Ponder Post: Mary Poppins

Eight weeks. It took me eight weeks to post about our outing with Alex to the July 24th Sunday matinee of the musical Mary Poppins at our local Bankhead Theatre. I have so many good things to say about it though, that I decided skipping the post, even though very delayed, was not an option. Hmmm – I am beginning to see the perks with Instagram.

Alex really liked the show (understatement). This was not the first time we have seen it. A few years ago, Dan and Carrie had gifted Frank and me tickets to an original Broadway production of the musical when its tour brought it through San Jose. We enjoyed it and went a second time while it was still at the same venue so we could take Alex. In 2013 amateur rights were made available for production by local theaters and that is why we were able to take Alex to see it again here in town. The following photo shows the poster for our local theatre beside the original London poster. My guess is that the scattered bits of pink in the UK version are blossoms from Cherry Tree Lane.

Per the Wikipedia article on the musical, the show originally opened in the UK. Author Pamela Travers "only agreed to a stage production as long as the creators were all English, and no one who had worked on the film." If you have never seen this musical, do not expect a live version of the Disney movie. That is one of the reasons we initially previewed it before taking Alex. The stage production is a blend of the Pamela Travers book series and the Disney movie. The musical is a bit more sombre. In fact, producers of the show in the UK banned children below 3 years old from entering the theatre, deeming the show too scary for young children. The show was officially tagged in the UK as being "for children seven years and up". Parts of it are a "good nanny vs. bad nanny" differences of opinion. As an example, one of the songs is Brimstone and Treacle, sung by Mr. Banks' nanny when he was a child; here is an excerpt from those lyrics.

          Brimstone and treacle and cod liver oil
          Liberal doses of each
          These are the treats from which children recoil.
          The lessons I'm going to teach

          Brimstone and treacle and carbolic soap
          These are the tools of my trade
          With spoonfuls of sugar you don't have a hope
          Of seeing that changes are made

The presumed scariness does not phase Alex in the least. It is loud. It is dramatic. Alex is perfectly OK with it. The song Super-cali-fragilistic-expiali-docious is still there and accompanied with some fantastically fast arm movements executed in unison by the cast. Picture a jam-packed dance floor where the crowd is signing the Village People's YMCA on quadruple fast forward. Step in Time is still accompanied by a dynamic dance scene. Alex is excited by both and claps throughout.

Whenever we go to the theatre Alex is very intent on leafing through his program. Mary Poppins was no different.

Coincidentally in the lobby of the Bankhead we ran into one of Dan's close friends from high school, Sarah, with her husband and two kids. They were out to enjoy the show, too.

The theater lobby usually hosts a rotating art display of some sort. This time there happened to be a unique fashion display titled Recycled Runway.

Alex was not at all interested but I thought it worthy of at least a couple of photos. This basic little black dress for example...?

Look closely. Its "fringe" is constructed from snipped up credit cards.

This raincoat was made from cut up feed bags, a somewhat different take on the "Call of the Wild".

The style and flow of this dress of recycled fabrics is reminiscent of the costuming of the Pearly Kings and Queens of London's working class. It brings to my mind the tone of the same era in which the Mary Poppins story is set.

It reminded me of the ladies in the "pearlies" band from this scene in the Mary Poppins movie where they sing Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay.

All in all we had a great time because the show was
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!