Cast: Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins), Gavin Lee (Bert), Delaney Moro (Jane Banks), Matthew Gumley (Michael Banks), Daniel Jenkins (George Banks), Rebecca Luker (Winifred Banks)
For complete information on this incredibly talented cast, see the official Mary Poppins website for the Broadway musical.
The cast of the Mary Poppins musical is truly amazing and I'm so glad that I got to see the first act (and a little of the second act). That's right, thanks to my friend Craig (yes, I still blame him) who talked about all the horrible things that can happen in previews (when his friend was talking about going to see Mary Poppins in previews), the first time I ever had a problem with a show in previews, though I've seen many was when we went to see Mary Poppins. Craig's friend enjoyed it so much that we moved it up on our list. We got great seats and enjoyed the first act.
Naturally, they made a lot of changes from screen to stage, since there are some things that can't be done well in the theatre. We were all pretty happy with what they did to move Mary Poppins from the big screen to the stage.
Apparently, the closing number is really amazing. I doubt I'll get to see it with the current cast, but I do hope to see the rest of the Mary Poppins musical someday. If you liked the movie, I recommend checking out the musical. The original Broadway cast is amazing! See it while they're still there. (From what I've heard, they're better than the London cast, so I'm waiting for the Broadway CD to come out before I buy it.)
It's pretty amusing that the musical had been running for years in London and had to shut down the same night the Broadway preview audience was sent home early. Unfortunately, Disney handled things so poorly that it was clear they had no idea what to do in that situation. If I'd had young children with me, I would have been very upset with how they left the show (since they changed it so much, I won't explain that part in detail). I think that at the very least they should have brought out the Banks family, Bert, and Mary Poppins and sung the finale. The audience really wanted a nice ending to the evening.
If you go to see Mary Poppins on Broadway, beware of Cliff (who was working in the right center aisle in orchestra when we were there. He has a huge attitude problem and yells at guest after guest. He toned it down once the show started, but we were all pretty blown away by how confrontational and rude he was for working at a Disney show with lots of children in the audience. Definitely a sign of how Disney has been in the last decade or so and that's sad.
The set and the cast are really wonderful and the Mary Poppins musical is well worth the trip (from what we saw). Hopefully, they're done working out the kinks in the system, but I'd still recommend waiting till after previews at this point.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2006, Ashley Brown, Broadway, Disney, family, Gavin Lee, musical, original
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams