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Back into London again today, but this time with a car full of family, as we were going to watch the stage version of Mary Poppins. A lot of people on the roads seemed determined to end their lives today, but I managed to avoid killing anyone. One man ran right in front of the car at a busy junction without even looking. Life is over-rated. I am happy to euthanise anyone who is tired of life or too stupid to live. But would prefer if you killed yourself as a pedestrian. The cars I had to avoid could have harmed my family as well as the idiots driving like they were in clown cars.
But I guess Johnson was right about being tired of London.
The kids are big fans of the film Mary Poppins. Ernie used to sing the songs and dance as we waited to go into school and I’d occasionally hear other kids whispering, “It’s the kid who sings Mary Poppins” in a mixture of awe and bemusement. We listened to the album on the way - the sound track is really banger after banger. I’d be happy with my career if all I’d done was write Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, but pretty much every song on this soundtrack is as witty and catchy and if you look at what other songs the Sherman brothers composed then your head would explode. And Mary Poppins, the film, seems to have a reverse curse where (for most of the cast at least - every sadly Matthew Garber who played Michael died at 21) being in this picture has granted them immortality. Three of the principal adult characters are still alive (as is one of the Sherman brothers) Glynis Johns (99) Dick Van Dyke (96) and Julie Andrews (87) (Richard Sherman is 94). David Tomlinson lived to 83.
We had great seats in the dress circle. I ended up on F16 which is a great seat - right in the middle, but with steps in front of you so there is leg room. If you’re going to the Prince Edward Theatre the get F16 and F17 in the dress circle, especially if you are tall. The whole of row F is extra wide, but that’s because it’s used as the way through the theatre, so although that will be good for watching the play, you will probably get a bit annoyed before the show and during the interval by people stomping past you.
It’s not the sign of a great show when you’re reviewing the seats.
I was a bit disappointed by the musical, but it’s a difficult job adapting a classic book when everyone has seen the film a thousand times. Do you try to recreate it or give people something a bit different? You’re aiming for a balance, but I am not sure that the balance was right this time. A few of the classic songs are missing and the classic ones have been rearranged and changed but there’s a whole load of original music in there, which is a bold move when it has to stand next or replace classics. To be fair to the creators of this piece they are trying to do something different and have obviously returned to the books to bring to life some characters that will be new to anyone who just knows the film. There’s plenty to enjoy, but it felt a little flat to me and the big Poppins fan Ernie was losing interest in the long first half (at one point loudly asking for his iPad), though to be fair by the end he was shouting “I love you Mary Poppins” as Mary Poppins magically flew by, so I think it was still a hit for the young fans. When I was mildly critical afterwards Phoebe took umbrage, so the target audience were on board.
But does Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious need different words and a new bit where everyone spells out the word? Or is changing the song like taking a piss on the Mona Lisa? I am sure the Sherman brothers were very happy for the revenue that this musical will have brought to them, but it felt arrogant to me that the originals were altered or excised.
People flew and Burt, impressively, walked up the wall and across the ceiling and down again, but I couldn’t enjoy it too much as I just worried that the wires would snap and he’d plummet to his death. But of course, the reverse curse of Mary Poppins meant he was fine. And even if he did fall he’d survive, but presumably crush the actor playing Michael.
I was a bit confused by the reception the Bird Lady got at the end. She’d been pretty good, but wasn’t in the show all that much. It was only afterwards that I discovered she was played by Petula Clark, so fair play.
It’s great to get the kids out to the theatre and to have a bit family day with grandparents and uncles, but the cost of those row F seats was astronomical and it doesn’t seem fair that a family requires hundreds of pounds to witness stuff like this. It’s an expensive production, but I imagine that it’s a profitable one (even if Covid will have dented that profit) but you know what I am saying.
