New York City Vacation - Mary Poppins Matinee

You might say, "Hey Cami, nice picture of The New Amsterdam Theatre at night." This picture is courtesy of http://isawyournanny.blogspot.com. Interesting website- I can't quite figure out it's purpose, but anyway.

We decided that the $145 per ticket (the cheapest) to see WICKED wasn't going to happen. And our $42 per ticket find for Mary Poppins on www.stubhub.com (with a pickup near Times Square) was a much better choice. Mick and Clarice had also recommended this and so we braved the mass of families that chose Mother's Day to attend and went...in our shorts and Keens. It was great. I wouldn't say it's better than the movie- the movie is a classic- but it's different than the movie. The most popular, original songs are still in the play, but they rewrote the script slightly and wrote new music to fit. They focus much more on the importance of family, from what I remember. The movie does this, but it's much more "in your face" in the play.

They also focus more on relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Banks, which I think is great. After having observed the NYC lifestyle of nannyhood/working mothers (more on that in a future post), I wondered if any New York-life families took the message to heart. In the movie it seems Winifred Banks (the mother) has goals that belong to her and her husband, George, could care less. She does charity work, wears banners for Women's Rights, and is never at home to take care of the children. Her interests seem more important than the family. But in the play, she suggests to George at one point, "Maybe I could stay home with the children," and points out that a neighbor has four children and they don't have a nanny. George waves off the suggestion and says, "But we have a nanny so that you can do your charity work and so you can meet the people that you need to meet" (meaning high society people to get noticed by them). They write beautiful, longing love songs for Winifred to sing, showing her desire to be a better mother and a better wife- to take pride in being called Mrs. Banks. It was a great addition to the story in my opinion. I wondered how many NYC mothers felt a twinge of pain as they might have connected to the actress' words as she sang.

Mary Poppins is highly recommended! If you're in New York, DO NOT miss this. If it comes to your town, try it out as well.