It's a Spoonful of sugar - Mary Poppins on Broadway
Get over to see "Mary Poppins." And, don't say that's only for kids. Why would I want to see a kid's musical? Spare all those thoughts, especially if you are a "dance-maniac" for the dancing in this show is among the best Broadway has seen in years.
"Mary Poppins" is brimming with skillful and imaginative choreography by Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear. Bourne is the one responsible for "Swan Lake" - the version with the guys in feathered pedal pushers. Under the umbrella of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, Bourne and Mear have created real dances. Have a look at the bank scene as Mr. Banks, having grave worries about his job, is summoned to answer for what the stodgy bankers perceive as a glaring miscalculation." The dancers pose in impossible arthritic-looking positions, scratching heads, stroking beards trying to appear serious in front of a fanciful interior backdrop painted on a slant. "Matthew told us from the get go that if the dancers are standing upright they are not doing what he wants," Rommy Sandhu, the dance captain and one of the six swings, recalled laughing. "Everything is slightly to the left of center including their posture." The scene brings to mind the handmaidens in Bourne's "Swan Lake" who attend the prince in the first act. Bourne combines broad gesturing with highly charged choreography to tell the story that lies deep in the psyche of both this desperate banker and the lonely prince.
Sandhu, aside from being the "band-aid" for ailing dancers (as a swing he goes on in seconds if he is called), must also keep the choreography in top shape, the dancers fresh, and six sets of children focused and ready to go. For example, in the "Temper Temper," number, the toys in the children's bedroom come to life. Sandhu remembered Bourne throwing out ideas and images during the rehearsal period like -- maybe the doll has been spun around too much by its arm, or its head may have fallen off and put back on tilted. One loosey-goosey doll slips and slides instead of walking; one teddy bear lumbers along. Each dancer took in the suggestions and worked out some combinations, thereby becoming involved in the choreography. Matthew watched, kept what he liked, and discarded the extraneous. It was a fun process for us." And in the meanwhile the children, both on and off the stage, learn another "Mary" lesson. Temper tantrums will get you nowhere.
In the "Supercalifragilisticexpialodo-cious" number, Bourne relied on sign language which co-choreographer Stephen Frear had learned from his hearing-impaired partner. Why not take signing as a choreographic motivation? Bourne speculated on spelling out the 34-letter word with your body instead of just the fingers. "It took four hours to set that one piece," Sandhu recalled. "Then I had to learn all the letters and the body posturings of the letters and remember them." Mary and Bert had their own version, with a different timing. Groups were doing different things at the same time, but somehow it all hung together." For the swings, it meant a big notebook of notes. For the audience - a delightful spelling lesson.
In "Step In Time," the articulate and memorable chimney sweep number, the dancers were also allowed some improvisational leeway. Bert (the Dick Van Dyke role played by Gavin Lee) finishes the acapella solo tap section and on come the dancers hopping across the ingenious moveable set piece of chimney tops that transports them to different positions on stage. "I had to learn the whole nine minutes of choreography including the improvisations the dancers use," Sandhu recalled. He rubbed his forehead as if he had just now realized how intense his job really is.
Though he and his wife tend to a 10-week old newborn daughter, he admitted that Mary Poppins" is more than a spoonful of responsibility. "There is so much detail to keep track of, plus the possibility of having to dance at a moment's notice. I was in the wings one night, twenty minutes before curtain, and one of the dancers made a flying exit only to collapse right at my feet. He was having an excruciating muscle spasm. I looked down at him writhing in pain, and instantly knew what was coming. I made the four-flight walk up to the dressing room. As I got there I heard my name called 'Sandhu to the stage' on the loudspeaker. I had already started to jump into the costume."
The "Mary Poppins" production has a resident choreographer (Tom Kosis) on staff and he and Sandhu stay in close contact. Together with the swings the two maintain the essence of what Bourne created. "I remember the story about Bob Fosse," Sandhu said. "His dance captain worked to make every finger movement the same. Bob came to see it, and told the cast 'you are all automatons now. There is no humanity.' Matt's work is all about the humanity, and we are there to make sure it is seen. I do have to remind the dancers 'remember we do this because of this,'" he said, pointing to his heart. "Though the fourth position may be properly placed and the arms together, what is going on in the soul must come through as well. There are hundreds of little decisions made by us every day."
We have the book, written by P.L. Travers and published in 1934, the movie by Disney released in 1964, the musical opening in London in 2004, and in the U.S. in November 2006. There is no reason why anyone should miss the gracious story of the nanny of all nannies and her one stalwart rule directed at the woebegone parents -- pay attention to your children while there is still time. Ashley Brown as Mary bears an uncanny vocal similarity to the Academy Award winning Julie Andrews. They don't look alike. Brown, petite with dark hair and a lavish smile seems a perkier, younger Mary, but she is positively enchanting, her voice crystal clear and her nimble feet in the exotic nurses oxfords (gorgeous shoes with French heels) tap tidily in the dance patterns Bourne has devised for her and Bert (Gavin Lee) has the same physicality as Van Dyke; the same lankiness, arms and legs leaping about on the rooftops tapping, soft shoeing, and keeping Mary's spirits up while she tackles the task of remaining "practically perfect."
Ben Brantley of The New York Times stretched his sharp talons to dismiss the show. He is all wrong! Yes, it is a bit long for the kidlets, almost three hours is asking a lot and several small heads in the audience had disappeared into laps by the time the reprises of the second act began. But the enraptured adults took over and while trying to make the sleeping little ones comfortable they used both hands to give a much-earned ovation to the show. Watching Mary open her umbrella and lift off, her feet in a perfect first position, her carpetbag clutched tightly in the other hand, her coat open like two wings as she flies over the audience to where? Wherever! Noone can challenge her existence. Not even Mr. Brantley.