Theatre: Mary Poppins
MARY POPPINS Prince Edward Theatre, London
When you tell people you’ve been to see Mary Poppins on the West End stage, the question they always ask is ‘Is it as good as the film?’
The short answer is, ‘Yes indeed. In fact, it’s even better.’
The original film is still charming, after all these years (I saw it again just the other day, and it hadn’t dated in the slightest), but Cameron Mackintosh’s theatrical production has far more depth and a lot more light and shade.
Don’t get me wrong. Like the vintage Walt Disney movie, it’s supremely entertaining, but the characters are more rounded, the storyline more complex. It’s thrilling to watch this magical yarn unfold up close and personal rather than on a flat screen. You’d think the stage show had inspired the movie, rather than the other way round.
All oldies worthy of the name will be familiar with the plot, and I’m pleased to report that this production doesn’t take any liberties with the basics. However, Julian Fellowes’s subtle script fleshes out the relationships between the characters, and adds a layer of suspense and intrigue that’s missing from the feelgood film. The story never gets too dark, but you never forget you’re watching something strange and supernatural. This Mary Poppins is a heavenly phantom, but a phantom all the same.
After reading the credits for the creative team, one is not surprised that this production (which premièred in this theatre in 2004 and was revived in 2019) rattles along like a well-oiled steam train. The director is Sir Richard Eyre, doyen of the National Theatre for a decade. The choreographer is Sir Matthew Bourne, who reinvented modern dance. Bob Crowley is renowned as one of the best stagedesigners on either side of the Atlantic. His beautiful sets for this enchanting show are artworks in their own right.
But the main credit, as in any musical, should go to the performers – above all, Zizi Strallen for her bewitching Mary Poppins. Remarkably, she escapes the long shadow of Julie Andrews, and creates a character who’s entirely different – just as lovable but more mysterious; an apparition from another world. Charlie Stemp is a brilliant Bert, doubling up as a kind of compère, a bridge between the stage and the stalls. His chirpy front-ofcurtain banter is worthy of a trad standup comic, and his dancing is mesmeric.
Thanks to Fellowes’s clever plotting, there are also plenty of good supporting parts. George and Winifred Banks (the mum and dad) are proper, threedimensional characters, rather than flimsy foils. Charlie Anson (as George) performs a wonderful transformation from uptight wage mule to doting dad. Claire Machin and Jack North do a neat double act as the cook and butler, reminiscent of old-time music hall. Evergreen Petula Clark performs a poignant cameo. Funny to think she was already a showbiz veteran when the movie premièred in 1964.
Yet special praise must go to Mackintosh, without whom the stage version of this modern fairy tale would surely have remained a mere pipe dream. Though the movie was a huge commercial hit, and won several Oscars, apparently Pamela Lyndon Travers, who wrote the books on which it was based, wasn’t entirely happy with the way it turned out.
Consequently, the doughty author rebuffed all requests for the stage rights, until Mackintosh came along. When he approached her, in 1993, she was already in her nineties, but they hit it off and she gave him her consent, and a classic musical was born. P L Travers didn’t live to see the première (she died in 1996, aged 96), but I feel sure she would have liked it. A co-production between Disney and Mackintosh, it really is the best of both worlds: a British treatment of a British story, with transatlantic appeal.
This musical includes all the Sherman Brothers’ famous songs ( A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious…) plus half a dozen new ones by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe – the best compliment I can pay them is to say that theirs don’t feel at all out of place. This Mary Poppins is terrific fun, and surprisingly moving. The performance I saw ended with a standing ovation, and I was delighted to join in. The little girl sitting in front of me absolutely loved it.
Whatever age you are, I bet you’ll love it, too.