The Magic of Live Theatre

The evening promised magic in the air. Of course, what could be more magical than a performance of the classic, Mary Poppins?

When We Were Kids

Do you remember Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke singing and dancing their way into our hearts 62 years ago? Walt Disney Studios took some big risks and they paid off. Walt Disney personally cast Andrews as Mary Poppins after watching her performance in Camelot on Broadway. When Disney invited her to star in the film, Julie Andrews explained she was pregnant and Walt told her, “We can wait.”

We bought tickets to a recent performance of Mary Poppins in Leduc because our firstborn, 14-year-old, granddaughter was acting in her first musical drama. Quinn devoted nine months to getting her lines, songs, and character just right. Going into the performance, my greatest hope was that no one would forget their lines and or slip up in front of a sold-out theatre of family and friends.

I set the bar way too low.

Live Performance

There are few things like the energy of a live performance. Fear, panic, and electricity blend together to produce something, well, magical.

The junior highs in front of us performed like pros, word perfect, entertaining, and passionately in character. And from Scene 1 until the celebratory bows, Quinn, dressed in a vintage outfit circa 1910, with hairstyle to match, brought the role of Mrs. Banks to life.

Turns out, I was more nervous than the actors. No one betrayed uncertainty, although they may felt it. Each performer was well prepared and well-rehearsed, the pride of their director Emily Slade. Emily, as all the cast addressed her, prepared, practiced, and refined her performers. It was obvious that teaching musical theatre and connecting with students is what ignites Emily. Her students clearly love her right back.

Extraordinary

The Leduc School of Music and Art describes Emily as “striving to create a cooperative, driven environment, where students have fun expressing and exploring themselves through characters.”

The evening was extraordinary.

There were all the classic Mary Poppins favourites including, “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Feed the Birds,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” and of course, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

And they included the scene where Mary pulls extraordinarily large items from her travel bag. A standout moment in the original and none the less magical in this performance. The overall sentiment in 1964 was that it was a “crowning glory” for Walt Disney, heartwarming, and expertly crafted. The standing ovations during and at the end of Thursday night’s performance showed the audience was equally enthralled in 2026.

Quinn and her sisters

Thank you, Miss Emily.

Thank you, Leduc School of Music.

And kudos to you, Quinn and your cast mates!

Have you performed in live theatre or a musical presentation? Is there someone in your family who loves the arts? We’d love to hear from our readers who are performing in Crescendo on May 9th in Edmonton. Join the conversation and post a comment below.

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