Something About Mary
Gail Bennett as Mary Poppins. Photo by Julia Russell from the Ogunquit Playhouse production
Gail Bennett stars in “Mary Poppins” at the Norris Theatre
I know you’ve been asked these questions before, so maybe I can just turn on this tape recorder and leave and come back later…
Gail Bennett laughs. “I can give you the whole interview, yeah.”
Anyway, you’ve done the show quite a few times.
“I have,” Bennett replies. “I was on the first national tour, and I also played the role at Tuacahn Theatre, and last year I did it at three different theaters. This is my sixth production. So, yes, I am very well versed in Mary Poppins.”
High as a kite
A few years ago, with an updated book and added songs, “Mary Poppins” was a big hit on Broadway, followed by roll-out tours and various regional productions. Although Ashley Brown received kudos for her performance in the lead role, understudy and ensemble member Gail Bennett stepped gracefully into her shoes over 100 times. Offers from other theater companies followed, and now Bennett is reprising the role yet again at the Norris Theatre in Rolling Hills Estates, beginning Friday evening.
But don’t think of Bennett as a one-trick pony. The actress has been featured all over the country, and in such wholesome, family-oriented musicals as “The Music Man,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” and “Cats.” Previously she appeared at the Norris Theatre in “White Christmas.”
One of the signature images of Mary Poppins is of the Banks family nanny holding an umbrella and then floating above the housetops of London.
Bennett is asked is she’s actually risen into the air in each of the productions with which she’s been involved.
“Oh, yes,” she says. “You can’t put on a production of ‘Mary Poppins’ without some sort of flight, and it’s been really awesome to get to do it in different places all over the country, because each theater has come up with a different flight pattern, if you will, for Mary Poppins.”
Since the Norris Theatre is an intimate venue, the audience should be in for quite a treat.
One might be curious to know if she’s ever had any mid-flight mishaps.
“I’ve rarely had any troubles,” Bennett replies. “They’re safety-first, clearly,” referring to the technicians and flight companies, “and so if there’s ever any trouble a flight would get cancelled. Once I did get stuck out in the middle of the audience, and they dismissed the audience and then got me down.” And she laughs at the memory of it.
I assume that each new production has a completely different cast and a different director, so it must be interesting to make those tiny adjustments, even though it’s the same story.
“People ask me all the time,” Bennett says, “aren’t you tired of Mary Poppins? And first of all I say, ‘No, I get to play Mary Poppins. Who doesn’t want to play Mary Poppins?
“Each production is different and special in its own way. Even the cast has asked me, Are you bored in rehearsal? And I say, No, because we are creating our production of ‘Mary Poppins.’ I have to revisit her and kind of dig deeper each time I do it so that I don’t just rely on what I’ve done before, and make it fresh–because I do need to make it fresh and special and different for everyone. I’m still, all these years later, discovering more things about Mary.”
Which brings us to the director and choreographer, Tony Mansker, who has played Burt (the Dick Van Dyke character in the movie) and was in the original Broadway production. He’s also a former Manhattan Beach resident. Bennett and Mansker were together in a production of “Mary Poppins” just last year. Says Bennett: “We actually would sit backstage and talk about what we would do if we directed the show.
“And then the opportunity came up,” she adds, “and I was able to recommend him for the job. He’s done a really great job of going back to the book, by P.L. Travers, and finding those moments that may have been skipped over in other productions. We’re doing a really fun, fresh thing, especially in the number ‘Practically Perfect,’ where you first meet Mary. Even if you’ve seen the show on stage before, he’s directing it in a way that even I’m surprised.”
Although she once offered some advice to a young actress playing Mary Poppins in a high school production, Bennett in general stays away from the show.
“Partially because ‘Mary Poppins’ is so important to me,” she says; “and I find that a lot of people, when they decide to play Mary Poppins, have in their head this idea of the Julie Andrews who was in ‘The Sound of Music.’ They don’t have in their heads the Julie Andrews who played Mary Poppins. They say, Oh, she’s so sweet; and I think, Are we watching the same movie? Because Mary Poppins is snarky, and knows everything. She’s pert, and she’s ‘practically perfect.’
“So I find that a lot of actors will not do her justice,” Bennett continues. “It’s tricky, because you have to have that snark, and you have to have that twinkle in your eye, too. Otherwise, Mary just comes off as snotty, and that’s not who she is either. She has a heart of gold; she’s going to save the family.” She pauses, and smiles. “You can’t tell I’m very passionate about this role? Very few people I’ve seen are able to nail that sternness… with a twinkle in their eye.”
I tried, but you can’t take a bad picture of Gail Bennett. She’s just too photogenic! Photo
Mary Poppins, meet Frankie Valli
From the time she was quite little, Gail Bennett was exposed to the stage and its world of make-believe.
“I actually grew up doing community theater in an old barn in a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin. My father was a part of the community theater, and I remember being a little kid and sitting up on the old hayloft and old set pieces, eating my little snacks and watching rehearsal. And that’s how I caught the bug.
“I did my first show when I was a kid, but I was also quite the jock. I played all kinds of sports — basketball, ran cross-country, soccer… I did a lot of that, but eventually my theater bug won over and I ended up majoring in musical theater, first at the University of Miami and then at Brigham Young University. And I have been making my living as an actress ever since.”
Asked where she lives these days, Bennett is a bit evasive, but in a good way.
“I am quite the nomad. I had been based out of Las Vegas because my husband was in ‘Jersey Boys’ on the Strip. Between gigs I would go home and hang out in Las Vegas, but I literally live on the road. Wherever the next job is is where I live. After this I’m going to be going on the Disney Cruise Line as their very first Broadway Guest Artist performer. It’s a new contract that they’re creating for me and it’s getting really exciting. I’ll do that until February.”
Your husband must be a nomad as well.
“He is,” Bennett replies. “He was based in Las Vegas but he’s now on the national tour of ‘Jersey Boys,’ playing Frankie Valli. And we have a three-year-old daughter. The day I started rehearsal here, my husband started rehearsal for the tour of ‘Jersey Boys’ in New York City. So my daughter went to grandma’s house in Texas while we get our shows up and running.” And then she sums it up: “We’re kind of a circus family.”
“Mary Poppins” is often staged in large or mid-size venues, but the Norris is fairly compact in this regard, and that old saying “There’s not a bad seat in the house,” is pretty accurate.
“I really love doing this show in a small space like this,” Bennett says, “because it’s really a story about a family that needs healing, and when you’re that close to the audience there’s a different kind of energy. It’s almost as if you’re inside the Banks’ house, watching everything going on.
“Even if you’ve seen the movie,” she adds, “come see the show. You will see a lot of familiar things from the movie but the show is a nice mixture of both the movie and the books. And if you come in with expectations, I think we’re gonna blow them out of the water in a couple of different ways.”
Mary Poppins opens this Friday at the Norris Theatre, 27570 Norris Center Drive, Rolling Hills Estates. Performances, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Three weekends; closes Sunday, Oct. 4. Tickets, $58 to $48 general; $10 discount for children. Call (310) 544-0403 or go to palosverdesperformingarts.com.