Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins is a huge show and a massive undertaking for any theatre group. Stray Cats Theatre Company attacks this production with enthusiasm and energy.

Using Mandurah Performing Arts Centre and having a short bump-in time, means that there is little time to perfect the technical aspects. It may have been better not to fly people as it didn't really work — once literally, and the other times it looked awkward and ineffective. Set changes early in the run were a little slow, but the sets themselves were nicely designed by Jon Lambert, Karen Francis and Brett Morris and were very effective.

The Poppins Orchestra, led by David Hicks, was excellent and played brilliantly, but the sound balance (presumably venue controlled and professional) leaned heavily towards orchestrations, meaning we missed vital lyrics and drowning hard-working singers, a shame as there were some lovely performances.

Kristie Gray, as Mary (who performed double duty as vocal director) was clearly revelling in her time in her dream role, giving a lovely vibe. She was nicely paired with Daniel R. Nixon's energetic and enthusiastic Bert.

The Banks family were a lovely unit. Helen Kerr was a gentle, charming and loveable Winifred Banks, nicely matched with Jon Lambert who showed a lovely journey as George Banks. The children, Maren Gosby as Jane and Sebastian Coe were utterly delightful and are strong talents.

Brad Tudor's cameo as Mrs Corry was a show highlight and he was a key element to the success of the show's showstopper number Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

A strong and well drilled ensemble worked beautifully throughout and Andrea Beissel provided appropriate and fun choreography that was well executed.

Lots of first-time audience members were drawn to this show (if the discussion in the auditorium was any indication) and if their warm response was any indication, they will be back to see more theatre soon. Congratulations to the Mary Poppins team for great work on this highly ambitious production.

Kimberley Shaw