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!

Maxine's Visit – Local Livermore Leg

The second part of my sister Maxine's visit was closer to home around the Livermore area where we attended some shows, watched movies, shopped, and sewed. For the first part of her visit, see my previous post for September 1st titled Maxine's Visit – Southern California Leg.

SHOPPING, SEWING, MOVIES

Friday, August 26th, even though a bit tired from our travels to So Cal, Maxine and I set out to attend an open house of Moda Fabric designer Sandy Klop. "It is about 35 minute ride up north to Walnut Creek," I told my sister, "perhaps a bit more because I am making a minor detour to pick up up a quilter friend along the way. I suspect we will stay there 30-45 minutes." The ride was indeed short. But once there, we stayed close to three hours and had a blast! (See post Purchases at American Jane Open House in my quilt blog for 8/27/16.)

Our sewing and fabric frenzies, temporarily paused over the weekend, were resumed on Monday August 29th. This time the binges were staged in my sewing room, sewing pillowcases and ogling fabric. Much of Tuesday, August 30th was jam packed with more sewing and Maxine's introductory lessons and practicing on the use of my long arm quilting machine. (See post Sewing with my Sister in my quilt blog for 8/30/16.) The cat WIMA was sacked out on the window seat in the master bedroom during our follies and projects. She managed to get in a cat nap despite our laughter and noisemaking just a few doors away. This photo is not quite her norm. For some inexplicable reason she usually sleeps right on the printed rope tassel. Perhaps she thinks it camouflages her?

We did take a break from our sewing Monday and Tuesday to get out of the house for a car ride to do some home decor perusing in the Home Goods near me. Both Maxine and I like to pass the time browsing this store and doing it together was even better. I hammed it up for a glam shot by the traffic light. It "stopped" me from buying anything.

We were spectators at times, rather than shoppers and doers. On three evenings we just sat back and watched a few movies. When I list them here I see we were rather one-minded on theme. Oh, well. So what if they were all Cinderella based chick flicks? It was relaxing and fun and if you dozed off during it you did not miss much of the plot line. Enchanted was great for the music, Ever After was unique for the slight twist in the classic story, and the Disney's Cinderella was awesome for the costuming. A great trio for a movie marathon.

THEATRE

On Saturday, August 27th Maxine Frank, our friend Vickie, and I went to a performance of The New Mikado at our local Livermore theatre, the Bankhead. It was an updated twist on Gilbert and Sullivan's classic Mikado, the comic opera set in Japan that pokes fun at British politics. The tweaked version we enjoyed was set in Italy and was performed by a theatre group called the Lamplighters.

The fun of Gilbert and Sullivan is in the off beat rhymes and fast paced lyrics. (Think, "I am the very model of a modern major general..." from Pirates of Penzance.) This theatre group projects the lyrics above the stage so you can read them and catch the humor real time. I think my favorite song is sung by the man who has a quota of executions he must perform and so must create The List of his future victims. Here are part of the lyrics. I know it is a lot but these are my favorites. I had a hard time down-selecting.

Verse 1 sets up the premise...

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found, 

I’ve got a little list—I’ve got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed—who never would be missed.

The Chorus justifies his selections...

He’s got ’em on the list—he’s got ’em on the list,

And they’ll none of ’em be missed—they’ll none of them be missed.

Verse 2 enumerates potential victims with great accuracy

The self-righteous Prius driver with his fifty M.P.G.,
And the urban bicyclist—I’ve got them on the list—
And who goes first at four-way stops? Why me, me, me, me, ME!
The traffic anarchist—he never would be missed.

And the dinner guest announcing that she’s vegan, gluten-free,
Just as you serve Beef Wellington, your gourmet specialty.
She nibbles at a radish, gastronomic terrorist—
I don’t think she’ll be missed—I’m sure she’ll not be missed.

Verse 3 cites, even more uproariously, appropriate choices for the list

The idiot chasing Pokémon who walks right into you—

The phone clutched in her fist—I’m sure she won’t be missed,
And the fool who voted BREXIT and then googled “What’s EU?”
Unthinking sep’ratist—I’ve got him on the list.

And that ranting demagogue, the xenophobic billionaire—
(I’m sure you know the one I mean—the ego with the hair).
But it really doesn’t matter whom you put upon the list,
For they’d none of ’em be missed—they’d none of ’em be missed!

