'Mary Poppins' begins three weekends at Croswell Opera House

ADRIAN — Ask Amber Woollcott, who plays the title role in the Croswell Opera House’s upcoming production of “Mary Poppins,” if the thought of doing the flying scenes bothers her at all, and the answer is a resounding “No!”

“I’m such a thrill-seeker,” she said, laughing. “At callbacks when Erin (Pifer, the show’s director) asked if anyone was afraid of heights, I said, ‘No! Absolutely not!’”

“Mary Poppins” opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and has three weekends of performances through Sunday, Aug. 20.

This isn’t Woollcott’s first experience with headlining a Croswell show. The Siena Heights University senior starred as Reno in “Anything Goes” last year. Most recently, she appeared in the Croswell’s “Jersey Boys” as Frankie Valli’s ex-wife, Mary Mandel.

“This is my first chance to show off my soprano,” she said. “I’ve always been known as a belter.”

Pifer has watched Woollcott’s development as a performer for some time and lauds her work in this show.

“She’s done a really great job of embracing the role, and of working with the kids, especially (the children playing) Jane and Michael,” she said. “She’s a very talented young actress and a great dancer. I’m really excited to see where she goes next in her career.”

One of the many challenges to “Mary Poppins” — besides all the technical wizardry needed to make the stage magic happen, including the flying — is that any actress playing Mary in the musical-theater version has to step into the role played by Julie Andrews in the iconic 1964 movie.

Woollcott has been addressing that challenge by thinking through how she herself would react to key moments in the story and using that reaction in her performance. “Like, ‘These are my kids; back off!’” she said.

From a director’s standpoint, “it’s difficult to develop your own vision of a show everyone knows so well,” Pifer said. “We’ve done a lot of introspection and creative work.”

The stage version differs from the movie in several ways because it also incorporates some of the material from the original P.L. Travers books, adds new music, adapts some scenes, and drops some things completely that were in the movie. And both Mr. and Mrs. Banks are better-developed characters, which “I think adds a lot to the show,” Pifer said.

She first saw the show in Cleveland during a national tour, and going into it “I wondered, how can you top Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke?” she said. “But the creators were respectful of the movie.”

And, she said, for the Croswell’s production, audience members will find some “Easter eggs” that pay homage to the film.

Just as Wollcott was excited to get to play the iconic role of Mary Poppins, so too was Shonn Wiley, her co-star, to play Bert.

Wiley, who now lives in Peoria, Arizona, grew up in Adrian and was part of many Croswell productions in his early years. He went on to a professional career as an actor, singer and dancer, with credits that include “42nd Street” on Broadway and the Chicago company of “Jersey Boys.”

He has returned to the Croswell several times over the years, whether in concert with the vocal ensemble Under the Streetlamp, to perform in the musical “She Loves Me” in 2018, or to assist with choreography and provide dramaturgy for the Croswell’s own production of “Jersey Boys” earlier this year.

Wiley actually wasn’t part of the “Mary Poppins” cast at first. But then the actor originally slated to play Bert had to bow out, and Jere Righter, the Croswell’s artistic director, asked Wiley to step in.

“I’ve always wanted to do this show,” he said. “I love Dick Van Dyke (who played Bert in the movie) and all his cleverness and his terrible Cockney accent.”

He admits that when he first saw the Broadway version, he had his doubts about it.

“When the show opened in New York, I didn’t understand why they lost so much of the movie,” he said. “I loved the movie. It was my favorite. But this production is kind of turning me around. It’s so beautiful.”

And he’s very much enjoying getting to perform at the Croswell again — even if, now that he’s older, he is finding the dancing a little harder than he used to.

“It’s a muscle that hasn’t been flexed in a while,” he said with a laugh. “But what fun.”

Woollcott, for her part, confesses to being nervous at first about being on the same stage as Wiley.

“I was like, I’ve got to pull my weight,” she said.

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Both actors have worked hard to fully develop the relationship between their two characters, a connection that began prior to the timeframe of this story and will continue afterward.

“They have the most genuine friendship that nothing can break,” Woollcott said.

“We’ve talked about Bert being a magical character just like Mary, but I’ve never thought of him as on the same level as Mary,” Wiley said. “So we’re exploring what it’s like for him to have his own role in changing the Banks family.”

The production’s cast also includes Sophia Bernard of Toledo and Adrian Stukey of Saline as Jane and Michael, with Ashley Fox of Ypsilanti and Molly Humphries of Adrian as their parents, George and Winifred.

Jessica Dougherty of Monroe plays housekeeper Mrs. Brill, with Jonah Hiatt of Palmyra as the hapless young servant Robertson Ay. Maria Mohler of Lambertville plays the Banks’ former nanny Katie Nanna, and Julia Hoffert of Ann Arbor plays Miss Andrew, the stern and unforgiving disciplinarian.

Gabrielle Blondin of Linden plays Mrs. Corry, owner of a magical sweetshop, while the denizens of Cherry Tree Lane, where the Banks family lives, include Angie Heath of Adrian as Miss Lark and Alex Britton of Adrian as Admiral Boom. Leigh Jewett of Temperance plays the Bird Woman.

In the ensemble are Trent Aneed, Colbie Baer, Libby Pifer, Damien Salerno, Eli Stachowske, Nicholas Trevino, Briella York and Griffin Yeater, all of Adrian; Emily Bachwich of Ann Arbor; Mitchell LaRoy of Blissfield; Jase Sword of Brooklyn; Olivia Grzebik of Clinton; Olivia Skierski of Macomb County’s Clinton Township; Bella McQuigg of Dundee; Luke Gorsuch of Jackson; Carolyn Mohler, Chad Mohler and Gabe Mohler, all of Lambertville; Mason Brogan of Onsted; Elizabeth Gozdowski of Ottawa Lake; Bitty Higgins of Pigeon; Oden Berthelsen and Macy Schmidt of Tecumseh; Samuel Spaulding of Temperance; Eli Fox, Leah Fox, Lily Gechter and Miriam Roth, all of Ypsilanti; Anjalie-Nicole Coates of Bowling Green, Ohio; Adalyn Brazzil and Alayna Brazzil of Holland, Ohio; and Reed Schwieterman of Maumee, Ohio.

More: Community Briefs: Aug. 4, 2023

Alayna Brazzil and Eli Fox are understudying the roles of Jane and Michael and will each play the role in one performance.

Virginia Stewart is the vocal director, while Ray Novak is the conductor and Jodi Hissong is the choreographer.

The lengthy cast list is only one indication of the size of this production.

“It’s a big show in every aspect: scenery, vocally, technically, costuming, everything,” Pifer said. “I’m really excited for people to see it.

“It’s a great family show. I hope people leave with a smile on their face, tapping their toes —” and, in keeping with one of the show’s overarching themes — “feeling like anything can happen if you let it.”

If you go

WHAT: “Mary Poppins”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug 4; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20

WHERE: Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian

TICKETS: $22-$44 for adults, $15-$25 for students

HOW TO ORDER: By calling 517-264-7469 or online at croswell.org

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: 'Mary Poppins' begins three weekends at Croswell Opera House