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By Chloe Futrell, Editor-in-Chief
London, 1910. It’s autumn: a dark sky, scudding clouds. A landscape of early twentieth-century rooftops is spread out before us. Bert, a chimney sweep, enters and addresses the audience.
It is such a magical story and it’s the best Disney movie ever,” junior Damon Horak said of “Mary Poppins”. “It’s all about magic and fun, and it has a lot of little lessons in it and I feel like at all ages you will get something out of the story.”
A spoonful of sugar, chimney sweeps, a magic carpet bag and the world’s most troubled family will take the stage at FFHS from March 21-23. Tickets are just $6 for students and $8 general admission. The Banks children are in need of a proper nanny, and Mary Poppins does just the trick. But this family faces many tribulations that Poppins believes can be solved with “A Spoonful of Sugar.”
“Mary Poppins” is a Disney musical filled to the brim with magic, and emphasizes the elasticity of the human imagination. The enchanting, upbeat, kid-friendly show is a change in pace from the company’s previous shows.
“It’s very different, and Mrs. (Monica) Penn and I try and mix up the variety a little bit every year,” head director Lauren Deal said. “Last year we did ‘Grease’, which is very, very different from ‘Mary Poppins’. Two years ago we did ‘9 to 5’, which is kind of a country rock musical.”
But, this year the directors decided to keep the rating G to allow for a bigger turnout.
“We haven’t really done anything child oriented or Disney since we did ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in 2015,” Deal said. “Usually these shows that appeal to little kids bring in a different demographic.”
The cast and crew are enthralled to put on their production, but first the technicalities need to be worked out. Horak plays the male lead, Bert, a lucky chimney sweep and eccentric jack-of-all-trades. Horak’s talents also extend beyond acting and into the technical side of things: He serves as the musical’s “Head of Magic.”
“I am figuring how we are going to pull off crazy, magical things on stage,” Horak said. “Of course in the movie you have movie magic going on but we have to do this live in front of people. We have to make this look like things are doing things they wouldn’t normally do.”
Although the sets are elaborate and musical numbers energetic, the real magic comes from the infamous Mary Poppins, played by junior Elizabeth Montgomery.
“I was so excited when they thought about doing ‘Mary Poppins’. It’s such a classic,” Montgomery said.
But none of it would be possible without her co-star Horak. The two share the stage as a fun-loving duo.
“We are good friends already,” Montgomery said. “As soon as I found out he was Bert and he found out I was Mary we were like, ‘We are going to practice this and do so well.’ ”
The two have phenomenal chemistry, but the rest of the cast and crew is what really brings it together for Deal.
“With it being my first year as head director it was challenging for me to choose a musical that would please everybody and be a good choice for our cast,” Deal said. “So it took a really long time to choose ‘Mary Poppins’, but in the end I am glad that this is the one we selected.”
Seniors are also glad Deal made this decision. A large portion of the cast will be saying “break a leg!” for the last time this March.
“It is really sad because I have spent so much time in this auditorium in the last four years of my life. And it is going to be weird having that last show and knowing I am not coming back for another one,” senior Caitlin Nicholson said.
Another senior, stage manager OJ Sawtell, also is bittersweet about leaving StageKraft behind. This is Sawtell’s eighth show working as a “techie” behind the scenes. This year she is helping run the show.
“My favorite part about it is seeing how the actors work because previously I have never been at an acting rehearsal, so it is cool to see how everything comes together,” Sawtell said.
Senior Chloe Futrell can be reached at [email protected].
