Concert #838 - Mary Poppins at the Morgan-Wixson Theater (July 21, 2018)

Once a year, my Better Half and I host Sara and Kate, our two Seattle-based granddaughters. While scouring the net in search of some suitable form of entertainment, I stumbled upon what appeared to be a low-budget and most likely amateurish stage production of Mary Poppins. Good enough for my six and seven year old young ladies, I said to myself, so I bought four tickets, which - at $28 each - set us back a little over one hundred bucks. Was it money well spent? Read on!

Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what was in store for us. From our front-row seats, we witnessed an incredible performance with excellent singing, outstanding acting, dazzling dancing and, overall, lots of pace, color and professionalism - take it from someone who has seen both the Broadway and Los Angeles production of the same musical. From Mary, Bert and the Banks, to the Bird Woman and Miss Andrew, everyone on stage was practically perfect in every way! Mesmerized by the show, our granddaughters remained focused way past their normal attention span and they celebrated with enthusiasm the demise of the terrifying Miss Andrew and her Brimstone and Treacle potion. And just like the rest of, Sara and Kate absolutely loved Sadie Fisher and Ethan Kuwata, whose performance as the Banks children was exceptionally good.

Mary Poppins at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

L to R: Ethan Kuwata, Philip McBride, Sadie Fisher, Amanda Greig

Main roles

Mary Poppins: Amanda Greig

Bert: Philip McBride

George Banks: Spencer Johnson

Winifred Banks: Eileen O’Donnell

Jane: Sadie Fisher

Michael: Ethan Kuwata

Bird Woman: Kelly Gable

Miss Andrew: Kim Peterson

There's nothing like going to a show with low expectations, only to be knocked out by the performance and that was precisely our experience at Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theater. It is obvious that talent is not in short supply in Los Angeles and vicinity!

Amanda Greig as Mary Poppins

Philip McBride, Amanda Greig & the Living Statues

Mary Poppins at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

The chimney sweeps

The end of the show

Kate (left) and Sara at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theater

 

Concert #647 - Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson Theatre (August 29, 2012)

Less than a year after attending the fabulous Broadway production of Mary Poppins in New York, I couldn't resist the temptation of reliving the experience, so I shelled out the big bucks and got myself three front row seats at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Unlike in New York, having front row seats was an absolute necessity, as I was planning to bring along my grandson Austin, who at the age of almost eight was certainly old enough to appreciate the whole affair.

Unavoidably and also unfairly, I couldn't help but compare what I saw Wednesday night at the Ahmanson with last year's Broadway show. Although with somewhat different stage setups and all new actors, the two productions were quite similar, so the surprise element was not there Wednesday night. But no matter, I enjoyed both shows in equal measure and I'm happy to report that Austin immersed himself totally into the show and was quite impressed with everything in general and the special effects in particular.

I was hoping to see Gavin Lee once again - his portrayal of Bert on Broadway was nothing short of sensational. Well, there wasn't Gavin Lee, but there was Nicolas Dromard, whose Bert was also great. Rachel Wallace looked and sounded good in the title role. I also liked Michael Dean Morgan and Elizabeth Broadhurst in the roles of Mr. & Mrs. Banks, respectively.

Rachel Wallace & Nicolas Dromard

Michael Dean Morgan & Elizabeth Broadhurst

Come to think of it, I liked all performers, but the actor who stole the show was Q. Smith, who played both the dreadfully mean Miss Andrew and the gentle Bird Woman, two roles that require opposite acting and singing skills.

Q. Smith as the Bird Lady

The kids were played by Julianna Rigoglioso and Eli Tokash and both were up to the task. Interestingly enough, the show's official printed program listed two pairs of kids and neither of them were Julianna and Eli.

The music was great, especially the original songs written by the Sherman Brothers. Of the newer material, "Brimstone and Treacle" was the best, thanks to a great extent to Q. Smith's powerful delivery.

Sitting in the front row was an experience in itself. The stage was not exceedingly wide, so we had no trouble following the action. Seeing everyone's facial expressions just like one would see them on TV was very special and getting to occasionally peek into the orchestra pit was an added bonus.

The Ahmanson Theatre

Curtain call

Curtain call

The Banks Family

The Ahmanson Theatre

The Ahmanson Theatre

The three of us

The merchandise booth

The conductor's book

The orchestra pit

The brass section

Concert #608 - Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York (October 18, 2011)

Musicals and concerts are two different things, so I'm not sure whether this concert blog is the proper forum to write about "Mary Poppins", the Broadway musical. But if "Hair" has made it's way into my blog, then I can certainly make another exception for "Mary Poppins", a masterpiece that's been delighting me since my teen years.

I very seldom go to musicals. Massively successful runs such as Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, Cats, Chicago, Mamma Mia, A Chorus Line, Rent and countless others have left me totally indifferent. In plain English, I haven't caught either of them. But when you're in New York, you do as New-Yorkers do, so two weeks ago, my Better Half and I were walking aimlessly in New York's famed Theater District when we reached the bright lights of the New Amsterdam Theater, a stone-throw from where the 42nd Street meets Broadway. Ten minutes later we were the ecstatic owners of a pair of fourth-row seats, center, good for the following Tuesday's performance. The tickets weren't cheap, but a few days later we got our money's worth, and then some.

The event turned out to be one of the most enjoyable spectacles I have ever attended. Beyond the beautiful music that we all know, I was amazed by the quality of the performers, the stunning set changes, the dance numbers and everything else that happened right in front of us. Even with my minimal previous exposure to musicals, I could tell that this was a world-class performance in all respects. 

Everyone on stage was great, but no one was better than Bert, the chimney-sweep, played by British actor Gavin Lee (aren't all blokes named Gavin British?), and that's no small feat, considering the inevitable comparisons with Dick Van Dyke's mind-boggling performance in the movie.

Gavin Lee as Bert

Steffanie Leigh, who played the title role, was outstanding as well. Her singing, dancing and body language were just as I was expecting Mary Poppins to be. Her final departure, flying over the heads of the audience, was a sight to see. I read something interesting in an interview she gave some time ago: "The show backstage is just as choreographed as what the audience sees. If you stand in the wrong place for a costume change, you could get hit in the head with a piece of scenery as it goes flying across. It's like doing two shows at the same time."

Steffanie Leigh as Mary Poppins

I won't even try to pick a highlight, but "Feed The Birds" and the dancing frenzy that accompanied "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" are hard to get out of my mind and so is Bert's climbing on walls and tap-dancing head down on the ceiling. Here's Gavin Lee going for the roof tops:

The curtain

Mary Poppins flying away

The curtain call

The New Amsterdam Theater

Credits

More credits

The New Amsterdam Theater