Glad Company: Mary Poppins’ Outrageous Sets and Delirious Dancing (Review)

A Seattle stage will hold 11,000 pounds over the next few weeks. No, I’m not talking about Sinbad’s appearance at the Emerald Queen. Instead I refer to the main set for the national tour of Mary Poppins, playing through May 29 at The Paramount.

The Banks House set is the 5.5-ton culprit, just one of a passel of incredible set pieces in this top-notch production. If you pay between $26.50 and $136.50 for a ticket, you’ll also get to see the roof/nursery set (7,000 lbs.), a psychedelic park backdrop, and, my favorite, the visual trickery of the set of the bank. Truth: Dropping $26.50 is worth it for the sets alone. Seriously, they should charge that during the day just to let people watch the sets.

However! There is also dancing and singing! The intricate, lively, and in some cases over-the-top choreography is really a thrill. Keep your eyes out for the “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” dance, an exercise in human semaphore which new cast members work on for days as soon as they join the production.

Between the dancing and the sets (and surprise bit of stage craft just before curtain), it’s a pretty darn fun show. “I could just sit and watch that all day,” said my lovely companion as we left the theater.

You know the story, right? Pretty basic. Supernanny Mary Poppins floats down from the ether and gets two English rich brats into line with the help of chimney sweep/shaman Bert. Playing Mary Poppins is Oregon’s own Steffanie Leigh, a product of the tiny town of Talent, way down south near Ashland. Leigh nails the perfectionist Poppins, commanding the stage with upright bearing and a complete lack of self-doubt. She even carried through a slight glitch on opening night, when a coat rack she was trying to pull out of her bottomless handbag got caught up on something. “My goodness,” she exclaimed, then gave a knowing glance to the audience when the damn thing finally came out.

Original Broadway company member Nicolas Dromard plays song and dance man Bert, displaying an assured masculinity rather than the lanky goofiness of Dick van Dyke. Dromard has the exhausting task of leading the big dance numbers, and does a fantastic job. (The press notes tell me there’s a stagehand whose only job is to follow Dromard around with a water bottle.) If you want to know more about Dromard, you can follow his Twitter account. Look! Here he is at Saturday’s Pike Place Market cheese festival!

Also of note: Janet MacEwen, who sings the lovely “Feed the Birds.” MacEwen simply has a gorgeous voice, and it’s utilized to perfection here.

Now to the part of the review when I complain! While the sets and dancing are fantastic, they could’ve done better with music…by just leaving it alone! The production includes seven new songs by the songwriting team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and said songs pale next to the Richard and Robert Sherman originals. Stiles and Drewe shouldn’t feel too bad about this, the Sherman brothers were among the best of their time. I question why you’d take out some Sherman originals to add these clearly inferior Stiles and Drew songs. One of my very favorites from the movie, the beautiful “Stay Awake,” doesn’t make the musical. And every Sherman original begins with a weird, slow, minor key lead-in. Folks, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Honestly, though, that’s a minor gripe. Your favorite songs are still there: “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Step in Time,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Jolly Holiday,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” “Chim Chim Cherr-ee,” serves as a musical motif throughout. Awesome.

The plot, penned by British screenwriter Julian Fellowes, writer of Gosford Park and the unmatchable Downton Abbey, is much different from the movie version, including several characters that weren’t in the movie at all. You can read about Fellowes’ choices here. This production got its start in London in December 2004, premiering on Broadway in November 2006 (where it’s still running).The national tour began in March 2009. Recommended!