Mary Poppins
- Peter Ruddick
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
PL Travers and Julian Fellowes, Richard M Sherman & Robert B Sherman and George Stiles & Anthony Drewe
Cameron Mackintosh and Disney Theatrical Group Palace Theatre, Manchester
April 9-May 17, 2025; 2hr 40min
(Also Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, May 21- June 9; Sunderland Empire, October 1-25; Liverpool Empire, Jan 14-Jan 31, 2026)
There are very few examples of musicals that take a genuine classic, tweak it, add to it, take away from it and create another genuine classic. Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins is absolutely one of them
The magical nanny has blown back into Manchester’s Palace Theatre as part of her latest UK tour. The show premiered more than 20 years ago, and first appeared at this theatre in 2006. Eagle-eyed viewers of that original touring production will notice this version is under new direction (courtesy of Richard Eyre) and that a first-half number has been replaced, otherwise the musical is unchanged and - happily - just as joyous and life-affirming.
For anyone unfamiliar, Mackintosh’s Poppins is an amalgamation of the Disney movie and the original P.L. Travers’ books. The basic plot is the same: spellbinding nanny mysteriously appears to save the children. Or is it to save the father? But here some of the characters and stories Travers created have finally been given their moment to shine, in an enchanting book by Julian Fellowes.
The star of the show, of course, is the soundtrack. The only way you could possibly tweak the Sherman brothers’ perfection is by employing fellow geniuses in Stiles and Drewe. New arrangements of Jolly Holiday and Chim Chim Cheree combine beautifully with original songs such as Anything Can Happen, the latter an intensely hummable match for any of the original numbers.
This tour has a distinctly Australian feel. Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers both reprise their roles as Mary and Bert after acclaim down under, and it's easy to see why they have been flown in: they have super star-quality and instant chemistry.
Chambers’ Bert is effortlessly cheeky in a pleasingly understated way, but brilliantly talented too.
And as the star of the show, Jones puts in a performance you just know Julie Andrews and Travers would be incredibly proud of: sharp, quirky, funny, flirty, thoughtful and ultimately sentimental.
They lead a very impressive troupe. The Banks parents can occasionally fade into the background but not so with Michael D Xavier and Luci-Mae Sumner. They are totally committed, both physically and emotionally, to their characters and the very human realities they are playing. It’s impossible not to cry.
Two decades on, and much of the stage magic still leaves the audience agog, codfish-like. You could gasp for hours watching items being pulled inexplicably from that apparently cavernous carpet bag.
A ripple that flows across the stage when Jane and Michael’s advertisement is thrown in the fire is spine tingling. Seeing trees and props and characters burst instantly from ink-black and white to glorious Technicolour is too special for words.
That being said, a slapstick kitchen scene that relies on mainly mechanical tricks is probably feeling its age.
Bob Crowley’s illustration-inspired sets remain a joy to behold. The folding dolls' house 17 Cherry Tree Lane in particular.
But if we are being picky, the first half is still too long. Musically, Playing the Game has replaced Temper Temper, but the sequence still feels a little off, tonally - even though it sets up the crucial plot point that allows the interval to happen.
You can probably argue that the quieter, more thoughtful, moments on stage are a little too quiet for the modern attention span of younger audiences, but the traditional song and dance numbers are worth the admission fee alone.
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear’s choreography is as fizzingly extraordinary as ever. It doesn’t matter how many times you watch the infectious build of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or the mind-blowing tap of Step in Time, they will always delight. Then there is the flying - no notes needed!
A movie released in 1964 is still delighting audiences, young and old, to this day. It is easy to imagine that this stage adaptation will do the same for just as long.
Hundreds of reviewers have given in and described Mary Poppins as "practically perfect". They have done so for a reason.
More info and tickets here
