Monday, May 11, 2015

Poppins People Post:
Maurie McGarvey

Like so many of us, I vividly remember as a young girl the experience of watching Mary Poppins make her slow descent onto Cherry Tree Lane, the extraordinary colors of Bert's sidewalk paintings and the joyous dancing of Michael, Jane and the chimney sweeps! Who knows how many times my mother took me to the theater to see it! Never in my wildest imaginations would I have anticipated the experience I am having now, 50 years later!!

"Miss Andrews" -- played by Maurie McGarvey -- sings about "Brimstone and Treacle" to the Banks children Jane and Michael (Hope Hodges and Lucas Bohannon). 

Our treasured community theatre, The Market House Theatre, will bring all the characters to glorious life in just four weeks! As it always goes at MHT, Director Michael Cochran and Musical Director Cindy Miller have invested their many gifts to ensure that the volunteer actors, the staging and the choreography create a unique and unrivaled experience for our community. There is one character who was featured in the Broadway adaptation of the show who was not in the movie . . . Miss Andrew. Ah, Miss Andrew, the stern, tyrannical, bullying "Holy Terror" of a nanny responsible for the upbringing of Mr. George Banks. Poor George, and his poor wife and children . . . Miss Andrew's ability to intimidate and cause fear have had a lasting impact on them through the years. Thank goodness Mary Poppins arrives to help them save themselves from this evil woman! And who gets to play this menacing creature in MHT's production?! Why . . . me!! What an amazing honor it is to get to be a part of this Market House production and to play a character who has such an important impact on the lives of these people . . . even though that impact is not at all a positive one!!

Miss Andrew (Maurie McGarvey) and Mary Poppins (Mary Bowden) rehearse a scene from Mary Poppins.

More than 35 of your friends and neighbors have been working diligently to share this beloved story with our region. Join us the first three weekends in June for a "jolly" experience you will remember for many years to come!