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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There’s just a
spoonful of spectacle in Beck Center’s ‘Mary Poppins’<?xml:namespace prefix = o
ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Cleveland Jewish
News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Here’s
the thing:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Screen-to-stage musicals
are a mixed blessing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">On
the one hand, there is the exhilaration of seeing familiar characters and their
two-dimensional worlds fully fleshed and in person.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>On the other hand, no amount of
stagecraft can match the vivid and indelible visual images created by cinematic
storytelling.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">And
therein lies the biggest problem with “Mary Poppins” at the Beck Center:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It pales in comparison to the 1964
film.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And it pales in comparison to
the 2006 Broadway production and the 2009 tour of it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
<SPAN style="COLOR: black">Mary (a silver throated but fierce and off-putting
Rebecca Pitcher) does not fly and this Bert (an absolutely charming and
effervescent Matthew Ryan Thompson) does not climb walls.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and other
numbers, the stage is not saturated with spectacular color or awe-inspiring
activity.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, with a budget built
for just a spoonful of spectacle, the magic in this production is thoroughly
underwhelming.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It
is, of course, unfair to compare this locally produced show to either the film
or the Broadway production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But
audiences most assuredly will.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For
more of this review, go to:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_2b0d9108-7ef6-11e4-9e1a-87a5003285d9.html</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>