A spoonful of singing helps the acting go down in TMP’s ‘Mary Poppins’

“Mary Poppins” got a standing ovation for opening night at Tacoma Musical Playhouse last week — not an unusual thing in Tacoma, but here thoroughly deserved for a few key elements. A clever set and special effects, some impressive choreography and some fine singing, not to mention a “practically perfect” performance from Caelan Creaser in the lead role, all helped pull together this popular musical. But it wasn’t quite enough sugar to help down some overdone acting and distracting technical glitches, plus a band that’s far from supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

The good stuff first. “Mary Poppins” is pumped full of wonderful, beloved songs, and the Playhouse cast made the most of them. Creaser, a newcomer, embodied the magical nanny with a light soprano that flew as easily as she did in her cross-stage aerial rigging, and a manner that combined precise Julie Andrews with whimsical Audrey Hepburn. More fine singing came from Jonathan Bill as the irritable, worried father George Banks and from a highly operatic Gwen Trussler in the nanny-from-hell Miss Andrews. Harry Turpin was strong, though a bit pushy, as the chimney sweep Bert, and Carrie Sleeper-Bowers pulled off some heartfelt moments as George’s wife, Winnifred.

Overall, ensemble singing was solid, and the choreography even better, with manic sign spelling in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidious” (director Jon Rake) and a stage full of tap in “Step in Time” (Rake and Megan Hicks)

The other impressive factor was the visuals. It’s always hard to compete with the magical movie version of this tale, but flying rigs, dancing statues and Poppins’ mysterious bag were all convincing, along with a clever set that folded and unfolded into various dimensions of street, rooftop and interior.

But even special effects and reliable songs don’t totally make up for disappointing acting and production. While Amelia Stiles was likeable (but one-dimensional) as the petulant Jane, Ian Bartlett was flat as her supposedly-mischievous brother Michael. Overacting abounded (the servants, most of the ensemble). Technical glitches meant some actors were inaudible while others continued to be heard even while muttering to each other backstage.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Stvrtecky’s band began out of tune and out of time, and continued much too loud for most of the singers. And it needs to be said that with no apparent cuts, the show tops out at three hours: Bring small kids to the matinee, not the 8 p.m. show.

Technical things can be fixed over a show’s run, and actors get more secure. Let’s hope this happens at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, as this musical is still a “jolly holiday with Mary” even after 50 years.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 7:23 PM with the headline "A spoonful of singing helps the acting go down in TMP’s ‘Mary Poppins’."