Iconic ‘Mary Poppins’ Now At 5th Avenue

Cast of Mary Poppins with some song letters (Tracy Martin)

Mary Poppins

5^th Avenue Theatre
Through December 29, 2024
 
We really have an astonishing amount of theater talent in this little ‘burb… So much so that there is really almost no need or reason to “bring someone” in from another part of the country. Proof of that was evident on opening night of the iconic musical, Mary Poppins.
 
Mallory Cooney King plays the title character and is practically perfect in every way. On opening night though, it was evident that she was having issues with her lovely voice. So, after the first act, her understudy came to the rescue. In fact, understudy Allison Standley has graced our stages in major roles in similarly iconic musicals like My Fair Lady and She Loves Me. Either one of them could have been cast as the “regular” performer. They’re both that good!
 
Talent also brims in this production with the rest of the cast and ensemble. Erik Ankrim plays George Banks, Nik Hagen plays Robertson Ay, the young butler, Cristin J. Hubbard plays both the Bird Lady and Miss, Andrews – terrifyingly, Bobbi Kotula plays Mrs. Brill, Kayden Oliver plays Neleus the statute, Karen Skrinde plays Miss Corry and Miss Lark’s dog, and Ty Willis as the Bank Chairman (in particular)… Coming up along side them, the adorable opening night children were played by Gia Pellegrini and Liam Kuriatnyk who were note perfect!
 
This crowd-pleasing production acquits the story well. The Banks family has been having trouble with their nannies because the children annoy all of them, until a mysterious Mary Poppins flied in on her umbrella and wins the children’s hearts and shows them a better way of behaving. The subplot is that workaholic Daddy George has lost his humanity and part of Mary Poppins’ mission is to rehabilitate the family so she can move on to another family fixer-upper.
 
Mary brings a lot of magical moments with her and introduces the children to Bert (Danny Gardner) a chimney sweep, artist, happy sprite. Gardner is among the few “imported” talents. He has a nice Broadway resume. He does a fine job, but for some reason, the role does not feel joyous or as engaging as it should, though it’s hard to pinpoint why. On the other hand, Jazmin Gorsline as mother Winifred Banks (and apparently has family ties here) made as much as possible of her role and emphasized complicated emotions that enlivened the character.
 
Director-choreographer Denis Jones keeps things humming, and does an absolutely fascinating and spectacular choreography with the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!” The ensemble has to be letter-perfect in order to pull off all the permutations he orders them to go through as they spell dozens of words with their letter cards. And they are! Definitely a moment that makes the entire musical a much-watch!
 
There are a few “however”s… The blend of music to singing is way too much for the music, drowning out almost every iconic song. We need to hear the lyrics! Having said that, this is a problem in many, many, many musicals, not just this one. The set did the magic it was supposed to but it was a small chinzy looking thing.
 
This is a perfect family show, especially for a treat for the holiday, even though it doesn’t mention holidays. It's a great option for an "experience," instead of "thing” to give as a gift. And a live event can be such a great experience to remember!
 
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