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The Mary Poppins musical is pure magic. Backed by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, it harnesses theatre's spectacle and powers of illusion to present a slick, colourful and imaginative experience, the kind of show that no childhood would be complete without.
It has a lot to live up to, of course. The 1964 film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke remains a children's classic, and the genius behind this musical is that it takes the best elements from the film - including the much-loved Sherman brothers' songs - and positions them much closer to P.L. Travers' books.
If Julie Andrews' Poppins possessed only a spoonful of sugar, it was a very large spoon indeed. This musical gives us a richer and more complex version of the original super-nanny. It recognises that Poppins' authority - so absolute that birds fly to her hand, toys pack themselves away, and unruly bedding arranges itself into the plumped pillows and crisp sheets of a freshly made bed - is an authority that proceeds from embracing the chaos of life.
© Fairfax Media
