Mary Poppins at the Mayflower Theatre Southampton Review
Mary Poppins
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
25 May to 19 June 2016
Reviewed by Emma Booth
Me and my friend went with my five year old daughter to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton to see the hugely anticipated arrival of Mary Poppins. We arrived early at 7pm and already people had begun to gather and the atmosphere was buzzing. We took our seats in the dress circle eagerly waiting for it to begin.
The story of Mary Poppins was originally one of six books written by author PL Travers and was then made into a film by Walt Disney in the 1960’s.It tells the story of the Banks family who have two very naughty children who send their nanny’s running in no time at all until the magical Mary Poppins arrives and transforms the children with kindness and fun into happy well behaved children with upbeat songs, lively dances and fantastical journeys.
This show doesn’t follow the film religiously but puts a unique stamp on it by adding a few new songs and characters but all being relevant and in keeping with the story. I don’t think you could find a more brilliantly put together show with the bottomless bag making my daughter look in wonder and the way she just appears from nowhere on stage and sliding up the stairs bannister there’s a lot of trickery as well. The dancing and songs were just spellbinding with the most brilliant stage lighting effects you could imagine unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The stand out songs for me being Supercalifragilisticecpialidocious and Step in Time.
All the actors were faultless and so enthusiastic with so much energy with Zizi Strallen playing Mary Poppins brilliantly.
It’s a fairly long show at 3 hours with a 20 minute interval and by 10 o’clock my daughter was verging on nodding of desperately fighting it wanting so much to watch it until the end. The only other downside was our seats were near the balcony up on the dress circle, with not having anyone in front of us being a bonus being only 5ft I think I could have down with a booster seat as well and my daughter couldn’t sit back in her seat or she wouldn’t have been able to see the stage properly.
We love visiting the Mayflower, all the staff are always so helpful and when my daughter was desperate for the loo with long queues a lovely lady who was watching the show who normally works there went out of her way to find a toilet with no queues which was lovely. We parked in the train station car park a short walk away that’s £2 all evening.
We had a fabulous evening, if you can go it is well worth seeing even if the tickets are a bit expensive.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £27.50 to £62.50 (booking fees may apply).
Mary Poppins is at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton until 19 June 2016. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 02380 711811.
Mayflower Theatre, Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1GE | 02380 711811
