New York, Part Five--"Mary Poppins"

The third Broadway show we saw was "Mary Poppins." It was a good show, but not what I was expecting. Of course, I was expecting something more along the lines of the movie. Boy, was I wrong. This show is all new. Well, some of the well known songs are the same ("A Spoonful of Sugar", "Chim Chim Cheree", etc.), but they have added a lot of new music. And they switched up the play a bit by re-ordering events and adding new characters and taking old characters out. It was a very well done play, but I'll admit that it was probably my least favorite of the trip. But if you have the chance to see it, don't let my review stop you. Instead, go see it and let me know what you think.

The Banks home as drawn on the front stage scrim.

The theatre from our seats (during intermission).

Up next: Part Six--Visiting with friends

New York, Part Four--"Spamalot"

Ah, yes. Back to New York. Sorry about the hiatus.

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On Saturday, 3/8, we went to see "Spamalot". Yes, we saw Clay Aiken. (Hmm. Wonder who their headline star is?) Like how his name is bigger than the rest of the marquee?

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Anyway, Clay did pretty well. He played multiple parts, including Brave Sir Robin. I was actually impressed by his "Python" accent. He blended in with the rest of the cast rather well. The only time he really got his "Idol" voice on was during his showcase number, "You Won't Succeed on Broadway". It actually fit there.

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The show itself was silly. But, then again, wouldn't you expect it to be? It was similar to the "Holy Grail" movie, but I think it left out a lot of the better parts. (Not enough of the rabbit or Tim.) It was more vulgar than I remember the movie being (my goodness, is that possible?), mostly because of the language and the French guards scene. Not for children, yet I saw people with their 9 and 10 year olds there. Not a good idea.

Of course, Chris really enjoyed it. I think it made him nostalgic for his high school years. He said he's seen the movie about 300 times. (Did I get that right?) He calls Spamalot "the man show", and he's right. Unless you are a female who really digs Python, you'll just roll your eyes at it if you ever see it.

But isn't the "Finland" song great?

*Up next: Part Five--"Mary Poppins"