Mary Poppins

Our Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Raab was tickets to a show: Mary Poppins! It was staged at Northwest Children's Theatre; we saw the final performance on Sunday night. The show was outstanding in every way - both children were enthralled, and we were so impressed. The quality of the actors' singing and dancing (especially the tap dancing during the Step in Time song) was amazing, the set design was elaborate and very cool, the songs were as memorable and singable as you'd expect.

Both of our kids were really engaged and focused once the singing started, closely watching every scene. I wasn't sure Sebastian would like it, and was delighted that he was so impressed by the choreography, acting, and coolness of the sliding sets. Liesl was transfixed by the whole production but was especially taken with Jane Banks in particular -- she got her autograph after the show. (In the Portland-is-such-a-small-world category, it turns out that the actress playing Jane is the older sister of one of Sebastian's soccer teammates, and we got to see the parents at this final show.)

Steve and I were particularly struck by the whole story thread of the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Banks, with these very rich and timeless questions about what to do with one's life, how to balance financial security and family life, how to keep a marriage alive and thriving -- it's so interesting to watch things as an adult and parent and notice so many details that meant nothing to me as a child, and to be struck by the deep pathos of the emotions felt by the parents.

The show was quite long - 2.5 hours - so when it finished we had a quick pasta dinner at Grassa and then headed home for bed and the start of a regular work/school/activities week. But with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in our heads! Spit spot, best foot forward!