My school’s (King’s Academy Christian School) drama department has decided to put on a performance of Mary Poppins, one of my favorite Disney classics. When I heard that our drama director, DeAnna Hargrove (Tyler Civic Theatre Center’s Education Director), had selected the Mary Poppins screenplay for our spring performance, I immediately signed up. Even though we have a small drama group, we still had auditions. We were asked to sing and act out a scene as our desired character; all of us were given a role and we jumped right into rehearsals. Tackling this production hasn’t been easy and we’ve had our up and down days, but thankfully our cast is very committed. The downside to having such a small group is that when one person is missing it really shows, but the upside is that everyone is given a part. We’ve really tried to use our imaginations while creating a Mary Poppins set that will work with the space and budget that we have. One scene that has been especially hard to create is the scene where Jane and Michael Bank’s nursery comes to life. Drawers flying open magically, jack-in-the-boxes springing out of nowhere and singing mirrors aren’t very easy to find, but with some hard thinking Mrs. Hargrove has put together a lovely set. Acting comes naturally to our cast members, but singing and dancing have been a hard stretch. Thankfully, Mrs. Hargrove is very patient and helps us progress in all areas. Our lower campus students are also a huge part of our production; they help tie the scenes together by playing all of the extra roles like talking animals, living toys, and dancing chimney sweeps that make Mary Poppins so magical. The Roger’s Children’s Civic Theatre has been a huge help in making our production come to life by allowing us to borrow costumes and props. As each practice goes by, everything begins to run more and more smoothly. Though it seems impossible for such a small group with such little time and space to pull off a famous screenplay like Mary Poppins, our production has really come together.
For more information on show times and ticket prices contact King’s Academy at (903)534-9992. For more information on The Roger’s Children’s Civic Theatre or Tyler Civic Theatre Center visit their website: www.tylercivictheatre.com. Readers can also find more information on The Roger’s Children’s Theatre and Tyler Civic Theatre Center by looking for the title “The Tyler Civic Theatre Center” also located on this site.