|
The highly anticipated Mary Poppins landed in Melbourne last night and she is a star!
This wonderful stage adaptation of the P.L Travers book blends all the ingredients of good musical theatre and comes up with a winner. There are new songs that fit well with the old favorites, a fleshier story and a brilliant design all contributing to this joyous show.
As the lady herself, Verity Hunt-Ballard is delightful. A strong and true voice along with just the right combination of severity and mischief make her an irresistible stage presence. While comparisons with the film’s Julie Andrews are inevitable, Hunt-Ballard makes Mary her own as she goes about righting the wrongs in the dysfunctional Banks family.
(...)
As the austere and repressed patriarch George Banks, Philip Quast is superb. This role in lesser hands could be a one-dimensional caricature, but Quast brings to it depth and gravitas as well as that marvelous voice. He is well matched with the lovely Marina Prior as Mrs. Banks.
© Australian Stage Online
