After revisiting aspects of my bachelor life while my wife, Lou (Warth) Boeschen, worked on Town’s last show Spamalot, I decided, “if you can’t beat them, join them.” And that is precisely what I did.
Working on Mary Poppins these past few months have not only provided an opportunity to meet new people and collaborate on a great work of art, it has also given my wife and I a common experience we will always remember together. As I look around at my cast mates, I realize that Lou and I are not the only family creating summer memories. By my count, there are 11 families with at least two members in our cast and crew.
What an experience to share the stage with mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, and friends who might as well be family. After all, bringing families together is precisely what this experience is about.
Hollywood has recently presented a convincing argument that the story of Mary Poppins is really the salvation of George Banks. Based on the stage version, however, I would disagree. I will not pretend to know P. L. Travers’s true intent with this iconic story nor have I read any of the books beyond the first volume, but I feel the true spirit of the musical is about the entire Banks family. While George definitely has the most drastic growth, each of the family members learn their role in the survival and support of the family unit.
As our families continue to work on this production, we hope you and yours will join us as on this magical journey as we learn more about what it means to be a family.
