Review: MARY POPPINS, Birmingham Hippodrome - Tour

Danny Kaan

Last night we grabbed our umbrellas, waited for a strong gust of wind, and flew down to the Birmingham Hippodrome to watch the current tour of Disney's Mary Poppins.

We were desperate to see this show as it is THE classic Disney film with one of the most beautiful scores ever created by the Sherman brothers. Whenever we hear the piano tinkling of ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’, it makes our hairs stand up on end. Their music holds you like gravity and each chord manages to send emotional air waves straight to your heart.

PL Travers’ Mary Poppins follows the story of the Banks family. Jane and Michael Banks, the son and daughter of George and Winifred Banks, spend their time getting up to mischief and terrorising their nanny’s hired by their parents who are often too busy to give the children the attention they desire and deserve. At the beginning of the show, we see their latest nanny storm out due to behaviour of the children, and at this point, the mysterious Mary Poppins appears to bring order to the family and change their perspective, and heal the family unit forever more, but is she there to save the children or the parents? That’s up to you to decide.

Most people know the story, most people have seen the film, and we wondered how Disney would bring such a magical story from screen to stage and do it justice, but we must say, not only did Disney succeed, they also transcended certain moments of the story. They have expanded on the character of Winifred Banks, played here wonderfully by Sarah-Marie Maxwell, and also see numerous show stealing one liners from musical theatre royalty Rosemary Ashe in the role of the sharp tongued Mrs Brill. We also see a character that is not in the film, the scary Miss Andrew played by Wendy Ferguson who is a real stand out in the villainous role. The song ‘Brimstone and Treacle’ is a delightful addition to the score.

Stefanie Jones is wonderfully cast in the role of Mary Poppins, and it is refreshing to see her make the character her own instead of just doing a Julie Andrews impression, and Jones still provides the class, poise and sass that we love about the character.

Olive Harrison and Oliver Benson have the audience in the palm of their little hands as Jane and Michael Banks, with the timing and delivery of their lines pitch perfect.

Now... if you are reading this... and you are wondering how they do the penguin moment the park... we are sorry to say that there are no penguins, but worry not, there is an equally fabulous moment with some statues. 

Bob Crowley’s set design is utter magic and enchants us with the dimly lit streets of London. The most impressive thing for us with the production are the illusions created by Paul Kieve and Jim Steinmeyer, delivering some of the most jaw-dropping magic moments we have seen on stage, rivalling the likes of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Finally a special shout out to Stephen Mear and Matthew Bourne’s choreography, showing us why they are THE household names for choreography in Britain. ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ and ‘Step in Time’ quite literally blow the roof off the Hippodrome. 

Birmingham Hippodrome are completely consistent with their main house programming, and once again show why they are the leading theatre in the heart of the Midlands.

There really is no question, this show is a must see, for people of all ages. It reminds you just how magical musical theatre can be and also reminds you, in a time where there is ever mounting pressure to produce loud brash contemporary shows, the classic stories are still the best stories.

Now we wouldn't want to be predictable and call this show practically perfect in every way… But how good was Mary Poppins? It was SUPERCALIF… You know where we’re going with this… 

We will end the review with this. No matter which way the wind changes, this show will always be the perfect medicine for any musical theatre lover

**** Five stars

Reviewed by: James Edge

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