Mary Poppins
Thoughts:
It's awful. It's banal and uninteresting. Ashley Brown is no star. She seems like your generic 2634th replacement of a show. She has some lovely high notes in some parts of the show, which I never knew could happen in a Disney musical, but whatever. She makes me question why the show is called "Mary Poppins" because there was nothing spectacular about her performance that makes me think she is the lead. And to comment on Poppins the character, not the actress: Mary is pompous, obnoxious and condescending as hell!! "Practically Perfect?!" Oh how highly the queen must think of herself! You're "practically perfect in every way" my love? How about the fact that you're arrogant? That's not so perfect, now is it, missy? And she had some lines in the show which I felt were completely unnecessarily condescending towards the children! Maybe it was the way that Ashley was performing the role or maybe the lines were meant to be funny, but she came across as curt! I would have slapped the bitch had she been my babysitter!
The choreography for the most part was uninteresting. It was your standard musical theater tap dance fare. Good, but not amazing. What else was up for Best Choreography?? Because now, Spring Awakening may have just won because nothing else was acceptable. However, I will say that Bert's choreography for "Step in Time" was magical. I won't ruin it for those who don't know, but it was definitely the highlight of the show.
On that note, Gavin Lee as Bert was fine. He was probably the best of the bunch, but, again, like the show, not spectacular. He had some funny quirks here and there that made his performance more than just generic, but he wasn't as omniscient as I had hoped for in a pseudo-narrator.
The children were annoying. At least in Chitty, the children were in for a few times, but weren't given the bulk of the singing.
The lyrics are atrocious. Either they're forced rhymes ("I feel so bereft....I left") or totally predictable. I'll see if I can remember one of the predictable ones later, but since the lyrics are so forgettable, don't bet on it!
"Temper, Temper" is the new song of the show that wasn't from the movie. The song was COMPLETELY unnecessary. It didn't further any plot or give any character insight or even set the tone for the next part of the show. Hell, it didn't even have good choreography! It was scary, though.
I was completely horrified when Mary Poppins set free "the bad nanny's" bird. Yes, we, as an audience, and the children know how bad this bad nanny is, but Poppins doesn't. But she sets the bird free to supposedly teach her a lesson. What lesson, Poppins? You haven't even met the lady! Another slap for Poppins!
I will, though credit the set design for this show. It's breathtaking. It's just so detailed and elaborate. It should have won the Tony.
And Rebecca Luker got a Tony nom for this?? Did she?? Because if she did, I don't know why. It's not that she was bad, but she's not really in the show.
This is exactly one of those shows that theater snobs make fun of because of it's popularity with tourists! It's all spectacle and no substance. And I'm still hungry.
It's awful. It's banal and uninteresting. Ashley Brown is no star. She seems like your generic 2634th replacement of a show. She has some lovely high notes in some parts of the show, which I never knew could happen in a Disney musical, but whatever. She makes me question why the show is called "Mary Poppins" because there was nothing spectacular about her performance that makes me think she is the lead. And to comment on Poppins the character, not the actress: Mary is pompous, obnoxious and condescending as hell!! "Practically Perfect?!" Oh how highly the queen must think of herself! You're "practically perfect in every way" my love? How about the fact that you're arrogant? That's not so perfect, now is it, missy? And she had some lines in the show which I felt were completely unnecessarily condescending towards the children! Maybe it was the way that Ashley was performing the role or maybe the lines were meant to be funny, but she came across as curt! I would have slapped the bitch had she been my babysitter!
The choreography for the most part was uninteresting. It was your standard musical theater tap dance fare. Good, but not amazing. What else was up for Best Choreography?? Because now, Spring Awakening may have just won because nothing else was acceptable. However, I will say that Bert's choreography for "Step in Time" was magical. I won't ruin it for those who don't know, but it was definitely the highlight of the show.
On that note, Gavin Lee as Bert was fine. He was probably the best of the bunch, but, again, like the show, not spectacular. He had some funny quirks here and there that made his performance more than just generic, but he wasn't as omniscient as I had hoped for in a pseudo-narrator.
The children were annoying. At least in Chitty, the children were in for a few times, but weren't given the bulk of the singing.
The lyrics are atrocious. Either they're forced rhymes ("I feel so bereft....I left") or totally predictable. I'll see if I can remember one of the predictable ones later, but since the lyrics are so forgettable, don't bet on it!
"Temper, Temper" is the new song of the show that wasn't from the movie. The song was COMPLETELY unnecessary. It didn't further any plot or give any character insight or even set the tone for the next part of the show. Hell, it didn't even have good choreography! It was scary, though.
I was completely horrified when Mary Poppins set free "the bad nanny's" bird. Yes, we, as an audience, and the children know how bad this bad nanny is, but Poppins doesn't. But she sets the bird free to supposedly teach her a lesson. What lesson, Poppins? You haven't even met the lady! Another slap for Poppins!
I will, though credit the set design for this show. It's breathtaking. It's just so detailed and elaborate. It should have won the Tony.
And Rebecca Luker got a Tony nom for this?? Did she?? Because if she did, I don't know why. It's not that she was bad, but she's not really in the show.
This is exactly one of those shows that theater snobs make fun of because of it's popularity with tourists! It's all spectacle and no substance. And I'm still hungry.