Mary Poppins Sing Along

It is alternating between sunshine and rain. The sun warms the car, but the rain leaks in the window and drops onto my left knee. I’m parked in an industrial area near a trendy downtown Portland district waiting to meet my parents, my daughter and my sister. We are going to a “Mary Poppins Sing-Along.” I thought about wearing a frothy dress with red trim and a matching parasol, or maybe a black nanny’s outfit with umbrella, but instead ended by wearing black pants and a black zippered velour jacket. If I put coal dust on my face I could step in time with the chimney sweeps.

My sister arrives with my mother. My father and brother-in-law have chickened out. I hop in their car and we drive several blocks and find a Thai restaurant where we have mango sticky rice before strolling a block to the theater. As we walk in they hand us a little plastic bag with props. We are told at the beginning of the movie, Bert, the chimney sweep, will say hello and we are to respond, “Hello Bert. Where is 17 Cherry Tree Lane?” We are also informed it is fine if we yell out, “Sod off, George” when Jane and Michael Banks’ father is being a snarky wharf rat. We are also told we can ad-lib as long as we do it with a cockney accent and keep it clean.

So the movie starts and we ask Bert the question. We find the children have run away from Katie Nana. They advertise for a new nanny and the next morning the streets are lined with ferocious looking nannies. A wind comes up and we have all been provided with fans to provide the wind to blow the nannies away. Then we all get out our tiny umbrellas (the kind you get in fruity drinks) and hold them up as Mary Poppins floats down from her cloud.

During “A Spoon Full of Sugar” we have all been given pixie sticks which we break open and choke on the sugary content.

During the penguin scene, we pull the kazoo out of the little bag and hum along. At the end of the chimney sweeps number (It’s the master! It’s the master, step in time, it’s the master, step in time, never need a reason, never need a rhyme, it’s the master, step in time) the Admiral fires of his cannon and we all “pop” a little plastic noisemakers filled with confetti.

Toward the end we get out the little gold tuppence coin so we can feed the birds.

What really amazes me are the men. Lots of them, singing along with their spouses, girlfriends, children and some who just came as a group and know all the words. The man sitting next to my sister is really good at the “Oh, sod off, George.”

I love to laugh; loud and long and clear. This has provided a great opportunity to do so.