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Thinking about putting on the Mary Poppins musical at a Summer Theatre program. The technical challenges are daunting. I think we could be creative, but will audiences still be ok without a big budget for flying nannies and such? I love the show, but the realities of the short amount of time, limited budget, and outdoor challenges make me wonder if it is worth it. Any thoughts?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Chad, I don't know when you are hoping to do your show. Our theatre company (California Regional Theatre) will be doing it in April and May. We WILL be flying, but we don't have a tremendous budget. If you want, I can let you know how it goes and what we did. There is also a theatre company here in Chico called Chico Theatre Company. They are performing Mary Poppins on a pretty small stage and with a limited budget. You might check out their facebook page for pictures or contact them if you are interested in learning how they are planning to pull it off.
Best,
Rebecca Hammonds
California Regional Theatre
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Permalink Reply by Tony Earnest Medlin on -
Theatre Baton Rouge just did it in their season. LOTS OF PROBLEMS!!! You might want to call Jenny Ballard and talk with her. She's their AD and a fantastic gal, actress, etc. She inherited the show in their season and all the crap that went with it. She'd fill you in. Best.
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As a person who has created flying effects for many productions, including Mary Poppins, let me say that there are lots of ways to do the flying for this show in spaces with limited height. Lots of shows that do not have flying effects) are more technically challenging than Mary Poppins. Yes, flying performers can be expensive, because of the cost of proper equipment and the cost of insurance that flying effects companies must carry.
Does Mary Poppins require flying? No, there is nothing in the contract with MTI that requires you to fly any performer and there is not dialog about "flying" (unlike Peter Pan where Peter sings about flying the the kids all speak about it). Will audience members be disappointed if Mary and Bert do not fly (most don't know who Miss Andrew is or knows that the script calls for her to fly out in a gigantic birdcage)? I am sure some will be disappointed and other will forgive the last of flying.
I think the question that must be answered is "can you produce a show where the overall production quality is high enough to overshadow the lack of any missing elements and therefore meet or exceed the overall expectations of your audience?" I am sure that every director hopes that the answer is "yes," but he/she needs to be realistic in answering this question. If he/she is not positive that the answer is "yes," then find a different show.
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Permalink Reply by David Adcock on -
We too are looking at doing Mary Poppins in 2016. We plan to fly using Fly by Foy. Going to be very expensive. I would like to hear what other theaters have had trouble with when doing this show.
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We are doing Mary Poppins the last weekend of April. We will also not be doing any flying. I am interested in any ideas about the type of flooring to use to pick up the tap shoes in "Step in Time," and how best to mic that.
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