house swivel to reveal rooms both back and front with people popping out of chimneys? Have you seen a kitchen turn from chaotic scrapyard to its former ordered self at the click of a finger, or seen a broom sweeping a floor all by itself? There is much magic to behold here which is sure to delight young and old alike. After all, when Mary Poppins is around, who knows what might happen next?
Stephanie Jones is the perfectly self-contained, cut glass-accented Poppins, carrying the enigma of being part judicious spirit, part magician and social worker particularly well. Her singing and dancing (despite the heeled Poppins boots) were flawless, as was that of the rest of the cast. Jack Chambers was simply electrifying as her friend, Bert the sweep. Chambers it is who dances his way up the sides and ceiling of the theatrical arch with a smile never leaving his face, energy personified.
The story centres on the Banks family – trending dysfunctional because of Mr Banks being a man-missing-out-on-life’s-important-moments sort of man, a banker driven by work with little time for affection for his wife and children and insisting the children be brought up by a nanny, many of whom have already resigned in quick succession. His wife, a former actress, is an undervalued and ‘gaslit’ partner struggling to keep love alive. Cue Poppins to the rescue!
Michael D Xavier develops Mr Banks’ character well, aping as he goes many amusing quirks and gestures reminiscent of Basil Faulty as he journeys to his epiphany later in the show. Winifred Banks, his wife (Lucie-Mae Sumner), has lost her suffragette identity in this iteration of the story, but shows a steelier side later when upping the ante on her husband’s employment terms in the vast colonnaded surrounds of her husband’s bank, another triumph of set design by Bob Crowley.
Support came aplenty from a sensational company and a 12-piece orchestra. There’s a show-stopping performance from Wendy Ferguson as the terrifying stand-in nanny Miss Andrew with her bottle of luminous green bitumen and treacle; Rosemary Ashe is great fun as the bustling no-nonsense cook Mrs Brill with her dotty sidekick Robertson (Ruairidh McDonald); Sharon Wattis booms as the fantasy sweet shopkeeper Mrs Corry while sadly, the multi-talented Patty Boulaye has only a limited moment to shine as the Bird Woman.
Huge congratulations must go the two Banks children, Jane and Michael. On the night it was Florence Swann and Charlie Donald both making their professional debuts in the roles. Charged with large speaking parts, multiple stage changes and song and dance routines, they absolutely convinced as children buffeted by changing circumstances, forming heartfelt connection to Poppins and later their suddenly more accessible dad.
A feel-good show with production values to the max, Mary Poppins brings her ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ world to the Hippodrome. An hour or two of this will definitely help the medicine go down!
★★★★★ Simon Bishop, 15 November 2024
