Ah! The master! step in time...

Last night, I went to see Mary Poppins at the Aronoff Center. I must say, I was disappointed with it.

I think I always have issues seeing shows that have movie versions that I like. Little Shop of Horrors, for instance. Mary Poppins was the same way but I think it had a lot more issues.
The saying "let's not reinvent the wheel" is uttered around here quite a bit and I think it applies to this show. They made an awful lot of changes adapting it and I think they were largely unnecessary.

The majority, if not all, of the songs are shortened or changed, seemingly just for the sake of changing them. I went there expecting the hear all the familiar tunes but it left something lacking not hearing them as they were in the film, granted a lack of Julie Andrews is probably much more damaging than that.

In the movie, they have the whole trippy horse scene with the animated penguins and so on. My mother and I were very curious how they would do this on stage. It was replaced with a scene where statues in the park come to life. They were dancers in skintight statue-colored catsuits with leaves covering their not-visible-under-the-catsuit---erm--private parts. It was a pretty neat idea and really the only change that worked for me.

Later on for "Supercalifragilistic..." they go into this weirdo Tim Burton candy shop place that appears in the park and is run by a woman with a Seuss-ian green braid that stuck straight into the air. Mary Poppins spells out the word with some candy letters? Yeah...It was weird. I don't know how things like this make it out of the board room or wherever they are born. The dancing for this song was phenomenal, though. Good enough, I think, to make up for the bizarre-ness of the candy shop and its drag queen-esque staff.

Mr. and Mrs. Banks sort of weigh the whole show down. Mrs. Banks tries unsuccessfully to throw a tea party and no one comes and...that's that. It was yet another part that seemed clunky and thrown in and didn't really seem to have a purpose. No women's suffrage here. Mr. Banks is less the hilariously uptight patriarch and more a deeply damaged and wholly unpleasant man. When he finally asks his son to fly a kite with him, it somehow lacked the sincerity and sweetness it does in the film. The stage show also adds "Holy Terror" Miss Andrews, Mr. Banks' childhood nanny who gets shouldered with the blame for all of his problems. Again, she seems thrown in---an afterthought. Why is she there? Comic relief, I suppose? She was funny; I'll give her that.

In the show, the Banks have a cook and a male housekeeper. They are obviously meant to be comic relief but...not so much. I don't know who to blame for this, really. They had a lot of broad physical comedy, falling into dishes and the like, and it was just not well executed. For example, at one point he goes inexplicably reeling towards a table and awkwardly slams his fists on either side, making the table split in half. The only reason I can imagine that he would do this is because he is an actor in a play and they got this great stunt table that splits in half and that's what the director told him to do. It was just so awkward. Again, I couldn't figure out if it was the blocking or the actor. Possibly both.

Mary Poppins was good, not great. I'm fairly certain we had the understudy. She definitely had the character down, so it leaves one wondering if the script is really more to blame.

The big stand-out of the night was Burt. He was absolutely fantastic. If I could replace Dick van Dyke with that actor, the film would be perfect. That is how good he was. Like a dancing Atlas, he carries the entire show on his capable shoulders. Could you sing while hanging upside down, fifty feet in the air? This guy effing can. I could gush and gush and gush about him. I even had my pen and Playbill ready in case he was out with a Broadway Cares bucket. I may even say that its worth seeing the show just to watch this guy. He is what you go to see.

The thing that really bothered me throughout was the plot. Disney just really isn't too good at the whole Broadway thing (Lion King of course being the exception). It didn't flow and I found myself confused several times. Unnecessary additions and awkward exclusions abounded. In the end, they go up into the Heavens? And then Mary Poppins tells Michael that he won't go there again for a long time? What is that about?? Really weird. All the children's toys come to life and complain about how badly they are treated. Then Mary Poppins leaves with them right before intermission. What? Who wrote this, an eight year-old? It also ran three hours long, which contradicts all the additions that seemed to be for kids' sake.

Overall, I'd say see it out of curiosity if you'd like but a night in watching the DVD is more enjoyable. I know there are probably a lot of people screaming at me through the computer for comparing it to the movie like that but all the stage show made me want to do was watch it.

(Oh, and when we left, we were standing at the valet desk and a woman said, "I had the Land Rover but I don't think you gave me a ticket for it." And so I said, "Oh yes, I had the Lexus but you didn't give me a ticket either." I was being hilarious but she seriously looked at me like I just took a dump right there on her shoes. Even my mom agreed that she was a bitch.)

And they removed "What's all this?! What's all this!!" from "Step in Time". Which is my very favorite part. And no bank run! You see? I just can't stop comparing it to the film. Well, there you have my humble opinion. And you didn't even have to ask.