Well, dear readers, I have returned from seeing a dinner theater production of Mary Poppins, with Richard Sherman, wife Elizabeth, and a young lady we’re thinking about using in a Kritzerland show, who lives pretty close to the theater. I have a friend in the show playing Mrs. Banks and she asked if I would come and also asked if there was any way for me to arrange to have the Shermans come, which, of course, I made happen.
It took about fifty-five minutes to drive out to the theater, which was actually fifteen minutes sooner than the Google-predicted seventy minutes. The manager/owner of the theater greeted us and was so thrilled to have Richard there. Happily, we were seated in our own booth in the back of the house, which are really good seats – I didn’t really want Richard to have to sit at an eight top with people we didn’t know. Four of the cast members, including my pal and the gal who plays Mary Poppins, came to the table to meet Richard and he was, as always, very sweet. Richard and I ordered the filet of sole, Elizabeth ordered a chicken dish, and the young lady ordered a vegetarian salad. I have to tell you that the food was really excellent. I’ve been to two other productions at this theater, which is a wonderfully laid out space, and this time the food, which is always good, was great.
Now, the other two productions I saw there, The Drowsy Chaperone and Spamalot, were both fine. I hate the use of tracks, but that’s how they do the majority of their shows, as there’s simply no room for a band of any size. But I was worried that Mary Poppins, which is a huge show, would just not work in a dinner theater setting. I saw Mary Poppins on Broadway and while the production was certainly impressive, I found it cold and uninvolving, I didn’t really care for any of the new songs, and I got weary of the humungous flying set, which I found absolutely silly. Then I saw a production out at a theater in Thousand Oaks, and that one was directed without a hint of knowing anything about how to pace a show – with intermission, that production ran a whopping three hours and fifteen minutes. The set there was cumbersome but much less than the Broadway version, obviously. So, I was not expecting much of anything.
Well, surprise – while I still didn’t like the things in the show that I didn’t like before, this production was two hours plus a twenty-minute intermission – beautifully paced. The set was simple and worked well. But most importantly it had what the other two productions didn’t – heart. In the nitpick department, I wish the director and the actor who played Mr. Banks had found a more likeable way to play him in the first half of the show, but that’s been a problem in every production – he’s so stern and stiff and unlikeable that the turnaround never quite works as it should. The film was blessed with David Tomlinson, who was a curmudgeon but you just knew that underneath that there lurked a wonderful human being. That character works so well in the film. The biggest surprise for me was the Mary herself – this gal was really good. She’s an Equity actress (the rest of the cast was non-union but they gave the gal a contract), and she just hit every beat so well – funny, sassy, charming, and I liked her better than the Broadway gal, frankly, and I liked the Broadway gal. Everyone else did well, especially my friend who made Mrs. Banks into a real person. And they made a great cut in act one, losing that awful number where the toys come to life – it always impedes the flow of the show just when you need it to build and get to the end of act one. It’s so much better without it.
And Richard felt exactly as I did – you don’t need a three-million dollar set, you don’t need a 15-million dollar production – you need to tell the story and have heart, it’s really that simple. And it’s the first show I’ve ever seen where the use of tracks actually worked. a) they sounded really good, and b) the blend between orchestra and voices was perfect. At intermission they brought us two desserts – a berry sundae and an apple strudel – I had a few bites of each and boy were they yummilicious. And I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to do Li’l Abner there, so I mentioned it to someone I know there who’s part of that process – he’d heard about our production, and I’m going to send him the reviews and some photos.
Oh, and before the show, the owner does a spiel, and he introduced Richard and kindly also introduced me. After the show, they asked Richard to go meet the cast onstage for a photo, and he was his usual gracious and positive self and he told them that we all thought they did a great job and got the heart of the thing. Here is a photo of the Shermans, me, and the young gal.
And here is a selfie taken by the young gal of us at the table. After all that, I drove us home and the Shermans went on their merry way.
Prior to the show, I was up at eight-thirty after only six hours of sleep. I called the car detailing guy who told me he was so backed up he couldn’t get to me until Monday. I really didn’t want to drive the Shermans in a car with a horribly filthy exterior, so I immediately drove to the car wash I’d read about in NoHo. It wasn’t too crowded and I ended up popping for their full detail package, which was probably cheaper than the other person. It took a bit over two hours but when they were done, both inside and out, it was like having a brand new car. I then picked up a package that had come in the day before, and then I came home and finished watching Circus of Fear, which didn’t get any better and which has one of the most ludicrous film scores ever. I also did a jog.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I’ll then go over to Gelson’s and get some food for my meal o’ the day – I’m thinking some chicken stroganoff over rice, or maybe some wieners. We shall see. I actually got most of the sheet music for the singers yesterday, so I’ll send that out today. Otherwise, I’m just sitting on my couch like so much fish, watching motion pictures, and relazing. Relazing??? That must be the step after relaxing – when you’re REALLY relaxed then you go to relazing. I like it.
Tomorrow is the fourth of July and at this point I do not have a clew as to what I will or will not be doing, but hopefully that will become clear to me at some point. And then next week is meetings and meals, work sessions, finding the show order and writing the commentary, and seeing a couple of things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get people sheet music and both relax and relaze. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have at long last seen a production of Mary Poppins that actually found its heart.