ST. GEORGE — While the character of Mary Poppins in "Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical" adds a spoonful of sugar to the show, a combination of local talent and a uniquely designed theater make the Tuacahn Amphitheatre's production supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
The show, which runs through Oct. 25, is based on Disney's adaptation of P.L. Travers' book series of the same name, which tells the story of a magic nanny, Mary Poppins, who comes to work for an oppressive banker's unhappy family.
The Tuacahn Amphitheatre, located at 1100 Tuacahn Drive in Ivins, is set in a red rock canyon complete with its own outdoor stage and unique acoustics.
Actress Mindy Smoot Robbins from Alpine stars as the lead in the show, with Jesse Swimm as Bert. Swimm was in the original Broadway production of the show as the understudy for Bert.
There's something about Mary
Robbins began her career at Tuacahn in 2001 as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." Among other roles, she has played Maria in "The Sound of Music" and Annie in "Annie Get Your Gun." This year marks Robbins' fifth season at Tuacahn.
Before performing at Tuacahn, Robbins earned Broadway credits at age 20 as the understudy for the role of Eponine in "Les Miserables."
Musical theater has always been Robbins' focus, ever since she started pursuing it at age 4. By her junior year in high school she was performing at Lagoon and soon after at Disneyland, Disneyworld and then Disneyland Tokyo.
Robbins graduated from Brigham Young University, but only spent 2½ years on campus. In the meantime, she was performing on Broadway and finishing her classes online.
Being married with four children has not deterred Robbins from the stage. Before meeting her husband, Robbins had planned to move to New York to pursue Broadway, but she says it wasn't in her cards.
"Tuacahn is a dream come true for me. It's Broadway in Utah, and it's four hours from where I live," said Robbins, who lives in Alpine with her husband and children, ages 8, 7, 3 and 2. She is also the owner and artistic director of On Broadway, a musical theater academy in American Fork.
"The most unique part is that it's outside so you can do things you can't normally do on a stage … maybe Mary Poppins can fly higher because there's no limit."
While Robbins noted that the massive size of the stage can be a challenge, she said the heat is not.
To handle the massive stage, which is 80 feet across, Robbins focuses on her presence.
"You always have to stay present," she said. "The best way of telling a story and communicating with an audience is always being in the moment."
One unique aspect of the show is Mary Poppins' flight into and out of the sky. Tuacahn manages this feat with wires set up across the canyon and set. For Robbins, flying has never been a fear, but a few funny things have happened while she's been in the air.
One night a pair of bats collided at her shoulders and another night a large cricket landed on her shoulder.
"It wasn't just a small cricket," Robbins said. "It was the queen of all crickets. Those are fun aspects of performing outside, but the audience loves that. It makes it more fun."
Robbins' preparation to play Mary Poppins began five years ago, before even being considered for Tuacahn's production.
After seeing the show on Broadway, Robbins felt Mary Poppins was a role she had to play. "So, I started reading the books and then I started working out harder so I could run around in the heat with a velvet coat."
Mary Poppins is one of Robbins' favorite roles she has played.
"I love the story," she said. "It's really different than the movie, it emphasizes the need to heal the family, and it's clear that Mary has a mission to help the family."
When Robbins first saw the musical performed, she was in tears. "It inspired me to be a better mom. It's very rare in theater that you get to inspire and teach something you so firmly believe in. … The best roles are the ones that are entertaining and inspire people."
Upgrading Tuacahn
A number of changes have been made over the years at Tuacahn, including an increase from five or six professional acting contracts in 2001 to 27 for this year.
When Scott S. Anderson, Tuacahn's artistic director and most recently the director of "Mary Poppins," started at Tuacahn in 2004, his goal was to get auditions for the shows back to New York.
Today, Tuacahn auditions in Salt Lake, Provo, Ivins, Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas. "We see over 1,400 people for 35 roles," said Anderson.
According to Anderson, Tuacahn went from averaging 400 people a night when he started to 1,800 a night this season.
"I give a lot of credit to the talent," said Anderson. "They elevate the shows."
In 2010, Tuacahn began a trend of producing musical adaptations of Disney films, which will continue into next year. In 2010, it produced "Tarzan," then "The Little Mermaid" in 2011, "Aladdin" in 2012 and "Mary Poppins" in 2013. Next year it will show a revised version of "The Little Mermaid" next to "The Wizard of Oz" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
According to Anderson, "Mary Poppins" is one of the best musicals ever written.
"People think they're going to see the movie and they get a lot more," he said. "It's really a great story. You really get to see why the family is having problems, and you see Mary's role."
RommySandhu, who was in the cast of the original Broadway production of "Mary Poppins," choreographed the dancing for Tuacahn's production. This enabled Tuacahn to use some of the same dances as the Broadway version, according to Anderson.
Anderson said Tuacahn's unique setting allows the theater to use a number of special effects. In Mary Poppins, some of the scenes are projected. In past shows, they've been able to bring in cars and live animals, use pyrotechnics, flood the stage and create a stage-length curtain of water on which they projected images.
Both Robbins and Anderson praised the performances of the two children in the show, Lauren Allen as Jane Banks and Grant Wescott as Michael Banks.
"Grant is like a 40-year-old in a 7-year-old's body," said Anderson. "And Jane is one of those kids who knows what she wants to do at 14."
Robbins shared Anderson's praise. "(Allen) is always present. She's 100 percent committed and incredibly talented. Both the kids are unbelievably talented."
For more information about Tuacahn's production of "Mary Poppins," call 435-652-3300 or visit www.tuacahn.org.
Email: ajones@desnews.com