SHOWS: Mary Poppins HELP!

[kdshort1]

Hi all!

My next project (after I finish RENT) is Mary Poppins.  We THOUGHT we had the budget figured out and could work in the flying effects and also have a really intricate two story set.

Turns out we might not.

We're currently scratching our brains about what to do.  My plug was to keep the flying effect and utilize lighting to help with the set issues that might ensue due to a lack of a practical second story.  Hardly any of the sets are stationary, and we planned on rolling them on from the wings (some of the house ones anyway).  I digress.

We're trying to think of alternatives to both the flying and the set.  Our show doesn't open until the last weekend in July, so we have time.   If you have any ideas or solutions or innovative ways to fake one of the two (or both!) I would forever be indebted to you.

Seriously.  I'll draw you a really mediocre dinosaur.  I'll write you a really average rap. 

Thanks in advance!

Edited to add topic tag- Maribeth

[EFMcMullen]

When you say two story set, do you mean the main level of the house and the nursery as the second floor?  Or do you mean the nursery and a roof above? 

I've done MP once. About to do number 2.  Both sets, the nursery unit was separate from the house. The first version you could "ride up the chimney" to the roof of the nursery. The other is a roof top flat that flies in.

Re flying... Could you simplify it down to one track for both MP and Bert (not do the Pros walk)?

Hope that helps. I love MP. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

E

[RuthNY]

I did MP a couple of years ago, and although I cannot advise you on the set, we reduced the flying to Mary only (with one exception, below.) Bert and the kids never flew. No kids flying up chimney and no proscenium walk for Bert.  Mary flew up the chimney for the final scene of Act I and then flew away at the end of the Act. She flew in again (on the same track) at the top of Act II, and out again, over the audience, at the end of the show.

We also flew Miss Andrews on her final exit, but that was a choice of our director, not called for in the script.

Keep it simple.  The fewer flights you create, the less you will have to build them for effect, from simple to fancier to surprising. One or two flights should be enough.

Hi all!

My next project (after I finish RENT) is Mary Poppins.  We THOUGHT we had the budget figured out and could work in the flying effects and also have a really intricate two story set.

Turns out we might not.

We're currently scratching our brains about what to do.  My plug was to keep the flying effect and utilize lighting to help with the set issues that might ensue due to a lack of a practical second story.  Hardly any of the sets are stationary, and we planned on rolling them on from the wings (some of the house ones anyway).  I digress.

We're trying to think of alternatives to both the flying and the set.  Our show doesn't open until the last weekend in July, so we have time.   If you have any ideas or solutions or innovative ways to fake one of the two (or both!) I would forever be indebted to you.

Seriously.  I'll draw you a really mediocre dinosaur.  I'll write you a really average rap. 

Thanks in advance!

[dallas10086]

It's been a while since I've seen the show, but, is it possible that the flying could be subbed for projections of her shadow?

[PSMKay]

This reminds me of the Sweeney Todd razor post from a few days ago. No need to be hyper-realistic. It's a musical about a magic babysitter. If they've come with you on the journey they'll come with you with pretty much any suggestion of floating/flying you can come up with. If the actors can sell the flying right it's great. If not, I find it actually takes me out of the world of the play.

Unless it's a show like Phantom where the audience comes to see how you're going to pull off a specific tech gimmick and everything else is fluff, or Singin in the Rain where you kind of need rain, I don't see as there's a need to go overboard. Selling the concept without the budget is actually more impressive to me as an audience member.

[kdshort1]

Thank you all for your responses!

We decided to keep the flying and just do what we can with the set, mixing projections with flats to achieve the looks we need.

Again, thank you.  I am always amazed and excited about the collaborative artists on this site. 

[Branden]

I had a friend who did this show, and they had a great solution; at the end when she 'flew', they simply had her on top of an 8 foot wagon, painted black, that rolled across the stage in front of a blackout traveler.

Lit correctly, you could hardly see the platform, and as Kay said, though it wasn't the most realistic, the different level on the stage did make it look really cool.

[kdshort1]

That sounds like a really cool trick, Branden.  I'll keep that in my back pocket if needed!