Review: After Two-Year Covid Delay, Nashville Rep's MARY POPPINS Finally Flies Into Polk Theatre

After more than two years since its original opening night was set in 2020, Nashville Repertory Theatre's eagerly anticipated production of Disney's Mary Poppins - the stage musicalization of P.L. Travers' tales of the acerbic British nanny and her oft-misbehaving charges - has finally landed on the stage of the James K. Polk Theatre at Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Judging from the reaction of the audience at Thursday's first night performance, it may be ascertained that the production's ten-performance run will be embraced with great affection and ardor by its audiences who long to be transported to another time and place. Directed with his usual flair by Micah-Shane Brewer, with musical direction by Randy Craft and choreography by Christie Zimmerman, it's a tuneful reiteration of the classic Disney film (with original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman), complete with all the stageworthy special effects that help to capture the film's sense of whimsical magic, with the addition of new music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and a book by Julian Fellowes.

Interestingly, when the second national tour of Mary Poppins made its way to Music City in 2012, I remarked on the charming book written by Fellowes, then best known to American audiences for Downton Abbey, and now some ten years later, Fellowes is once again featuring prominently in the cultural zeitgeist for his newest televised offering of The Gilded Age on HBO. Clearly, the man knows his way around the inner workings of an Edwardian household and his book for Mary Poppins includes glimpses of both the upstairs and downstairs habitues of 17 Cherry Tree Lane.

For Nashville Rep audiences, who are for all intents and purposes ardent fans of the 1964 Disney movie version of Travers' tale, it should be noted that the stage presentation is not exactly a complete distillation of that which is seen on film. Rather, the stage musical (which debuted in London's West End in 2004 ahead of its Broadway opening in 2006) features a combination of characters and events from both the film and from Travers' books. Thus, the onstage musical is quite different - and therefore, perhaps surprising - from what might best be recalled from one of childhood's best remembered and most beloved movies.

The resulting book from Fellowes presents the magical and practically perfect Mary Poppins in all her somewhat unctuous glory, her theatrical hijinks brought to life in a succession of rather disconnected book scenes and some delightful musical numbers that are reordered for the stage for maximum - and quite entertaining - effect.

Played by Christine McNeal Toole, Nashville Rep's Mary Poppins might lack the charm of the iconic Julie Andrews, but she has the regal bearing and crystalline soprano one expects from the sometimes confounding, oftentimes charming nanny. As to be expected, she flies through the air with the greatest of ease as Mary Poppins, putting the efforts of every high-flying trapeze artist to shame.

McNeal Toole is well-paired in this production with Tennessee native Jeremy Benton (one of the best tap dancers ever to grace a Broadway stage) in his Nashville Rep debut as the ever-present chimney sweep Bert, who serves as the audience's guide throughout the show's three hours. McNeal Toole and Benton bring their characters to life with a sense of self-assured believability and prove themselves quite capable of completely beguiling their audience.

Benton's stage presence propels every musical number in which he is expected to show off his keen dancing abilities and he is given able support from the members of the ensemble, which includes the starmaking contributions of Kelsey Brodeur, Ian Frazier, Nate Gilanyi, Ray Gleaves (impressive as the statue Neleus come to life), Jonah M. Jackson, Allison Little, Maria Logan, Mike Sallee Jr., Allie Spengler, Meggan Utech and Deonte L. Warren (making a most welcome return to the Nashville stage after his own turn as the Genie in Broadway's Aladdin).

Geoffrey Davin and Natalie Rankin are superb as Mr. and Mrs. Banks, the well-heeled couple who make their home at 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Mia Blaise Campbell and Sarah Hedrick alternate as their daughter Jane, with Jackson Benfield and Danny Davis alternating as the rambunctious Michael Banks. Jonah M. Jackson is good as the bumbling footman Robertson Aye, with Katie Bruno garnering her share of the laughs as housekeeper Mrs. Brill.

Two more critically acclaimed and we daresay venerated members of the Nashville theater community - the wonderful Denice Hicks and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva - bring their own unequaled star power to the production. Hicks is perfectly cast as Miss Lark, the dog-loving neighbor to the Bankses, but she is perhaps most impressive as the Bird Woman, whose plaintive performance of "Feed the Birds" is heartrendingly memorable. Whitcomb-Oliva brings amazing vigor and energy to every number in which she is featured and her ability to play such disparate characters (from Queen Victoria to Mrs. Cory, the mistress of the pop-up Talking Shop, and the "holy terror" Miss Andrew, George Banks' ageless nanny) is alone well worth the price of a ticket.

As expected, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (featuring the ensemble and the show's stars in some athletic, even body-twisting, choreography) and "Step in Time" (which features Benton defying gravity while dancing all around and upside down the proscenium of the Polk Theatre stage, while the audience and the rest of the company look on in wonder) provide the evening's musical highlights.

Craft conducts an impressive coterie of Nashville's most talented musicians as they perform the show's challenging score, while costume designers Lori Gann-Smith and Melissa K. Durmon clothe the actors in colorful fashion. Mike Woods' lighting design illuminates the proceedings in style, and Tanner Roman's sound design is well-executed. Nashville Rep's legendary Gary C. Hoff is credited as "scenic supervisor," overseeing the utilization of sets from the Musical Theatre of Wichita, which are credited to designer J. Branson. And, finally, kudos to Abigail Nichol for taking on the herculean challenge of designing props for this prop-heavy production.

Disney's Mary Poppins. A musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film. Original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. New songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Book by Julian Fellowes. Co-created by Cameron Mackintosh. Directed by Micah-Shane Brewer. Musical direction by Randy Craft. Choreographed by Christie Zimmerman. Stage managed by Teresa Driver. Presented by Nashville Repertory Theatre at James K. Polk Theatre at Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville. Running time: 3 hours (with one 15-minute intermission). Through Sunday, May 8. For further information, go to www.nashvillerep.org. For tickets, call (615) 782-4040.

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