"MARY POPPINS" MAGICALLY FLIES IN THANKS TO SUMMER THEATRE OF NEW CANAAN

When she was a kindergartener, P. L. Travers picked a giant sunflower from a neighbor’s garden thinking the great golden face was the face of God. She would go on later in life to delight the world in a series of books with a fanciful figure named “Mary Poppins.”

Summer Theatre of New Canaan will open its roof and rafters to welcome our favorite nanny “Mary Poppins The Broadway Musical” as she majestically flies in until Sunday, July 28 and you’re invited to hold on to her umbrella for a bucket of fun.

To get in the proper spirit, STONC is offering photographs with a penguin or three as you enter the venue.

As nannys go, Mary Poppins, a clever and smart and delightful Emily Grace Tucker, is one of the magical best. Hailing from England, she unexpectedly arrives at number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane when the Banks family is in desperate need of her services. A strong wind delivers her, carpetbag in hand, to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, Sean Hannon and Jazmin Gorsline, and their children Jane and Michael brought to life by Avery Jackson and Cate Panagrossi as Jane and Camilo Velasquez Escamilla and Carlos Velasquez Escamilla as Michael. Flying in with an umbrella is only one of Mary's fanciful feats.

Jane and Michael Banks are thoroughly terrible and have chased their current nanny right out the door. Mere minutes after the children pen their advertisement for a new one, sung delightfully as “The Perfect Nanny,” who should arrive but Mary Poppins, on a lovely set that changes with the mood of the wind.

Here is a woman who can make statues come to life, whose best friend is a chimney sweep named Bert, a dynamic Stephen Petrovich, who can befriend unusual people like Janet Dickinson's Bird Woman and Janelle A. Robinson who runs a magical sweet shop and who can even encourage toys to dance. The musical and dance numbers thanks to choreographer Douglas Shankman are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious special, like “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Step in Time,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Jolly Holiday,” and so many more. This wonderful Walt Disney musical is brought beautifully to magical life by director Melody Meitrott Libonati for your whole family’s immense pleasure.

While trying to teach the children life lessons, Mary P. inadvertently puts their father’s job at the bank in jeopardy. But, never fear, all will come out right in the end, especially with the practically perfect Mary Poppins in charge, and P.L. Travers’ endearing stories, Walt Disney and Cameron Mackintosh at the helm.

For tickets ($29-93), call STONC at 203-966-4634 or online at boxoffice@stonc.org. Performances are at 11 Farm Road, New Canaan in air conditional comfort Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. On Friday, July 26 at 3:30 p.m. come see “Mary Poppins JR, with tickets at $17-27. For a rousing escapade join two actors as they, with hockey sticks and basketballs, present “The Adventures of Robin Hood” on Saturday, August 3 at 2 p.m., tickets $28-38.

Travel with Jane and Michael as they learn that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way,” when a most amazing Mary Poppins has the spoon and the magic firmly in her capable hands.