What are your thoughts on the stage version when compared to the movie. What differences do you or do you not like and why?

I dont like anything about the stage version compared to the fiilm.
only a total idiot would cut 'the life I lead', 'sister suffregate' and Uncle Albert and his 'I Love to laugh" number to put in weaker songs by other composers. plus giving 'lets go fly a kite' to bert and not mr. banks totally destroys the point.

I get angry thinking about how good a show it could have been as opposssed to what it became.

I enjoyed the stage version. I've seen it in New York once and the tour twice (it's one that grandparents seem to love taking their grandchildren to), and each time was enjoyable. However, I think you have to look at the two as separate entities in order to really enjoy the stage show.

As Dawn said, cutting songs like "The Life I Lead", "Sister Suffragette", and "I Love to Laugh" is a shame. After seeing the show with my uncle who is obsessed with the film, he seemed to only have complaints about these and other changes from the movies. Personally, I enjoyed "Precision and Order" and "Being Mrs. Banks". They are weaker than the original songs they replaced, but I don't find them to be bad songs themselves, just poor replacements.

The biggest character change from film to stage is the complete revamp of Mrs. Banks, taking her from the suffragette she is in the film and making her into a seemingly devoted wife and mother who tries but just can't seem to succeed in being the person her husband/society expects her to be. In my opinion, this weakens the overall story, because essentially it makes Mr. Banks the only part of the family that is truly disconnected. This cheapens the whole metaphor of mending the kite, because really they don't start off as four separate parts, but as a father separate from a family that's struggling.

Giving "Let's Go Fly a Kite" to Bert is also a weak choice, because, as Dawn says, it destroys the point. Sure, Bert may cheer the kids up after their first run-in with Miss Andrew, but the song has much less impact in this context.

The new number "Temper, Temper", where the toys that Jane and Michael have mistreated put them on trial and leave, is one that I personally enjoyed. It served as a good ending to the act for the Banks children and was overall, in my opinion, a strong number. "Playing the Game" is weaker and not nearly as enjoyable. "Temper, Temper" might have been scary for small children, but I feel like if they're old enough to sit quietly for a few hours and enjoy live theatre then they're old enough for that song.

There are smaller changes (i.e. dancing statues, the visit to Mrs. Corry's sweet shop) that don't bother me as much, and are actually nods back to the original books that the film is based on.

I agree totally.

I would assume the reason that the whole suffragette characterisation was taken out was because P. L. Travers despised it, feeling that Disney was implying that she was a bad mother because she was a suffragette.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._L._Trav ... ey_version
"So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Disney adaptation, and of the way she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she acquiesced upon the condition that only English-born writers (and specifically NO Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production, even though they were still very prolific. However, original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production. These points were stipulated in her last will and testament."

which proves that sometimes a creator can destroy their own work. gene rodddenberry is another example of that.

I got to see Mary Poppins on Broadway last November, with Gavin Lee as Bert, from the front row. I was a little surprised by some of the changes, but really loved the show. "The Life I Lead" is in the show, but under a different name, with different lyrics. To be fair, the Uncle Albert scene would have been really hard to stage.

Of the additions, probably my favorite was the addition of Miss Andrew. "Brimstone and Treacle" is a fun number, and got one of the biggest audience responses. I also enjoyed the finale, with Mary Poppins flying out over the audience.

The staging is very creative, with the house and rooftop set pieces.

After the show, we got to go backstage to meet Mary, Bert, Jane, and Michael. Gavin was very nice and really took the time to talk to us.

Overall, I miss a few things about the movie, but also like the additions. I can enjoy both easily.

if they can stage a helicopter and fly spiderman Uncle Albert would have been easy.