Local theater group, the Ohio Valley Summer Theater, is performing Disney’s Broadway musical Mary Poppins for three weeks in the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall.
Athens is getting its dose of a “spoonful of sugar.”
Local theater troupe Ohio Valley Summer Theater is performing Disney’s Broadway musical Mary Poppins for three weeks in the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall.
“It’s a story for a lot of generations. We try do family-oriented. … We have a lot families that do (the Ohio Valley Summer Theater) every year, so it’s fun to have a multi-generational cast,” Marlo Tinkham, the managing director of the theater troupe, said. “There’s a large cast, big score and orchestra, dancing, a little tap, a little flying, a little bit of everything.”
Tinkham added that this is the first year the musical’s license was available to amateur productions.
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The musical follows a similar story of the beloved, magical nanny Mary Poppins coming to the rescue of the proper English family, the Banks, and its two children Jane and Michael. The musical is a fusion of the classic 1964 film with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and the series of children’s books by P.L. Travers.
“I don’t think (the audience) will have any difficulty in going from the film to stage version because it’s just another piece of the story that people are used to,” Aurora Held, the show’s director and recent Ohio University graduate, said.
Though this is the first time Held is directing a show for the troupe, it certainly isn’t her first time being a part of its productions. The Parkersburg native has been involved with the troupe since the ninth grade.
“It feels appropriate to begin my professional career where I started my time in Athens, which was here with (the Ohio Valley Summer Theater),” she said. “It has come full circle.”
When asked about which number she was looking forward to most, Held went with a classic: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
Now, try saying it backwards.
“It’s such a timeless number from the film,” Held said. “Everyone knows ‘supercal,’ and they know the tune and the word and they associate that so strongly with Mary Poppins. It’s really fun and really vibrant.”
Another thing people associate with Mary Poppins is flight -- by way of a magical umbrella, of course.
Making Mary Poppins fly was tricky for the troupe. But fortunately, they held a successful campaign to raise $4,000 to cover the costs of the operation. The Ohio Valley Summer Theater worked with a company called On the Fly for safety training and fly system rigging.
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Now, audience members can expect Mary Poppins and her friend Bert to soar more than 20 feet in the air.
“We use it to its fullest extent,” Held said.
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