Poppin to the Stanley for a Mary Christmas
Mary Poppins might not be a Christmas story per se, but in its music and themes of family and togetherness, the musical is perfect holiday fare.
This month, the Arts Club is bringing back its production of the show (a hit at the Stanley in 2013 and 2014), which is based on the books by British author P.L. Travers, with a dollop (including the songs we know and love) of the well-known Disney version for good measure. We talked to actor (and former understudy for the role) Kayla James about taking flight in the title role, and the nature of one of literature’s most famous nannies.
Q
What is Mary Poppins? Is she a ghost?
A
I think she is a guardian angel. There are a couple of ways you can go with this. I think she’s in a purgatory situation where she is repeating the same task over and over again. She has to go to these families to fix something that’s broken. In the case of the Banks family, the kids are misbehaving for sure, but it stems from (father) George Banks. And I think at some point during her time with the Banks, she discovers she’s at this point where she gets to move on, where she gets to move up to the next level, to the beautiful, perfect after-life.
The musical is based on the books, but takes elements from the Disney movie too, right?
There are multiple stories by P.L. Travers, and the musical is based more on the books than the movie. Which is a little bit of a challenge for us, because everyone knows Julie Andrews (who played Mary Poppins in the 1964 film), and that movie. The books are a little bit darker. Mary is not just all sunshine and lollipops. She has some negative qualities that the kids notice and get talked about. There are moments in the musical that are surprising to the audience because they’re just more real.
For the scenes in which Mary is flying, are you in a harness?
Yes. It’s a harness, similar to what you’d see when mountain-climbing. My costumes have all been designed with hidden zippers so the harness can get out. Then we unzip, they put me in. We do tons of flying rehearsals. There are three guys on my flying team and we spend lots of time working it all out so that it’s very smooth and safe. There are three different moments where Mary flies. Those are sort of what you might have seen before if you’ve seen flying before onstage. Then, at the end of the show, there is one of the most magical theatrical moments I’ve experienced.
What is the holiday connection, if there is one?
It doesn’t deal with Christmas necessarily, but it does deal with family. Mary leads the show but it’s not really about her, it’s about this family that, maybe like lots of families, are spending time together and not connecting, not communicating. The mother and father have problems, the kids are misbehaving, and everything’s kind of wrong. And Mary Poppins comes in and shows them the error of their ways. And at the end they’re a family that feels like a family. And that’s the holiday message, to have a fresh start going into the New Year.
You’re originally from Woodstock, Ont., but you’ll be in Vancouver for Christmas. Are you going to be missing your family?
That’s always been a struggle about coming out here, being away for Christmas. So this year I said to my parents, “You have to come here.” So they’re coming out this way for Christmas.