‘Mary Poppins’ ready to work magic in Coralville center

CORALVILLE — City Circle Theatre Company is bringing a bit of Broadway magic to the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, when “Mary Poppins” lands onstage and in the air Dec. 8 to 17.

Not only is Mary Poppins a magical nanny for the Banks family, her dear friend Bert is a chimney sweep that will get swept upside down as he tap dances his way across a specially built proscenium arch that frames the stage.

Good thing Calvin Boman isn’t afraid of heights.

“Everybody’s been asking me if I’m afraid of heights. And I’m like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I’m just afraid of not being able to make it look realistic,” said Boman, 23, of Cedar Rapids.

He’s had a bit of highflying experience in an earlier job de-icing UPS planes at The Eastern Iowa Airport.

“I can’t even tell you how high up it was,” he said, noting he worked aloft on a boom lift.

Even though he’s made the drive to Coralville to be in other City Circle shows, he was waffling about this one.

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“I was kind of on the fence when I caught wind that they were doing the proscenium walk, where you get to fly upside down, and that was enough to get me to throw my hat in the ring, at least to see if I could swing it,” he said.

While he hasn’t had formal dance training, he’s honed his chops in multiple musicals.

“When I was younger, I started doing shows, and people just told me that I had a knack for it,” he said of his dance skills. “I’m determined — and willing to put in the effort — is really where it came from. I refuse to back down from a challenge. …

“I really appreciate every opportunity I get to progress as a performer. And so in ‘Step in Time,’ when I’m not hanging upside down, I do get to tap dance and sing at the same time, and that is far more difficult than I ever would have anticipated. But I’m glad to be honing that skill,” he said.

“The more I’m challenging myself, the more fun I’m having in a moment, so when you add in those layers of difficulty, that’s what makes it the most fun for me.”

Dancing upside down was easier than he expected.

“It’s the laying sideways and making your way up that’s very difficult. I knew that was gonna be a hard part, and it was harder still than I even thought.”

If you go

What: City Circle Theatre Company presents “Mary Poppins”

Where: Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St., Coralville

When: Dec. 8 to 17; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16; 2 p.m. Dec. 10 and 17

Tickets: $24 adults, $20 ages 65 and up, $16 students, $30 premium seats; $10 student rush one hour before show times Dec. 9; center box office, (319) 248-9370 or coralvillearts.org/247/Mary-Poppins

That jaw-dropping number isn’t the only special effect in a musical full of spectacle. ZFX Flying Effects, the same company that’s making characters soar in “The Wizard of Oz” at Theatre Cedar Rapids right now, also rigged the flying effects for “Mary Poppins.”

“They came here, and we had three days of training,” director Elizabeth Tracey of Iowa City said. “I thought they were wonderful, getting us through all the safety elements.

“First of all, rigging our theater for flying, and then going through the safety elements and practicing with everybody involved,” she said. “It’s as much of a feat for the guys behind the scenes doing the lifting and carrying, as it is for the person acting it. It’s a real team effort to get it to coordinate.”

Finding Mary

Allison Dixon, 31, of Iowa City, is thrilled to be flying into the title role.

“Like so many other people in the world, I love ‘Mary Poppins.’ I grew up watching Julie Andrews in the original,” Dixon said. “I think this show is something that I’ve always wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever have the opportunity to do it. So when it came about, I said, ‘OK, let’s give it a try.’ ”

Taking an iconic character and making it her own “has been the most interesting part” of the process, Dixon said.

While the movie premiered in 1964, the musical didn’t begin to take shape until 2001, five years after the death of author P.L. Travers, whose children’s books sparked the film. She reportedly didn’t like the Disney film, especially taking umbrage at the use of animation.

But, work on the musical proceeded, and “Mary Poppins” opened in London in 2004 and on Broadway in 2006 — without dancing penguins or a floating tea party. Fans of the movie will notice other changes, as well, including some of the songs moving to other sites and places in the action.

