Originally Posted By dagobert This fall the Disney musical Mary Poppins is coming to Vienna and we are planning to watch it. Has anyone of you already seen it? Did you like it?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I saw it once, and thought it had some amazing moments but it left me cold overall. The actress playing Mary Poppins played it too arrogant for my liking, which only made the "mean" version of her in the show less likeable. But it was such an incredible production with the set, songs, and special effects that it was still really fun to watch!
Originally Posted By LindsayC Ferret, who did you see? I saw the original two UK actresses in London and Ashley Brown (such a sweet lady) on Broadway. Ashley bought more of a softness to the role than the UK originator, Laura Michelle Kelly - but I think Laura was perfect to introduce this version of Mary. Still it was always Bert - played by Gavin Lee in both the West End and Broadway that made this for me. The staging changes of several numbers between London and New York were fascinating too. Adore the new music that was written for this though.
Originally Posted By magic0214 It was my first show I saw in a Broadway Theater in NYC, so it will always have a special place in my heart, but looking back, it is still one of my absolute favorites. What they do with Step In Time and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is incredible, and the finale song "Anything Can Happen" is gorgeous.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I saw it once, and thought it had some amazing moments but it left me cold overall. The actress playing Mary Poppins played it too arrogant for my liking, which only made the "mean" version of her in the show less likeable. >> That is a common complaint from folks that only associate MP with Julie Andrews and the Disney movie. MP is far more grotesque in the books. The story is as much as a journey for MP as it is for her charges and that is evident in the show. She grows accustomed to Jane and Michael. There isn't that development in the movie. Personally it is right up there with The Lion King for me. It really was the perfect storm of a creative cast from the book (Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame), director (Sir Richard Eyre), set design (Bob Crowley) and choreography (Stephen Mears). The composer (Anthony Drewe and George Stiles had an impossible task to expand the Sherman Brothers tunes and also add complimentary numbers and IMHO they nailed it.
Originally Posted By u k fan I never got round to seeing Mary Poppins, but to be honest there were other shows that I wanted to see more. This never really excited me!!!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Ferret, who did you see?<< I'm not sure, but it wasn't Ashley Brown (the only name I would have recognized). It was the National Tour in LA in 2011(?), so I'm not sure who they had in it. I believe we did get to see Gavin Lee as Bert, and he was fantastic! >>MP is far more grotesque in the books. The story is as much as a journey for MP as it is for her charges and that is evident in the show.<< I knew going into it that she was going to be less cheery than the Disney film, and I could see that from the script, but just the way she played it didn't work for me. She seemed very cocky and obnoxious, certainly not the "always stern, never cross" that I was expecting. I saw it with the toned down Act I finale, which actually left me wanting more scary Mary, so I can see how it would play better with a different actress And it's interesting that you say that she has a more dynamic personality in the show, since I didn't really notice that at all. By the end, she still seemed sort of put off by having to do a favor for someone; as far as I could tell there was no real change of heart from her Speaking of the end and the actress, that was one of the best parts of the show! We were in the cheap seats (2nd balcony, near the top) so we got to see her make the entire exit at the show's finale. As soon as the lights went dark, we could hear scampering through the catwalks, and less than 45 seconds later she was doing her curtain call. I have no idea how they physically did it, but it was very impressive!
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for the answers. We bought the tickets for December and I'm excited. I've seen the movie once and it was okay. I liked it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it again. We like musicals and so I guess we will like MP too. There's only one thing that is a bit annoying. The musical will be in German and the songs are better in English.
Originally Posted By irishfan I'm sure you'll really enjoy it dagobert, especially so if your not too familiar with the original movie, as a lot of the criticism usually stems from the fact that it's not a carbon copy of the movie. I'm a bit of a Mary Poppins tragic and saw the musical far too many times to admit, Loved Laura Michelle Kelly, Ashley Brown was good, but my absolute favourite was the Australian productions lead, Verity Hunt Ballard.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I'm sure you'll really enjoy it dagobert, especially so if your not too familiar with the original movie, as a lot of the criticism usually stems from the fact that it's not a carbon copy of the movie. I'm a bit of a Mary Poppins tragic and saw the musical far too many times to admit, Loved Laura Michelle Kelly, Ashley Brown was good, but my absolute favourite was the Australian productions lead, Verity Hunt Ballard. <<< I've seen the movie once, but I hardly remember it, so I'm really looking forward to the musical. Since it will be in German, the cast will be Austrian and German. I hope they are doing a good job with the translation.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <I've seen the movie once and it was okay. I liked it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it again.> Said of Mary Poppins, the holy, sacred, and triumphant pinnacle of Walt Disney's life? Blasphemy!!
Originally Posted By dagobert Last weekend we have seen Mary Poppins in Vienna and it was fantastic. As expected it was shown in German, but that didn't make it any less special.
