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Youngstown Playhouse presents magical musical ‘Mary Poppins’
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins” is getting off the ground with a little bit of stage magic and some alchemy with the theater community.
The title character will do a bit of flying, as she should, but the show also will be lifted by some magic mechanisms built by the Canfield High School robotics department.
The Playhouse production, which opens Friday, is the Broadway version that earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical in 2007. That ramps up expectations.
“We knew that in doing it, we had to do it ... iconically,” said director Bernie Appugliese.
The boost from Canfield High is just one piece of synergy that converged on the show.
“They reached out to us because they just did it last month,” said Appugliese. “They built magical stuff and said, ‘Do you want to borrow it?’ It was beautiful, and for no charge. Just incredible.”
With that taken care of, Appugliese rented some archetypal costumes from the Cumberland County Playhouse in Tennessee. In a wondrous coincidence, it turned out that the costumes were actually created for the Tennessee theater by Rebel Mickelson, who is the costume shop supervisor of Youngstown State University theater and a freelance costume maker.
“They are gorgeous,” said Appugliese. The musical comes on the heels of the Playhouse’s box-office shattering production of “Cats” in September, which likely helped spread enthusiasm beyond the building.
“The community is actually getting involved,” said Appugliese. “We started the process of knocking down walls last year, and we exacerbated it this year. It’s about community, not autonomy or elitism. We’re tag teaming on this production.”
Financially, “Poppins” is a success before it even opens. Advance ticket sales are running ahead of “Cats,” and underwriters have already covered almost all costs. The Playhouse received a $5,000 grant from the Monday Musical Club Fund of the Youngstown Foundation to underwrite the orchestra for “Poppins” and its next musical, “Guys and Dolls,” in May. It received another $5,000 grant from Dr. Richard Klapp for the royalties for “Poppins.”
Appugliese said his goal was to get the show fully underwritten. It’s a sign of how strong the Playhouse has bounced back after the 2008 financial crisis that nearly forced it to close.
“We are done playing catch-up,” said Appugliese. “We had $10,000 before we even started, and that allowed us to rent perfect costumes.”
As for getting Mary to fly, the Playhouse will do that on its own, negating the need to hire a specialist in stage flight.
“She will get airborne,” said Appugliese. “We are handling the flying. But it’s not all about the special effects. It’s the production as a whole.”
Kayla Boye is playing the title character. The theater professional (and YSU grad) is now based in Chicago, but Mahoning Valley theatergoers will remember her as a standout performer at the Playhouse (“Chicago,” “Cabaret”) and the Oakland Center for the Arts (“Spring Awakening”). Boye is also the co-choreographer, along with Joanna Andrei.
Mathew White is the music director and J.E. Ballantyne Jr. is the stage manager.
Don Wolford plays the role of Bert, the chimney sweep and unofficial narrator of the story, and James McClellan, Jacquelyn Stevens, Elizabeth Jadue and Caleb Bordonaro portray the family that Mary Poppins has come to help, with understudies Mikala Simkins-Perez and Jeremy Sanfrey performing Dec. 11 and Saturday, respectively.
Also featured in the cast are Connie Cassidy, Molly Galano, Lori George, Kathleen Sanfrey, James Major Burns, Frank Martin, Jill Cataldi, Trevail Smith, Terry Shears, Mitchell Thompson and Dave Wolford.
The singers and dancers who round out the cast of more than 30 are Amy Banks, Mia Rose Bordonaro, Miranda Canacci, Emily Choleva, Savanah Dutton, Cecelia George, Johnny George, Mary Houle, Jessica Joerndt, Jaden Karr, Agata Khoury, Isabella Khoury, Kate Pelini, Selena Phillips, Melissa Ryan, Deb Schiffhauer, Danielle Seidita, Jessie Thomasand John Weber,
John Pecano designed and created the set, with the help of Canfield High’s drama department and robotics team. Ellie DiCiero created costumes with the help of Rebel Mickelson.