Thursday night I went to see my little friend Minnie in Mary Poppins at the Wayzata Community Church.  I’ve been to several of her performances in plays the past couple of years but this was the first one at this venue.  Apparently they’ve been doing productions for 25 years. Who knew?

It was a quite a production with a cast of close to 40 with a huge stage (in the sanctuary) and a nice-sized band.  (So, in addition to Minnie in the play, I got to enjoy her father playing the trombone as well!)

It was a little overblown (in my opinion).  Every now and then the band’s background music drowned out the dialog but the biggest problem was really the size of the cast.  Every big number had almost the entire cast on stage with all the “main stars” in the front; normally not a problem but a lot of the not-main cast were the younger actors/actresses so you really couldn’t see them easily.  It was just kind of a mass of bodies.  For those of us there to see a friend or family member (probably most of us in the sanctuary), it was difficult.

Minnie really shone  in “Step in Time”, the number done by all the chimney sweeps.  She was the youngest of the sweeps but she held her own.  She knew the steps and kept up with the older/bigger dancers.  She clearly knew all the words and she has a great smile.

Another great piece of the evening was sitting with Marie, Minnie’s little sister.  Marie had a fabulous Mary Poppins dress and shoes, along with her Mary Poppins doll and umbrella.  She looked so cute.

So it was a fun night.  I get to see Marie in a “showcase” next week.  I love being the neighborhood grandma!

What do you wear when you’re out for the evening??  Favorite musical?