A pocketful of Poppins

Look to the rooftops. Look to the skies. Mary Poppins is back.

Everyone is familiar with the mysterious, brisk nanny who magically appears in Edwardian London to care for the ill mannered Jane and Michael Banks.

She whisks them away to meet dancing chimney sweeps, moving statues and brings scary toys to life.

In the process, she sings Academy-Award winning hits such as Chim Chim Cher-ee, A Spoonful of Sugar, Feed the Birds, Step in Time and of course the tongue-twisting Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Over the years we’ve come to think of the musical as Mary Poppins’ story and to a lesser degree Burt’s.

However, Brian Bast (My Fair Lady) directing Festival Players production of Mary Poppins offers a fresh perspective. He sees it as Jane and Michael’s story and how they bring a disintegrating family together.

“Mary propels the story. She’s the catalyst by way of teaching lessons, but Jane and Michael learn the lessons,” said Bast.

Just as the flying nanny takes measurements of the children’s attitude after she arrives, Bast evaluated 60 child actors who auditioned for roles. His final choice was Anna Johnson, 12, a spunky dancer and Ethan Strang, 10, an up-and-coming electric guitar player.

“They’re both growing into the brother-sister role as much as they can in the time we have.”

Bast received the script in early January and read it while lazing on a Mexican beach. He was intrigued by how “people lost the ability to be truthful and honest. It’s how a society can’t take constructive criticism. Mary comes in and says, ‘This is what’s wrong and this is how we need to fix it.’ ”

As part of Edwardian society, Mr. and Mrs. Banks have very defined roles. He is the breadwinner. Mrs. Banks is responsible for the home and maintaining social status.

To keep up appearances, Mr. Banks hired a housekeeper, an odd-job man and nanny. Everyone has a job, however, with three servants performing many of Mrs. Banks functions, she is feeling increasingly lost.

The production features 29 singers and 15 musicians. St. Albert’s own Lucy Haines (a frequent contributor to these pages) has nabbed the role of Mrs. Brill, the cook and housekeeper.

“She is part drill sergeant. She is one of the foundations of the house,” Haines said. As a mother of four, Haines borrows heavily from her personal experiences.

“I fill a motherly role. Mrs. Banks is not able to find her role and is just flitting. I feel compassion for her, yet I’m not her equal. It’s chaotic and you’re seeing the disintegration of a family. It’s not a happy situation.”

Rhonda Kozuska, a second St. Albert triple threat performer, hoofs it across the stage as Katie Nanna, the first nannie to storm out after the children misbehave.

Haines closes by saying, “Mary Poppins is a feel-good, happy family show. There’s colourful characters, good singing and dancing and I like the message – anything can happen if you let it.”

Festival Players perform 17 shows from Dec. 17 to Dec. 30 at Festival Place in Sherwood Park.