The time has come: another brilliant musical by our very own Centennial Theatre. This year, Terrie Howard, the theatre director, has chosen the Disney classic, “Mary Poppins.”
Mary Poppins was the top choice because “Mary Poppins was the very first play I ever did in the third grade, and I always swore I would direct it when I got a chance, and this was my chance,” Howard said. “This is different from past musicals because it’s bigger in many respects, it’s a time period that we really haven’t explored. What makes Mary Poppins different is the people that Mrs. Burney and I have chosen.”
Anna Hansil plays the main character of Mary Poppins, along with Joe Scott and Marianne Lamarche playing Mr. and Mrs. Banks, and Josh Agri playing Bert.
When asked how she chose the cast members, Howard said, “So much of it depends on what the actor can do. How well people can dance, sing, and not necessarily how well they can act at auditions, but how versatile they are. If they can change, I know they are able to be directed.”
Hansil has been involved in theatre for four years. Her favorite part of the musical so far is "the rehearsals, actually, because I love being around everybody,” she said. Although this story is well-known to most students from the movie, the musical is actually more similar to the original book. Hansil said, “Mary Poppins wreaked havoc, but only because she knew it would work for Mr. Banks.”
Rehearsals are every day from 4-6:30 p.m., sometimes even on Saturdays. Every student in theatre is very dedicated and must learn to balance school, any jobs they have and rehearsals for the musical. Hansil works at the restaurant Di Paolo, and said, “It is kind of difficult to balance everything, but most of my schedule is fine arts classes so that makes it much easier to control.”
This musical is unique because tap dancing is a major component of the performance. Most of the theatre students, besides Josh Agri, had to take a few tap classes at a studio Dancefx in order to be prepared for the roles. Hansil said, “Tap dancing has been a bit of a rushed process of learning, but we’re all starting to get the hang of it.” Howard said, “There is tap in it, there are many big dance numbers because it’s a big show. Everybody’s had to learn to tap dance, and although it has been a challenge, they are willing to take the extra time to take classes to work on it because they know it’s not one of their strong-suits.”
Howard, nicknamed, “Howie” is the successful theatre director here. Hansil said, “Howard is a great director; she’s a lot of fun but also pushes us to our best ability.”
Howard said, “It’s a show that, I think high school kids will enjoy because they remember seeing the movie, children will like it because of the story, and parents will enjoy because it brings back a lot of memories from when they first saw the show. So there’s something for everybody.”
Mary Poppins is being performed March 15 and March 16 at 7pm and March 17 at 3pm. Show tickets are $5 pre-sale, $10 at the door, students and children; $10 pre-sale, $15 at the door for adults. This year online tickets will be available very soon, but there will also be some to sell available three weeks before the show sold by cast members, and at the door as well.
