It’s going to be interesting seeing how the Mountaineers Players handle the musical “Mary Poppins,” which opens with 2 p.m. Sunday and Monday shows during the Memorial Day weekend at the Kitsap Forest Theater.
The Broadway show is full of high-tech (and high-price tag) goodies. Chimney sweeps dance on the ceiling, a kitchen self-destructs and reconstructs, and just about everybody flies at one point or another. When I saw the Village Theatre‘s wonderful version in Issaquah last December, I loved how the show used the great songs from the 1964 movie version without being a simple rehash. But I was also distracted by all the special effects, a reaction Mountaineers director Craig Schieber said he had to the same show
“I was wowed by the spectacle, but not the story line,” said Schieber. “We have to rely on telling the story, and let the audience use their imaginations to supply some of the magic.”
A preview of the Mountaineers’ “Mary Poppins” is here:
If you saw Village Theatre’s “Mary Poppins” in Issaquah or Everett, or the earlier production in Seattle, and make it out to see the show at Kitsap Forest Theatre, drop me a note at mmoore@kitsapsun.com and let me know how you thought the two compared.
— MM
