Review: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins
Disney and Cameron Mackintosh
29 July 2010
His Majesty’s Theatre

www.disney.com.au/marypoppins

The pure delight of Mary Poppins will ignite the love of theatre and story in any child and reminds us grown ups that we should never stop believing in our own dreams.  Or, as only the best people say: it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – and deserves every standing ovation and sold out sign that it’s going to get.

Throw away your expectations from the 1964 Disney film (with Julie Andrews) or P L Travers’ books. With the rights to both, Cameron Mackintosh joined forces with Disney to create something so new that, once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to imagine it as anything else.

The original 2004 West End production won Olivier Awards and went to Broadway in 2006 to be nominated for Tony Awards. If the heart-felt standing ovation of last night’s opening is anything to go by, the Australian production won’t be closing for a very long time.

Every scene reveals more of Bob Crowley’s spectacular – and Tony winning – design as it captures the nostalgia of a black and white illustrated story, the whimsy of a pop up book, the wonder of a painting and the fantasy of a multi-million dollar movie. But for all the whizz-bang stage effects, the soul of Mary Poppins is the story.

Mary’s magic shows her charges an unforgettable world, but magic of Mary is balanced by the reality of a family who have forgotten how to love each other in a world where banks can kick people out of their homes.  

George and Winifred Banks’ two children have gone through six nannies in four weeks. Jane and Michael are determined and bratty, but only because they want a nanny who will love and play with them and even though George burns their job description for an ideal nanny, Mary Poppins still answers the call.

The cast of musical theatre veterans and our youngest soon-to-be super stars are so fresh that it’s almost impossible not to sing along.  

With perfect comic timing, Marina Prior brings heart to the downtrodden Winifred and Philip Quast lets George realise just what he nearly lost. Matt Lee may not be the best singer, but his Bert is loveable and I think he can dance. Judi Connelli was born to be an evil Nanny and Debra Byrne’s poignant Bird Woman is reminiscent of her Grizabella in the first Australian CATS.

Keeping up with these old-timers are ten performers sharing the pivotal roles of Jane and Michael. If the rest are as professional and ridiculously talented as Kurtis Papdinis and Haley Edwards, they too will be the stars of the show.

And everyone is supported by an ensemble who bring this irresistible world to life by creating the atmosphere, emotion and joy that flows from the stage to even the furthest god-seat. Watching the ensemble, audiences lucky enough to see an understudy perform will be in for a treat.

But as practically perfect as everyone is, Verity Hunt-Ballard’s Mary is the performance to remember. With a voice that will rightly be compared to Julie Andrews and a lightness of foot that equals Matt Lee, Hunt-Ballard makes Mary her own by adding mystery to her sternness and a hint of regret and sadness to her love. Even with the most brilliant of scripts, it’s the performer who makes an audience love a character and Hunt-Ballard ensures that everyone leaves the theatre wanting to dance and knowing that they will start looking for the best in all people.

Bring every child you know to Mary Poppins because they deserve to see something this gorgeous – and bring all the grown ups you know because they deserve to feel like a child again.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Whoopi at the 2008 Tony Awards 

"Step in Time" by the Broadway cast



And if you love Philip Quast (George Banks) here's a bit of him in one of my favourite TV shows Ultraviolet.  (This is from ep 5, so there are some spoilers)

Review: The Threepenny Opera

The Threepenny Opera
Malthouse Theatre and Victorian Opera
2 June 2010
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse

"The good old diggers, who pull their triggers from Bagdad to Khe Sanh..." There's no doubt that Malthouse Theatre and Victoria Opera have relocated the The Threepenny Opera down under.

And where better than Underbelly Melbourne, where the Peachams gaze at the moon over St Kilda and Mac loves a whorehouse in North Bulleen.  Throw in a dream cast of Melbourne favourites and you've got a show sold out before it opens.

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera was first performed in Berlin in 1928. It went to Broadway and, according to Wikipedia, has had over 10,000 productions since – a number that would probably triple with the uncountable amateur, high school and university productions.

Michael Kantor chose this loved and still astonishing piece of theatre for his Malthouse swansong and what a way to go!  From the moment Paul Capsis sings "Mack the Knife" in a yellow dress and a blindfold, there's no doubt that the ride's going to be bumpy and exciting in all the right ways.

As Brecht worked with Weill, Kantor has again teamed with Richard Gill, following from their stunning 2008 collaboration Through the Looking Glass. Gill's Victorian Opera continues to pull down the artifice and misconceptions about this shiny form and celebrates it with incomparable style and invention.

Much of Weill's genius lay in his ability to write extraordinary songs for singers and non-singers,  but combining the best performers from the opera and cabaret/musical theatre worlds still offers its challenges. It's impossible to compare the crystal clear vocals of contemporary opera superstar Dimity Shepherd (Lucy) with the husky belting of Capsis (Jenny), but Kantor ensures that this combination of unlikely voices is natural in this world and Gill ensures that they complement each other in unexpected ways.

It's difficult to discuss the cast without using the word perfect, or Perfect.  Highlights include every moment Judi Connelli and Grant Smith sing as the Peachams; Capsis giving Lotte Lenya a run for her money; Anna O'Byrne (Polly) and Shepherd's "Jealousy Duet"; and Casey Bennetto (Tiger Brown) and Mac's "Canon Song". Eddie Perfect is Macheath – and yes he is. If you like your Macs cold and brooding, this "sadist and a rapist" may seem a bit nice,  but it's hard to be cold when you're wearing glittery braces and by the end of Act 2 there's few in the audience not wanting a filthy lusty moment with Mac.

The design team of Peter Corrigan (set) and Anna Cordingley (costume) have coloured a world that supports the characters, but doesn't feel like the Melbourne being sung about, and the designs seem to complete with each other for the dominant images, which oddly mixes agit-prop, boxing and clown-face metaphors. At times they look beautiful together, but it's not too hard to imagine the set with plain black costumes or the costumes in an empty black space.

None of which takes away from this production.

With such wonders on the stage, it could be easy to forget the orchestra, but the vocal/orchestral balance is ideal and Gill's musical direction is so like listening to early recordings of the work, that it is surely how Weill imagined it to sound.  And Brecht would have had a proud giggle at the bawdy Aussie interpretation of the text and lyrics by Raymond Cortese and Jeremy Sands.

Once you discover Brecht and Weill, there's no going back to a theatre world without them and great professional productions of The Threepenny Opera should not be missed. This one is officially sold out, but limited tickets may become available, so check the Malthouse website.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.


Richard and Eddie





Alan and Cyndi



Lotte