Thom Allison and making Mary Poppins fly
14 Dec 2018.

by Drew Rowsome - Production photos by Cylla von Tiedemann and Ali Sultani

The holiday season is the ideal time for a big, fun musical and Young People's Theatre's production of Mary Poppins is a smash hit, breaking all of YPT's sales records. Crucial to Mary Poppins' success is the skilled direction by Thom Allison who has himself lit up local stages in Ragtime, Elegies, A New Brain, Take Me Out, Outrageous and many others, as well as the small screen in Killjoys. Allison is an effervescent, charming man to interview or just chat with, but the holiday season is a busy one, so we had to settle for him answering some questions about Mary Poppins via email.

Drew Rowsome: What made you decide to move into directing?

Thom Allison: I always had an interest in directing. When I was in theatre school at Ryerson, I directed two extracurricular shows during my training. I've always loved working with actors and taking apart a script. I had aspirations then but my acting career took off out of the gate so acting became the journey I was on. But the last five to seven years, I've been yearning to be more involved in the telling of the whole story. And also needing less to be the one doing the acting.

Young People's Theatre is such a great space and concept. How did you come to be involved with them?

Thom Allison: I've known Young People's Theatre artistic director Allen McInnis for years. Since before he came to YPT. Then he asked me to play the Tin Man in his production of The Wizard of Oz several years ago which was the first time I worked there.

Considerable resources must have gone into this production. How did you conceive of the set that makes the whole process work? 

Thom Allison: My set designer, Brandon Kleiman, is a genius. We started talking about what the show was about. Of course there is the main point of these children, Jane and Michael, whose lives are really opened by this magical nanny, Mary Poppins. But what really struck me is the journey of their parents, particularly their father, from whom the fate of the rest of the family flows. I wanted to have a lens of the father's big adult world as a jumping off point. We were talking about the bank and the buildings of London. We also knew we needed to change locations so quickly and drastically. So he went away and came back with this extraordinary set which has the grandeur and slightly mythical proportions of the buildings of London, with a fantastic nod to Victorian cuckoo clocks, that allowed us to transform quickly and oh so cleverly from parlor to bank to nursery to Mrs. Corry's, etc. We made little adjustments for storytelling but it was pretty spectacular right out of the gate. He solved most of the staging issues with that brilliant set.

The Broadway production was negatively reviewed for prioritizing special effects, spectacular as they were, above the performances and plot. Was it a conscious decision to go with theatrical magic instead of flashy effects or a budgetary one?

Thom Allison: A little of both. We knew we wouldn't have the budget to do all of the big tricks. YPT isn't Mirvish. But at the same time, one of the kinds of magic I wanted to highlight in our version was the magic that happens when people take care of each other. The magic of human connection. So the sweeps became watchful helpers. It came out of the song "Step in Time."  The lyric tells us that there is always someone there, taking care of you whether you always know it or not. So it allowed us a way of making the magic more person-driven with some otherworldly tricks thrown in. And we were all so delighted by what we came up with and the cast has done such a beautiful job of pulling it all off.

Are there any effects you would have liked to have added if the sky was the limit?

Thom Allison: I would have loved to have Mary fly but what was great was it didn't become the most important thing in our show, so I don't think most of the kids miss it. We have an impressionistic intimation of her flying in the "Let's Go Fly A Kite" scene which I quite love.

Did your experience in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert have any bearing on how you approached a big show like this?

Thom Allison: Not really specifically. Because I've done several of the large musicals - Miss Saigon, Tommy, Rent - I have a sense of "handling the grand."  So I guess all together, those shows showed me that you can do anything if you plan it really well and work on it one piece at a time. Also, dream big and keep imagination and creativity at the ready when things need to be re-thought.

It was wonderful to hear voices singing in a clear unadorned style in service of the show. Was it a conscious decision to avoid pop or decorative theatrical singing? Was it difficult to get those powerhouse singers not to embellish or go for a showstopping moment?

Thom Allison: It really was the show dictating the style. The gorgeous Mary Poppins score really doesn't need pop licks and embellishment. It needs interpretation, and emotional investment and I knew this cast, led by Vanessa Sears, Kyle Blair, Shane Carty and Jewelle Blackman, was more than up to the task of filling this music with deep emotional resonance.

You have a lot of concert appearances coming up in during the holidays: Sharron's Not So Silent Night!, David Warrack's Holiday Pops '18. How do you bring freshness to carols and holiday material?

Thom Allison: I love doing concerts. The key to any song, be it a Christmas carol or a theatre song or a jazz standard, is to make it your own. Have something to say about the song and with the song that is specific to how you feel or think. Then it is going to be fresh because it will be your own point of view. That's when an audience is thrilled. You have to share you.

Please tell us that Pree is going to get a spin-off series.

Thom Allison: (laughs) Wouldn't that be fun! Nothing on the horizon at the moment but I would be there in a moment. I'm not ready to let Pree go.

Much more from Thom Allison at drewrowsome.blogspot.com