Based on the movie, the Broadway musical was updated with some new songs
Published in the June 8 – 21, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
Actors perform the song “Jolly Holiday” at the June 2 rehearsal for upcoming shows of “Mary Poppins” which opened June 3.
The supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical version of “Mary Poppins” is giving South Valley Civic Theatre audiences a jolly holiday. The world’s most famous British nanny comes flying into performances at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse throughout the month of June.
Based on the Walt Disney film starring Julie Andrews but updated with new songs to accompany the beloved tunes from the movie, this Broadway musical gives a twist to the story by having Poppins show the Banks family how to let go of their dysfunctions and honor each other as individuals.
Heidi Oliphant plays the starring role of Mary Poppins and said she took on a slightly different style of performing the iconic part compared to the actress Andrews. Oliphant is a lot stricter in dealing with the bratty Banks children, Jane and Michael, she said.
Zack Goller as Bert and Heidi Oliphant as Mary Poppins rehearse a scence for performances of “Mary Poppins” produced by South Valley Civic Theatre.
Photo by Marty Cheek
“The key for to playing Mary Poppins is the poise and the character, the very practically perfect yet stern at the same time,” she said. “Probably my Mary Poppins is a little bit more stern and she whips them into shape when they’re not treating their toys very nicely. She also has that very tender side just like Julie Andrews.”
The performers have been rehearsing for the past three months and during that time Oliphant has developed a close friendship with many of the 42 cast members, especially the young ones. The age range goes from nine to 70 years.
“It’s a very happy cast. I love them,” she said. “And with the kids in the cast, I’ve ended up like their nanny. We’ve bonded and played games and stuff.”
Zack Goller plays the London cockney chimney-sweep “Bert” who helps Mary Poppins in her job of straightening out the Banks family. His role involves much singing, dancing and comedy — with several fast costume changes between scenes. He has been doing shows with SVCT for six years and this is the most challenging in terms of the dance numbers.
“The cockney accent is actually a lot easier to pull off than I thought it would be,” he said. “I thought it would be my biggest challenge.”
Zack Goller as Bert.
Photo by Marty Cheek
The show is fun for parents as well as kids, he said. “It’s going to be a great family show, for sure,” he said.”There’s a whole bunch of magical scenes — I don’t want to tell about them because it’ll ruin the surprise. There’s also the songs from the movie everyone loves as well as new songs.”
Co-producers of the show are Marianne Snook and Tiffany Goller who have previously worked together producing “Shrek the Musical” and “Leader of the Pack.” The “Mary Poppins” musical is the most technically challenging of the three shows they have co-produced because the set uses a rear-projection screen to create the illusion of London locations such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and a British bank. SVCT also paid $8,000 to hire a company to set up a flying rig bolted to the theater’s ceiling to allow actors to soar across London skies or climb up the side of walls in dance numbers.
The coldness of George and Winifred Banks’ marriage and the father’s emotional distance from his children are spotlighted in the musical version of the story, connecting more with the darker vision of the P. L. Travers book the movie was based on.
“Mary Poppins is there, of course, but the story is really about the Banks family and their transition from a dysfunctional family to coming together,” Snook said.
There are also some additional plot twists to the musical version of the story that the movie did not have.
“We have a scene where the toys are just really fed up with the children not treating them well and they come to life to teach them a lesson about how to be loving and to take care of them,” Snook said. “It’s really about how the book was written. It’s sort of a darker version, but that being said, (director) Megan Griffin’s vision was to make it a bit “campy.’ She wanted it a bit dark but she also wanted it to feel light and silly and everyone could be drawn into the fun parts, too. She wants every character to have a special feeling to them.”
This is Griffin’s first time directing a play and, at age 23, she found that it is a challenging one with all the musical numbers, costume and sets and the flying rig.
“It’s been a lot of learning in this experience,” she said about directing “Mary Poppins” for SVCT. “Not everything went perfectly, but I think it’s going to be a really strong show and I’ve very happy at how it’s turning out so far.”
The experience has also been a family affair. Griffin’s mother Michelle Griffin did most of the costumes for the show. Other staff members include Joy Reynolds as assistant director, Alan Chipman as music director, Lynette Oliphant as vocal director, Jyovonne Montosa as choreographer, and Kathy Tom as the flight director.
A special show noon Saturday June 11 will be performed for children with special needs such as autism where parents can bring them to the play and not worry about them making sounds or standing up in the middle of the performance.
“It’s also a regular show, so as long as people are OK with it, there might possibly be distractions from the audience,” Griffin said.
