Review: NightBlue's Practically Perfect MARY POPPINS

If family-friendly musicals were Easter eggs, NightBlue Performing Arts Company's production of Disney's MARY POPPINS is Faberge. Running through Mar. 27 at Stage 773 (1225 W. Belmont), the only way your kids could get closer to Mary is if you hired the British Au Pair yourself.

Directed by David E. Walters, the production is handsomely produced and, thanks to the intimate theater space, has a pop-up storybook quality to it that should delight theatergoers of all ages.

As the title character, Kyrie Anderson portrays all the warmth, heart and humor one expects from the literary and film's most famous nanny. Her soprano voice has never sounded better and Ms. Anderson is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-Equity actresses working in Chicago. She could carry the show alone if she had to, but fortunately, she needn't.

As her cohort Burt, Ryan Dooley is as charming, limber and funny be he magically leaping to keep a step in time or spending a jolly holiday with Mary.

As Mary's wards Jane and Michael Banks, Sage Harper and Liam Dahlborn thankfully resist the normal temptations of child actors to overact. Having seen multiple productions of this show through the years, I can honestly say this is the least cloying portrayal of the Banks children with Harper's portrayal of Jane being particularly well-rounded (Dahlborn was having body microphone issue during this performance and might have been over-projecting to compensate). The pair's voices blended and harmonized particularly well. Thanks to their vocal blending and the intimacy of the space, Jane and Michael's songs have never sounded better.

Mr. and Mrs. Banks (Joe Smith and MacKenzie Skye) fair far better in this production as well. Stern patriarch George Banks and exasperated mother Winifred Banks are woefully underwritten parts, but Smith and Skye manage to flesh out their individual characters. George's transformation from a robotic banking automaton to playful father feels a bit more real and less jarring here (it helps that Smith shows us the cracks in George's stern facade early on). Skye's Winifred is also a bit more well-rounded. She is less a welcome mat and a bit more assertive as she delicately tries to hold her family together. Skye's performance of "Being Mrs. Banks" is particularly heart-breaking (and Skye's boffo voice certainly helps).

As Mary's rival nanny Miss Andrew, Caron Buinis thankfully also tones down the more cartoon-villain aspects usually seen in the character. Without spoiling much, Buinis holds one particular note and milks it for all the laughs she can. Her Miss Andrew is very much Mary's equal and a scene where the pair verbally spar with each other is particularly satisfying.

The ensemble work is equally satisfying with stand outs including Judy Knudston and Matthew Provencal for their comedic work as the much-beleaguered housekeeper Mrs. Brill and dim-witted butler Robertson Ay as well as Eileen Casey as the purveyor of conversation, words and letters Mrs. Corry.

Stage 773 might be the smallest stage MARY POPPINS has flown across (and rest assured, she does indeed still fly), but it doesn't mean this production is any less heart-warming or magically.

MARY POPPINS runs through Mar. 27 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont. Tickets $25-$37.50. (773)327-5252. www.stage773.com

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