“It has its own kind of spectacular moments that are good for the live version rather than the film,” said Tracey, who also designed the set to act like a dollhouse, where various rooms open and close to the action.

Mary Poppins, however, still is a magical nanny, just with a little more spit in her spot.

“What is written in the Broadway musical is this mixture of the light and the joy of Julie Andrews, but with a bit of sass,” Dixon said. “She’s a little bit spicier, this version of Mary.

“I’m really trying to find a happy medium of the perfection (and) a bit of the sternness, but she’s always playful, she’s always magical, full of joy. She’s perfect, right? She’s likable, but she can get the kids in line at a moment’s notice.”

Finding unity

But is it just the kids she needs to get in line?

“She’s there to bring the family back together, create oneness within the family,” Dixon said, adding while this isn’t your typical holiday show, “She’s a little bit like Santa Claus. There is a little bit of a tie there — it’s that magic. Everyone’s on their separate paths, like so many families are, especially in this day and age with all the distractions and all the after-school activities and social media.

“And in this version, it’s about bringing the family back together and getting them back on track and finding a way where it’s really about the love and the core and the center of the family, versus what’s going on outside of their home social expectations. And especially with this time period,” in 1910.

Joe Wetrich, 50, of Cedar Rapids, is stepping into George Banks’ shoes, buoyed by a revelation gleaned from the 2013 film, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

“You, like many, probably think that Mary Poppins is there for the children, but she’s actually there to save Mr. Banks from himself,” Wetrich said. “And if you look at that aspect, it’s a beautiful show. It’s a deeper meaning than all the dancing and stuff. Everything’s great — but you want to have those moments you want to feel and emote. So that’s what I hope to bring to this character — the humanity and not so much a cartoon character.”

“It’s so easy to play him as this brute of a man who’s just hard and tough,” director Tracey said. “What Joe can bring to the character is the heart and the boy underneath the man that was broken basically as a boy, and can reassert and find his dreams.”

Tracey and Wetrich both like the way George and Winifred Banks progress through the show, working through the traditional roles of breadwinner and homemaker, coming together in the end as partners and equals.

“Joe just has a great sensitivity he brings that to the character, which I think is going to add more depth to the show,” Tracey said. “I really like (George) and I’m rooting for him, which I think in many versions of it, you don’t like him at all. You don’t care about him. Joe is compassionate, and you see that underneath the struggle (George) has.”

Tracey also is quick to sing the praises of Dixon as Mary Poppins and Boman as Bert.

“Mary just had to have that right combination. … She’s kind of prissy, kind of proper, but there’s an elegance to her, a timelessness — neither too old or too young. I feel like Mary exists throughout time,” Tracey said. And Dixon brings to the role “this remarkable energy that she brings to everything she does, and I think Mary has that — not to mention (Dixon’s) dance skills and the vocal range.”

Tracey sees Bert as a big fan of Mary’s. “There isn’t a love relationship between two,” she said. “I just wanted someone who you’d want to be your best friend — as a fun guy who’s just warm and kind of goofy,” noting that Bowman has the energy and dance skills needed for the role.

Finding joy

Dixon pointed out another twist they’re taking with the Mary-Bert relationship.

“In our version, we’ve taken the approach that Mary was once upon a time Bert's nanny. … There’s a playfulness, a lightness, but we’re old friends, we know each other. And Bert has experienced the magic of Mary Poppins, just like Jane and Michael (Banks) have experienced it. And so they’re meeting again, and I don’t think that happens very often with Mary Poppins and a child that she’s worked her magic with. But that’s the approach that we’ve taken: old friends meeting again.”

On opening night, Tracey will be watching the audience watch the show — especially looking for the children’s reactions.

“That’s my favorite thing — just seeing them be happy. And if they get it, then I feel like I’ve done my job.”

It’s a show full of joy for her, from the people onstage and behind the scenes, to the music that “really is contagious,” setting feet tapping and bringing smiles from ear to ear.

“You’d have to be Scrooge,“ she said, ”to sit there and not feel happy.“

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com