Chorus

You may put ’em on the list—you may put ’em on the list, 

And they’ll none of ’em be missed—they’ll none of them be missed!

We came home after the show in an upbeat mood and had a quick but delicious dessert before retiring to bed. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day.

CIRCUS

Sunday, August 28th was our day with Alex at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus – the Greatest Show on Earth. In the parking lot some friendly folk took a picture of the four of us beside one of the circus trailers – one from far away to get in all the writing on the trailer and one close up so you can tell it is really us. 

I think a lion king shirt is an appropriate choice for Alex to be wearing to a circus, don't you?

I'll admit. I was dubious about the upcoming show. How can a circus really be a circus without elephants, the iconic symbol of the big top? Come to think of it, few circuses are held in a big tent any more either, so I guess anything is possible. The theme of this show was Out of This World,

My doubts were for naught. It was GREAT! Our seats were centrally located (Section 101) and close up (row 5). I show this picture not only to document Alex once again devouring his customary tub of popcorn but also to illustrate the great view we had. The show was also on ice at one end of the arena.

Before the show began, as the seats were gradually getting populated, an animal trainer instructed the audience how the tigers and lions are taught to follow commands. Later on in the show this same trainer had a large repertoire of creatures other than the big cats perform – llamas, huge hogs, goats, etc.

In the opening, suspended from the the ceiling high overhead around the perimeter of the arena were six to eight of these spheres housing extremely limber, extremely daring aerialist/gymnasts flowing languidly from one pose to another, while opening and closing the hinged ball. They were mesmerizing. Even Alex, popcorn and all, stayed engaged watching them.

The next act was a balancing act that was equally, if not more, impressive, than the opening and closing spheres. This is where the theme out of this world began to make sense to me. The lighting and special effects really made you feel you were in outer space. The aerialists, dressed in space suits like astronauts and moving in very slow almost weightless motion added to the serene, almost eerie, environment.

This rotation device was in the very center so we were directly in front of it. Our view was not from the side, but head on. That perspective really impressed on me just how high up they were and just how narrow a rail or wheel of track they were traversing. The track is the thin band in the center of the photo in the center of the rink. Equally amazing is watching the riggers swap out the equipment for each performance, assembling and disassembling complex structures in a matter of minutes, often in the dark, while another act continued on elsewhere.

In a Cirque de Soleil style, the show had an overriding tale woven throughout it about the search for the greatest circus act, a sort of villain versus noble ringmaster competition. In my opinion this neither added nor detracted from the show. There were still the classic funny multiple dogs acts, trapeze acts, and horse trick rider acts that you come to expect of a circus. They seemed to have a new spin though. 

Several stilts/high-off-the-ground oriented acts were added. A basketball game on unicycles was extra comical – especially when you got to the dunking part on the super tall unicycle. 

Synchronized and formation ice skating on stilt-fitted blades gave third dimension possibilities when elevating the skaters above the ice. Can you imagine that degree of difficulty that must add to your skating skills?

We had a fantastic time at the "updated" circus and Alex stayed engaged throughout all of it, which made Frank and me even happier.

As we filed out, we got an added bonus. Maxine and Eric, her son, are huge Sharks fans. The event center in San Jose where the circus was held is also known as The Shark Tank because it is home rink to the hockey team. We were allowed to pass along an exit route with an elevator and fewer stairs to accommodate special needs. Along the way we photo-documented that she had been there among the Sharks memorabilia. There was a photo montage along the hallway walls.

Although it was closed, she posed beside the Sharks Store.

She peered in the windows.

The four of us had a casual dinner at Red Robin before dropping Alex off at his home and driving back to Livermore. The front half of a bright red Chevy in the lobby of that restaurant never fails to amuse me.

DEPARTURE FOR HOME

Maxine flew back to North Carolina in the afternoon of Wednesday, August 31st. It had been a long-awaited visit and worth every minute of the wait. We'd done a variety of activities, not only in the sewing and fabric areas of interest, but also in travel-within-travel visiting grandkids and in exploring a children's museum. We threw in enough sedentary time passers like, theatre, circus and chilling out with movies to keep us slightly short of the borderline of exhaustion. We laughed and we laughed and we were both still smiling when she left.

As sisters there are certain traditions. The mutual strangulation photo we took for posterity had to be posed by the front door when she was leaving.

Thanks for coming, Maxine! It was a blast having you here.