'Mary Poppins' at the Walnut Street Theatre

None of this keeps the new production of Mary Poppins from being a magical holiday treat for young and old alike. Not even the dysfunctional family — headed by a detached, disciplinarian father (George Banks, played by Jeffrey Coon) and cheerful but put-upon mother (Winifred Banks, played by Rebecca Robbins) — detracts from the fun. It’s a world where statues come to life, chimney sweeps dance across rooftops, and a wicked nanny dissolves in a puff of green smoke.

Lindsey Bliven, who reprises a role she’s played before, is a smiling yet firm Mary Poppins. Despite having the model of Julie Andrews’s film nanny to contend with, Bliven makes the role her own. Her coconspirator Bert (David Elder) anchors the role nicely as chimney sweep, guide, and narrator, but perhaps channels a bit too much Dick Van Dyke.

Welcome additions

The show adds several songs, most seamlessly, to the film score. Apparently, P.L. Travers, author of the original books, didn’t want the Sherman brothers, the original songwriters, to write the new material, so new ones were brought in. It also draws on several stories from the books that weren’t in the movie, such as statues that come to life and the shop with gingerbread stars in the park.

Most importantly, it expands the role of Mrs. Banks, giving her her own story arc and making her more of a character in her own right. It also adds a stern wicked-witch of a nanny (Deborah Jean Templin) as a threat to the household.

The books, written by Travers in the 1930s and 1940s, reflect a concept of parenting and discipline that are no longer in vogue. Although she takes the children on magical adventures, Mary Poppins is a stern guardian who often ignores the children’s cries for attention. We tend to think of her today in the guise that Disney and Julie Andrews created, a quirky savior who flies in, feet akimbo, with her umbrella; feeds the children sugar instead of cod liver oil; and puts a fractured family back together again. This show perpetuates that view of her while delivering a message that it’s good to go out and fly a kite.

Familiar faces

Walnut Street Theatre continues the tradition of using familiar Philadelphia actors in minor roles in major productions. Mary Martello does a turn as Mrs. Brill, the housekeeper who can’t cook, with a broad cockney accent and a scream that may belong in the record books. The two children, Jane and Michael Banks, played by Cameron Flurry and Jacob Wilner alternating with Grace Matwijec and Nicky Torchia, carry a lot of the show like seasoned professionals.

The book, based on the movie with some added plot twists, holds the songs and dances together nicely, and the elaborate set, designed by J. Branson, keeps the eyes engaged. The second act drags a bit when it becomes a vehicle for dance numbers in between snippets of plot and then seems to never want to end.

But the familiar songs and the talented performers make it a nice holiday outing for families.