This Famously Fantastical Nanny Is a Joy Through Generations

The stage version of this musical classic brings a big spoonful of sugar for the holidays. The 5th Avenue Theatre’s joyous production of Mary Poppins runs through 12/29 in Downtown Seattle. 

When I brought my mother and third-grade son to a matinee performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, I expected widely varied reactions between our three generations. But at the close we were all left teary eyed by the emotional depth and heart pumping spectacle on the stage. This is the hallmark of The 5th Avenue Theatre’s timeless production: the ability to convey a relatable storyline via brightly colored, intricate sets, an enthusiastic cast, and the Sherman Brothers’ spell-weaving score expertly played by The 5th’s orchestra under music director Matthew Smedal. 

The characters of Mary Poppins the nanny and her stalwart friend Bert were introduced in P.L. Travers’ short story nearly 100 years ago, followed by a full-length novel in 1934 and the famous 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The 2004 stage musical, written by Julian Fellowes, and directed and choreographed here by Denis Jones, incorporates elements from all of these iterations into a colorful, action-packed spectacle that effectively communicates complicated moral themes about family life under capitalism while maintaining the joy of those musical numbers that haunted so many of our childhoods: “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” and “Feed the Birds,” among others. 

The story follows the dysfunctional Banks family in 1910 London: the father, George Banks (Eric Ankrim), a fallen bank executive who shoos away his children as he climbs the ladder to success; his wife Winifred (Jazmin Gorsline), a retired actor who busies herself with social affairs while her children are raised by a series of nannies; daughter Jane, a miserable and unpleasant little girl convincingly played by Maisie Marsh; and son Michael (Omry Macon), a sweet little boy with hilarious one-liners who desperately wants to play in the park with his emotionally bankrupt father. 

As life in the strictly class-divided capitalist culture of Edwardian England takes its toll on the Banks family, Mary Poppins literally drops onstage to take over the position of the children’s nanny and prompts a series of events that results in the Banks family’s emotional transformation. The story is timeless, the struggles familiar to so many families in every decade since Travers first published her stories: how does a primary breadwinner balance financial and emotional support for the family? How does a child-bearing partner maintain an identity among the many demands of parenthood and community building? And how do children raised in a culture of materialism nurture empathy and compassion? Through a cast of gentle and magical community members, that’s how. 

The cast is composed of both local and visiting actors. As the title character, King, who hails from Bellevue, echoes the spirit of Andrews’ familiar Mary Poppins, a half smile hidden beneath her clipped, quick one-liners and crisp vocals. King masters her character’s delicate balance of enchanting softness and ahead-of-its-time professional power with innate stage presence and chemistry with her fellow actors. Narrator Bert is played by Broadway veteran Danny Gardner, who starts off the show with strong vocals and a comforting presence that explodes into memorable, energetic dancing in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “Step in Time.”  

The children, played by local actors Marsh and Macon at the matinee I saw, deliver on their roles evenly and dependably. I am always in awe of child actors who achieve this level of professional success and grace. Actor/dancer Nik Hagen’s butler Robertson Ay is a highlight of the first act, his choreographed clumsiness perfectly hitting each musical note and eliciting laughs from every corner of the theatre. Bobbi Kotula as maid Mrs. Brill is more subtle but equally effective: Kotula’s simple movement of banging a whisk against a ceramic bowl somehow communicates a whole treatise on the frustration of domestic workers through the ages. 

As the children’s father, our anti-hero, Ankrim’s George Banks blossoms in Act II with his rendition of “A Man Has Dreams/A Spoonful of Sugar Reprise,” where he conveys such grief at his lost dreams of financial success and the loss of ego that comes with it. Whatever the much-needed progress of gender roles over the decades since the song was penned, the unreasonable expectations of male heads of households continue to take tolls on family mental health — it was truly heartbreaking to watch this unfold onstage, and there were legitimate tears on faces through the audience as Ankrim shed his ego and enfolded his children in embrace. 

Gorsline’s Mrs. Banks battles similar demons as she sings her way from emerging socialite and lonely wife to involved mother and a loving wife to the transformed George. Gorsline’s vocal performance is riveting — and hey, she’s from the PNW! What a treat to see her return on a local stage. 

The ensemble seemed to be having as much fun as that matinee audience. They sang, strolled, danced, and tapped their way through the two hours-plus of stage time, never losing their energy even with the incredible physical push of the “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” number. As for the multigenerational experience of my co-reviewers: they had identical facial expressions of wonder during this number, laughed at the same parts, and clapped louder than anyone else around me. 

View the Inside the Musical Guide, by The 5th’s Education and Engagement team, for more about the show, its stories, and community connections.

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins runs through 12/29 (extended from 12/22) at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Downtown Seattle. Tickets ($50+, depending on date and seat location) here. Accessibility notes: basement restrooms are gender-neutral and multi-stall; all other restrooms are gendered and multi-stall. Theatre and some common areas are wheelchair accessible. ASL interpreted, open captioned, and sensory friendly performance on 12/21 (matinee); see accessibility info here.

Run time: 2 hours 40 minutes, with intermission. 

Melody Datz Hansen is a freelance dance writer in Seattle. Her work is published in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, City Arts, and on her blog at melodydatz.com.