Review: Mary Poppins at Sunderland Empire
Jeff Brown is swept up by a storm of stage magic as Mary Poppins brings joy, wonder and a dash of ceiling tap-dancing to Sunderland Empire
As the fringe of Storm Amy skirted Wearside, buffeting the Friday night crowd, a lone, immaculately-dressed woman opened her umbrella and was carried right into the rafters of the Sunderland Empire.
Fear not. Mary Poppins was in complete control – as she is in just about every situation. Whether healing fractured families, taming boisterous children or dealing with fearsome rivals, it’s all part of the magic.
And the awestruck audience were clearly under the spell, as this lavish, joyous Cameron Mackintosh production deservedly enjoyed a thunderous reception at the end of an unforgettable evening.
The story will be familiar to anyone over the age of 30 who’s ever watched Christmas telly, with the 1966 film a staple of the festive schedule. For that reason, Dame Julie Andrews – who incidentally, celebrated her 90th birthday this week – will always be Mary.
A large, sensible skirt for any actor to step into, then, but a challenge that Australian stage and TV star Stefanie Jones took on with terrific poise, elegance and perfect pitch.
Alongside her, fellow Aussie Jack Chambers made a better fist of Bert the lovable chimney sweep’s Cockney accent than Dick Van Dyke ever did, and topped it all off with some astonishing footwork. Has anyone EVER tap-danced, upside down, on the Empire ceiling before? Pure Poppins magic.
As you’d expect from a Mackintosh show it’s a full-on, mega-production, with standout performances from Michael D Xavier (put-upon bank manager and harassed father-of-two, George Banks) and cheeky/charming youngsters Connie Jones and Oliver Manning as Jane and Michael, the pair on stage for almost the entire evening.
There was also a scene-stealing entrance by Wendy Ferguson as the rotten, rival nanny Miss Andrew, who is quickly dispatched by Mary in an operatic battle of Good versus Evil.
The first half is packed with most of the numbers you’ll know even if you’re one of the few who has never seen the film: A Spoonful of Sugar, Feed the Birds (sung by the wonderful Pattie Boulaye), Chim Chim Cher-ee and, of course, the almost (memo to self: check spelling) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
How to follow that in Act two? By opening with a stupendous tap-dancing sequence featuring 20 chimney sweeps and Bert’s incredible acrobatics, and the tempo never flagged.
Special mention to the set designer for the “doll’s house” effect which opened up to reveal the Banks’s family home (Scenic and costume design by Bob Crowley; set design adaptation by Rosalind Coombes and Matt Kinley)
On a damp, horribly windswept night, it was hard not to be blown away by the sheer joyfulness of the occasion. As Mary herself would doubtless have observed – practically perfectly in every way.
Mary Poppins runs at Sunderland Empire until October 25. Visit the website for tickets.