Iitt's SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!!

For the first trip to Manchester's Palace Theatre this year, I got the chance to see the new UK tour of the classic Mary Poppins, produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

Originally done in the West End in 2004, followed by Broadway a few years later, the story is based on Disney's classic 1964 film and author P.L Travers' original stories, so there are some extra scenes and characters which audiences might not expect. The show of course includes the classic Sherman Brothers tunes from the film such as A Spoonful of Sugar, but also new material by British song-writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and a book by Downton's Julian Fellowes. The original London and Broadway production won 2 Oliviers and 1 Tony, with many more nominations to boot. 

I, of course, had seen the film plenty of times in my childhood, but I had never seen it on stage, so the question for me was how it would translate...

Leading the cast was Zizi Strallen as the titular character, and I have to admit, while she is incredibly talented, there was something about her Mary which seemed a bit off with me. I know Mary is much more strict the original stories than how Julie Andrews portrayed her in the film, but I think Strallen might have gone too strict for my taste. Nevertheless, as I said, she is incredibly talented, particularly as a dancer. As far as her male counterpart goes, Bert was played by Australian Matt Lee, who I think played him wonderfully.

The cast members for me who really stood out Rebecca Lock as Mrs Banks and the hilarious Wendy Ferguson as the Banks' housekeeper Mrs Brill. I knew Ferguson was going to be brilliant, that is if her spot-on performance as Carlotta in Phantom's 25th Anniversary was anything to go by; but Lock was probably the biggest surprise for me. Mrs Banks has a LOT more to do in the show than she does in the film and her performance is just something to be seen. 

And now I really have to go on to who, for me, were the stars of the show: Bob Crowley and Natasha Katz. With both having multiple Tonys each, they are the set and lighting designers respectively. Now I never really talk about sets or lighting effects, but with this I just had to, because this was where the real magic was brought from. Anything from completely destroying and then re-assembling the same set, to something as subtle as a train going past being projected in the background, or the transition into the Jolly Holiday sequence.... I could go on, but I'm not going to, because you need to see the magic for yourself. 

Oh, and speaking of magic, whether you're 5 or 85, you will find it impossible not to be completely spellbound with the final scene of Mary and her parrot-umbrella flying right above your head. 

Just like the film, Mary Poppins is a show for the young, and the young at heart. You just have to see it!