By Dariga Atayeva, Year 12
After many months of hard work, actors for the secondary school’s musical Mary Poppins finally showcased their talent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Having watched the film before seeing the musical was not essential, but was recommended.
Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. It features songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers, with the genre being a fantasy-comedy.
It is set in London in the Edwardian Era, in Spring of 1910. The first scene opens on a street performer named Bert who leads the audience to number 17 Cherry Tree Lane. The same street is where Winifred Banks returns home and learns that from the cook and maid that the babysitter (Katie Nanna) had left after Jane and Michael (the children) ran away for the fourth time that week. Winifred Banks, disheartened, gives the news to her husband, George. The children are then returned home by Constable Jones who firmly tells the parents that they were chasing after a lost kite. George, frustrated, dismisses his children when they ask him to help them to build a new kite. He then embarks upon the process of hiring a new nanny, and simultaneously, the children write and present their own advertisement for their idea of a practically perfect nanny.
The next day, a magical nanny descends from the sky using her umbrella, and in utter disbelief, the kids get excited. Once she marches inside the house to present herself to Mr. Banks, she introduces herself as Mary Poppins, and shows him the children’s advertisement. She fulfils with its requests and promises Mr. Banks to also be frim, but fair with the children. Mary Poppins ‘hires herself’ and proceeds to help the children magically tidy their nursery by snapping her fingers before heading out for a walk in the park.
Here begins a series of fantastical adventures with Mary Poppins and her performer friend Bert. Afterwards, the children, inspired by their nanny’s sunny attitude, try to pass that energy on to their preoccupied parents.
The story of Mary Poppins has a touching moral, central around the theme of family. Mary Poppins, with her humour and good-hearted firmness, helps give the children a sense of wonder.
Although the movie was a big hit at the time when it was released, it has often been overlooked that the story is based on a series of books. The original author, Pamela Lyndon Travers, was an Australian-British writer who spent most of her career in England. Whilst working as a journalist at a London newspaper, she came up with the idea for a novel about a whimsical-yet-stern nanny called Mary Poppins in 1924. The real inspiration for Mary Poppins, however, lies in something more personal.
Travers’s father died when she was just 7. After his death, she grew closer with her great-aunt Morehead whom she described as “compact of adventure and romance”. In addition, her aunt would make up rhymes and songs on the spot, much like Mary Poppins. Morehead was characterised with positive whimsical qualities, which Travers said “infected all children and they adored her as something more than human”.
Alongside Mary Poppins, Mr Banks and Mrs Banks have also been inspired by Travers’s parents. Some parts of the fictional characters are reformed of course, as her father was a drunk and her mother was suicidal.
Therefore, the musical Mary Poppins is not just a ‘made up’ story, but a merge of truth and fiction.
The musical performed by our school was truly fantastic, and successfully captured the magical and nostalgic essence of Mary Poppins. A big applause and congratulations to the entire cast for their hard work and dedication!
