November 17, 2006

Broadway's 'Mary Poppins' possibly perfect - or not

Disney's big musical of "Mary Poppins" opened on Broadway last night and the reviews are mixed, ranging from a perfect 4-stars to yawn-inducing complaints that the story has has turned into a lecture lacking all charm.

With new songs and staging imported from London, the highly anticipated production stars Ashley Brown as the magical nanny.

"Mary Poppins" has an open-ended run at the New Amsterdam Theatre, located at 214 W. 42nd St., map.

The reviews:

Daily News - "It is a roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza."

Newsday - "Excellent flying. Otherwise, 'Mary Poppins,' the show for which 'The Lion King' got kicked to the Minskoff Theatre, is a quaint, muddled, beautiful-looking musical with plenty of spectacle but even more emotional distance."

Variety - "So it's perhaps not surprising the lavish adaptation of P.L. Travers' beloved stories of a magical nanny is somewhat overstuffed. That quibble aside, the show is also bursting with dazzling stagecraft, stunning design, old-fashioned storytelling virtues and genuine charm."

Wall Street Journal - "As for Mary's bottomless carpetbag, from which she extracts, among many other improbable things, a full-length coat rack, all I can say is pretty much what the four- and seven-year-olds sitting next to me said: "Ooh! Aah!" I only wish I'd felt that way about the rest of the show. It's spectacular, and not even slightly boring, but anyone familiar with Walt Disney's 1964 film version of 'Mary Poppins' is likely to come away asking what happened to the charm."

Post - "'Mary Poppins' was fine as a Disney movie and is even better as this Broadway musical, imported sound and whole from London's West End."

NY1 - "I saw the show in London and while the New York version is still working out some kinks, it's practically perfect like its British counterpart."

Star-Ledger - "While the energetic Sherman Brothers parts of the score are enjoyable, the cluttered musical isn't as wonderful as hoped."

Associated Press - "Watching 'Mary Poppins,' the Disney-Cameron Mackintosh extravaganza now on view at the New Amsterdam Theatre, is a little like eating an entire box of expensive chocolates — all by yourself. You may end up feeling a bit overstuffed, but, boy, the experience will be fun. Tasty, too."

Bloomberg - "For all the craft and craftiness that have gone into its making, the aggressively hyped and lavishly produced 'Mary Poppins' that has finally umbrellaed down to the New Amsterdam Theater in New York suffers from a surprising lack of charm."

New York Times - "But be warned. In this high-pedigree show — produced by the Disney company and Cameron Mackintosh and staged by the eminent British director Richard Eyre and the wunder-choreographer Matthew Bourne — every act of sorcery comes with a fortune-cookie life lesson attached. The operating philosophy, it would seem, is that a spoonful of spectacle helps the medicine go down. This almost Puritanical suspicion of theatrical enchantment for its own sake keeps “Mary Poppins” from ever achieving the undiluted wonder of, say, the opening sequence of that most successful of Disney Broadway ventures, "The Lion King." Even young children with great patience (is that an oxymoron?) may grow restless with the implicit lecturing between those moments when Mary flies, literally and figuratively."

Sun - " A similar lesson — albeit a much longer, louder, and more expensive one — can be found at the Hilton Theatre, where a talented team with an enormous special-effects budget has turned " Mary Poppins"into a flashy parade of joyless delights."

New York - "The biggest surprise of Mary Poppins—I can’t believe I’m typing this—is that Disney has tried too hard to make a serious musical. The stage version delves more deeply than the film into the domestic troubles of the Banks home. This being a Disney story, you know from the start that Dad’s job anxiety and Mom’s life frustrations are just setting you up for a huggy Spielbergian finale. But what are the maniac toys from Shockheaded Peter doing marauding around the nursery, menacing little Michael and Jane?"

Washington Post - "If a few mechanical marvels are enough for you (or your little ones), then the charms of this highly anticipated adaptation of the 1964 movie musical will not feel too fleeting or sporadic. But anyone hoping that this show -- staged by director Richard Eyre and choreographer Matthew Bourne -- would provide much in the way of robust musical pleasure or emotional sustenance is likely to find it a wee bit of a letdown."

Earlier: Free tickets available for Kids' Night on Broadway
Broadway's 'Mary Poppins' too scary for some kids
'Mary Poppins' Broadway tickets go on sale in June

November 17, 2006 02:57 PM in Broadway

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