This post first ran on Snapshot on January 20, 2007. In light of the fact that there are regional tours scheduled for 2009, I thought I’d re-run it here. It’s a great show, and the producers of the show actually based the musical on the beloved movie, adding in details from the book that were taken out, so that it is a more accurate portrayal of P.L. Travers’ magical nanny.
I also wanted to invite you to join the Read Together challenge that I’m hosting on my blog, perhaps using this fun read-aloud to start.
First we saw the movie.
Then we saw the broadway show.
Now we are reading the book.
It’s a great way to compare and contrast the differences in how a story is told. They are all very different. The movie is the frame of reference for most of us. Julie Andrews is Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke is Bert. Who has gone through life without singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? All thanks to the movie.
The Broadway musical is fantastic. I’ve seen many shows on Broadway, and I can’t say that I enjoyed any more than I enjoyed this one. The one drawback is it that is in the giant theater that Disney has purchased (and until this show featured Lion King, which has moved to a different theater). The story is classic, the dancing is amazing, and the music truly puts a smile on your face. If you get to London or to New York City and have the opportunity to see this, whether you are eight or thirty-eight, I recommend it highly. I would predict that it will go on tour to other US cities in the next couple of years as well.
One great thing about this book is that it works well as a read-aloud. P.L. Travers is a fantastic storyteller. The idea that Mary Poppins, complete with umbrella and some type of mysterious magical powers, came to straighten out the Banks children is the same in all three portrayals of the story. Other than that, the book is quite different, so it’s a new experience for everyone.
Because it was written so long ago, there is a bit of advanced vocabulary that would be unfamiliar to a six or seven year old, but other than that, I think that this is the type of book that could be read to younger children all the way up to older readers.
In addition to books, managing editor Jennifer Donovan, loves a good story as told via a movie or TV series — and she LOVES Broadway. She blogs at Snapshot about life with her tween daughter and preschool son.
Oooh, I read Mary Poppins to my girls way before we watched the movie, and just let me say, it’s one book I really wish I’d previewed before I plunged into. Have you gotten to the part about the candy shop yet?!?!?
Hmmm, if I remember correctly, there were more books about Ms. Poppins besides the first one. It’s been a very long long time though, so I may be wrong. Have you discovered Mrs Piggle Wiggle? My kids loved her.