New Amsterdam Theater Archives

Flying with Marry Poppins on Broadway

December 9, 2011 by Momstart 5 Comments

We tried to fly with Marry Poppins while we were waiting for our backstage tour of the New Amsterdam Theater. I had no balance, I didn’t even notice that I could use Mary as support like Jeana did.

Look at her fly.

Mary Poppins on Broadway in New York City was spectacular. It was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious even though the sound if it is something quite atrocious. Sorry, I can’t help but break out into song after watching it. I have so many different Mary Poppins songs just running through my head.

I love that on Broadway you get a different version of the story with all your favorite songs. They capture the essence of what everyone already knows and loves with live actors through singing and dancing and a little bit of magic. More like a ton of magic. There are so many wholes in the floor, and entire house fits in the back of the theater and they move it forward, they have the biggest umbrella I’ve ever seen come out of the floor, and statues come to life as they are rolled across the stage.

The kids were amazing, They were practically perfect, in everyway, which if you have seen Mary Poppins on broadways you’ll realize that was one of the songs. When Mary introduces herself to the children she tells them she’s practically perfect. I loved it. The actress playing Mary was an amazing talent. She was only 24 with the most amazing voice and I had no idea how fast someone could change clothes and get from the above the balcony of the audience back down to the stage in front of us so fast. That theater is HUGE I tell you with secret passages everywhere. Even the actor playing Burt was amazing. The singing captivated me from beginning to end and the sets. WOW, I’ve never seen such elaborate sets. They come out of the floor they come down from the ceiling. Burt even walked the ceiling. He walked up the side of the wall, across the ceiling and back down all while dancing and singing. I was watching his face and thinking that man is an amazing athlete. I used to play in a marching band and playing and doing something like a dance is quite exhausting. I think I just found Marry Poppins to be magical. She flew several times while singing and she never once lost her hat. I tried on her hat, Her head was quite small.

Mary Poppins is now on Broadway in New York at the New Amsterdam Theater.

Travel and expenses were covered by Disney/DreamWorks.

A Walk Through New Amsterdam Theater New York

December 8, 2011 by Momstart 25 Comments

Thanks to Disney we had a backstage tour of the Amsterdam Theater. Our tour guide gave us the whole history of the theater which is quite impressive.

The theater is actually so old it’s a historical landmark.

When they refurbished it, they had to remove a tree, mushrooms on the walls and rats. Yuck! The renovation cost about 45 million dollars which was also the price if you consider inflation that it cost to build the building originally. During the renovation they found that they were quite lucky really because before the theater ran down, all the walls were painted a chocolate brown that preserved everything underneath it. It was so well preserved that they had to actually go in and antique the walls to make the building look historical.

There was only one mishap during the renovation. One of the men cleaning the walls broke off the finger on the lady below. To fix it they had to make sure that it looked different from the original so the man made a mold of his thumb and plastered it in place.

The details on the walls, the elevator and ceilings were ornate and so very beautiful. They did a fantastic job with the renovation if you ask me.

I got to be the Little Mermaid, even though I bet my husband says I look like a cylon. (it’s an inside joke)

Look at Costumes:

These costumes are from The Little Mermaid

These costumes are from Mary Poppins

And Try on head pieces from The Lion king and other hats from other productions

I had such a great time back stage at the New Amsterdam Theater. You might remember that I love to try on costumes and get dressed up. Learning about the history of the theater was interesting and getting to play around with everything was priceless. Some things that looked incredibly heavy were actually lighter than air. And it makes sense, how can a dancer jump around the stage while singing if they have to worry about losing parts of their costumes. Which reminds me, each costume is tailored to fit the cast member specifically. Once you are in you shouldn’t lose or gain any weight and forget about changing your hair at all. If you change your hair then how would your head piece fit. Ready for some fun? Can you guess what this costume is?

Travel and Expenses were covered by Disney/DreamWorks.