Congratulations go out to Christie Kerr at Circa 21 for taking on the incredibly challenging task of director and choreographer for the show immediately following Circa’s massively successful production of Chicago, that being Mary Poppins, The Musical. Not to be intimidated by either its predecessor or this iconic production, Kerr serves up “The Perfect Nanny” of a show. It is a BIG, splashy, colorful, joyous spectacle that will have you humming and set your toe to tapping.
The prim, proper and practically perfect nanny is primly, properly and perfectly played by Gilliam Weatherford whose voice borders on operatic in quality and the lovable chimney sweep, Bert, is Jordan Thomas Burnett whose amazing dancing is equal to his exceptional vocals.
This is, of course, a stage adaption of the hugely popular Disney film of the same name and while the most familiar songs from the film are included there are also some numbers that have been written specifically for this show and the side plot of Winifred Banks’ involvement in women’s suffrage is absent. It is replaced with Mrs. Banks’ anguish that she isn’t fully valued by her boorish husband (expertly played by Tristan Layne Tapscott) which culminates in a poignant, endearing number titled “Being Mrs. Banks” touchingly performed by Laura Whittenberger.
Obviously, the Banks children comprise a significant presence in this show and the real-life brother/sister team of Fulton and Olivia Young on the night I attended pulled off a flawless performance.
Without doubt, the outstanding scenes were the absolutely frenetic “Step in Time” consisting of a lively and energetic tap sequence by Bert and the chimney sweeps and the completely explosive “Supercalifrgilisticexpialidous” number with the formidably complicated dance and full-throttle upper body choreography that left me breathless just watching it. The stellar performer in that scene was Carissa Ferguson as Mrs. Corry.
Despite the multiple rolling, twirling and flying set pieces, scene changes rivaled the Indianapolis 500 in speed and Bradley Robert Jensen’s costuming is nothing short of miraculous in scope, quality and quantity. The only thing that puzzled me is why Mary Poppins didn’t have the cute little pork-pie hat we are used to seeing in her outdoor scenes.
Last, I can’t close this review without mentioning the Bootleggers’ pre-show, which was probably the best I’ve seen and consisted of a medley of songs from Disney movies except for “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang” which they dubbed an honorary Disney song.
Believe me, you won’t need a “spoonful of sugar” to get this show down because it is...what else? Supercalifrgilisticexpialidous.
Mary Poppins continues at Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 – 3rd Avenue in Rock Island where you can now book tickets on their website through September 6 with matinee performances on Wednesdays, evening performances Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and Dinner performances on Sundays. And, yes, massive street construction continues in front of the theatre, in fact it has grown to include the intersection so parking is now even more difficult.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.