The mysteriously magical world of everyone’s favorite nanny, Mary Poppins, comes to Parkland Theatre this week. And three Mahomet residents, who grew up adoring Poppins’ playful wisdom, are excited to be part of the production.
Seasoned performer, Kat Downs and newcomers Valerie and Ellie Hall play small, but impactful roles in the production.
Having seen Mary Poppins on Broadway and in Chicago, Downs wanted to play the bird woman.
“The role of the bird woman is small, but so important,” Director LaDonna Wilson said. “Mary Poppins sees immediately that she’s somebody of substance. And so it takes a really classy actress to play this part and not be pathetic. (Downs) is really endearing in this role.”
As extras in the play, Valerie and Ellie, age 11, play a mother and daughter duo who are afraid of the ragged appearance of the bird woman.
“That kind of sets up the interaction that (the bird woman) has with Mary teaching the children that this woman has compassion and that she’s a wonderful person,” Valerie said. “You have to see past the outside appearance to what is in her heart.”
“The bird woman is misunderstood,” Downs said. “People are afraid of her, in fact. They walk by me and shun me. They hide their children from me. They think because she’s old and dirty that she seems like a beggar woman, but she’s not begging anyone for anything. She actually cares about these birds. That’s her way to feed the birds; her income is selling the crumbs.”
Downs’ caring role is not far-fetched from her personality. During the school year she directs young performers at Class Act. The four children who play Jane and Michael in Mary Poppins have been students at Class Act in the past.
“She’s like a second mom to them,” Wilson said. “She’s such a positive encourager of their talent. She just beams when they are on stage. It’s really great to see how they want to please her, too.”
Whether in the pit playing the keyboard or on stage, Downs enjoys returning to CUTC each year because of the bonds created with each show.
“It’s like seeing old friends each time,” Downs said.
Being connected with Downs for the first time has been a plus for Valerie and Ellie.
“I’ve met a bunch of new people,” Ellie said. “It’s hard to explain how much I’m happy about meeting them.”
The Halls wanted to audition for CUTC’s production of Les Miserables last summer, but Valerie, who is the Curator at the Museum of the Grand Prairie was on a dig in Connecticut at that time.
After being absent from community theatre for 20 years, Valerie decided it was time to jump back into the audition process when Ellie approached her about Mary Poppins.
“It’s important to me in community theatre to include families,” Wilson said. “And so when we have family units audition, it’s really important to me to include them.”
Wilson, who directed seven plays, including three musicals at Central High School last year, also wanted to include actors from communities surrounding Champaign-Urbana in Mary Poppins.
While getting into the fast-paced groove of community theatre was difficult for the mother-daughter team, Wilson said the actors were receptive to feedback and instruction throughout the rehearsal process.
The CUTC production team prides itself on being transparent and efficient with schedules and time to accommodate those with busy schedules and families.
Ellie, who likes to role play a lot with her friends at home, said she has learned a lot more goes into community theatre than she expected. From quick dance numbers and performing with an orchestra, Ellie has learned discipline through her role in Mary Poppins. But it’s the acting that keeps her excited about coming back each night.
“You get to be a whole different person,” Ellie said. “It’s really fun because you get to step into someone else’s shoes, and try being them. And if that doesn’t work, then you try to be someone else. It’s fun to have so many personalities.”
Valerie’s role in Mary Poppins has also helped her think about the elements of a story as she creates new exhibits at the Museum of the Grand Prairie.
“You see the story arch, the conflict and the various narrators on stage,” she said. “It helps you find the continuity of the story. So it has been kind of helpful in writing the big exhibit at the museum to say, alright, these are the different elements that I really need to touch on and the framework that I need to use to build the narrative to carry the exhibit.”
Although Valerie gets off work at 5 p.m., and needs to be at rehearsal at 6 p.m., she has enjoyed spending the extra time with her oldest daughter. While Valerie was away at a conference for a week, Ellie took notes for her so she could stay on top of the changes.
With attention to detail, the team feels they are ahead of schedule in preparation for the show.
“I feel like this production is closer to being ready than productions I’ve done in the past,” Downs said. “I feel like we could go on tomorrow if we had to. I don’t have that nervousness that I’m hoping it’s a good show. It’s already a good show.”
And CUTC hasn’t forgotten to bring the magic of Mary Poppins to the stage, either. Sparing no expense, four characters will take flight, just as they do in the Disney’s 1960 production of the story.
“The whole thing with Mary is that she’s magic,” Valerie said. “And so this is going to add that magical element to the show.”
For Wilson, though, her directing vision was to meld the P.L. Travers books with the original movie just as Cameron Mackintosh envisioned when he wrote the play.
“When I was little, this was one of the albums I had on my childhood record player,” she said. “I would listen to it over and over again. But I also read the P.L. Travers books, so I always thought that the movie that I watched was different than the books. The new Disney musical does a better job of combining those two things together.”
“This production is a little darker than the first Disney production was in the 1960’s,” she continued. “It has a lot more heart, and it’s a lot more about the family than the first one. The family is dysfunctional, but they come together to be a family at the end.”
CUTC’s Mary Poppins will be performed on July 31 through August 3 and August 7 through August 10 at Parkland Theatre.
