Mary Poppins pops into Forest Lake

Carlson oversees the group of about 60 actors in third through sixth grade for the upcoming “Mary Poppins” production and enjoys the work they have accomplished.  

“I love this age group and they are so incredible and can do such amazing things. … I’m always amazed at where we begin and where we end up,” Carlson said.

They have been rehearsing since mid-September in preparation for opening night on Friday, Feb. 3. Over the past tech-rehearsal weekend, the cast and crew put together all the elements of lights, microphones, costumes, and the different sets. 

“This is the big weekend where everything comes together and the magic really starts to happen,” she said. 

Throughout the months of rehearsals, Carlson focused on a central theme of how to relate this old production’s characters to the actors’ lives as a way to make the performances ring more true. 

“Talking to them about parallels, you know, kind of in their own lives, especially when you’re talking about having them learn how to emote on stage,” Carlson explained. 

She not only focused on how to help the actors learn to relate to their characters, but understand how they, as humans, may react to a situation in a scene by asking questions like what does body language look like with different emotions.

“How can we capture different moments in your life that you can think about that?” Carlson said. 

On top of teaching some of the cast this style of acting, some individuals bring their own musical skill to their roles like Allison Zumwalde as Mary Poppins and Ben Storelee as Bert. “Mary Poppins Jr.” incorporates some of the old tunes as well as new musical numbers.

“[It’s] a definite mix of some fun elements that maybe you haven’t seen before as well as those classic, nostalgic numbers that makes Mary Poppins this beloved character,” Carlson said. 

Unlike most productions where the audience only sees one show, Children’s Performing Arts will perform two renditions, offering children in two different age groups the opportunity to perform on stage. Children from kindergarten to sixth grade are split up into two different casts – third through sixth grade, and kindergarten through second grade.

“A lot of these kids have never been in a show before, and so this is just them kind of getting their first chance to explore theater and really, really grow and blossom. … I had some kids who started out and they were really scared and timid,” said Clare Rolinger, who directs the younger of the two groups. She said those same shy students who started rehearsals apprehensive of performing on stage are the ones singing “loud and proud” now.

“It’s really important to allow them to explore and be silly and have fun and get comfortable doing weird things in front of their peers,” she said. 

Rolinger worked to condense the entire production of “Mary Poppins” into a bite-sized 15-minute production that still features key music numbers that are memorable from the original. 

“All the kids get a chance to sing some of the really well-known songs from the show and they get some lines to say really loud and proud for everyone,” Rolinger said. 

Preparing the younger group of actors for their 15-minute debut takes a bit of a different shape from the larger production. 

“An hour goes by really fast with 6-to-8-year-olds,” Rolinger joked. 

She explained that they typically start out with a game to get everyone warmed up and then divide into groups where one will practice choreography and the other will practice a song.

“We want to create a polished performance, of course, but it’s more focusing on the experience rather than the kids,” Rolinger said. 

She described this program as not only an opportunity for children to test out acting, but it allows the community to see young talent center stage. 

“For parents and guardians and families, it’ll be the first time, for a lot of them, that they’re seeing their kids do something like this,” Rolinger said. “… I’m really proud of all of the work that they put into the process, and how much I’ve seen them, you know, really grow and blossom.”

Opening night is on Friday, Feb. 3. All performances will be held at the Forest Lake Area High School theater. More information can be found on page 8.