JAMESVILLE-DEWITT SCHOOL DISTRICT – Jamesville-DeWitt High School presented “Mary Poppins” as its musical over four performances Feb. 6 through 8, sharing a “good deal of love” with its audiences while getting some jolly good laughs out of them too.
The family-friendly show based on the P.L. Travers book series, the multiple film adaptations, and the 2004 Sherman Brothers musical version of “Mary Poppins” was staged in the Osborn Auditorium at the district’s Edinger Drive high school.
Decidedly taking on a slightly darker tone at times compared to Disney’s 1964 take on the material, the stage musical was still bright and colorful throughout just the same, its story following the Banks family in London as nanny after nanny is driven insane at their Cherry Tree Lane household by the mischief making of children Michael and Jane (played by Wes Smith and Myah Pettiford respectively).
Responding to the kids’ advertisement, the even-keeled, “practically perfect” Mary Poppins arrives at their doorstep to bring precision and order but also imagination and fun to their daily lives, showing them with her magical ways that “anything can happen if you let it.”
As expected, J-D’s production contained such songs as the well-known favorites “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “A Spoonful of Sugar,” as well as the often-uttered phrase “spit spot,” but there were also surprises in the form of special effects that allowed J-D senior Anna Hasegawa to fly off with her signature umbrella in the title role as Mary Poppins while fellow senior Rozir Kirkland did flips and swam through the air above the rooftops as Bert, the jack of all trades who narrated the show.
Kelsie Deyo, the director of J-D’s staging of “Mary Poppins,” said it was “a beast of a show” to put on but that she was proud of everyone involved—from her production team and running crew to the ensemble cast and pit orchestra members—for showing up ready to go, putting their all into the production, and pulling it off like they did, especially considering they ran the show in full for the first time only the day before opening night.
In total, 105 students took part in J-D’s musical, including 40 cast members, 35 instrumentalists in the pit, and 30 technical crew members. Deyo referred to the students as “awesome” and “some of the hardest-working people” she’s ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Though the leads who played Mary and Bert are both seniors, they were two of only six 12th graders in the cast, which means a good number of the other students will be coming back next year to participate, Deyo said.
Despite the “wild ride” that came with scheduling challenges, weather disruptions and the demands of some of the show’s more technical elements, not to mention the work that went into getting the hang of the cockney accents, the whole experience of presenting the musical was “really exciting” and a lot of fun, Deyo said.
She said she liked the choice of doing “Mary Poppins” as the musical this year because of the numerous humorous bit characters and the mystery that surrounds the story, like the unanswered question of where Mary Poppins blows in from on the gust of wind.
Deyo said that mystery allowed the students to bring their own unique ideas to the table in attempts to fill in the blanks for themselves.
The opening night performance set for Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. went on as planned despite the district’s snow day earlier that same day and the resulting cancellation of other school activities, including sports contests.
“This was a difficult decision to make, but we’ve decided to let the opening performance continue after considering things like ticket sales, costume rentals, and that roads are expected to be cleared,” J-D Superintendent Peter Smith said in a statement issued the afternoon of Feb. 6. “Our students and staff have put in a lot of hard work and are ready to wow the crowds.”
Deyo said she doesn’t know if the high school would’ve gotten more people at the auditorium door the first night had the weather that day been better, but she said enough people still came out regardless and that the snow day gave the students a bit of a break to rest up before the show or time to fit in extra preparation.
ellementor.com
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