By Cayman Compass contributor Christopher Tobutt
I was six when I first saw ‘Mary Poppins’ at the cinema. I remember the colours, the songs, the dancing – but not much else. The plot sailed over my head, and even later I never quite accepted the idea that life’s real troubles could be solved with a forced smile and the right attitude. Many children – and more than a few adults – feel the same. The world is complicated, and no amount of cheerful choreography can tidy it up.
With no car and a bad ankle, I trudged up the road to the Harquail Theatre on 28 March, grumbling as car after car passed me by. “Don’t they know ‘Feed the Birds’?” I muttered, half‑joking, half‑sore.
I wondered what Cayman Music School’s stage version of ‘Mary Poppins Jr.’ could offer grumpy old me, in these increasingly transactional days, when even love within a family can feel like a negotiation? Surprisingly, quite a lot – and it was more than just a spoonful of sugar.
The first thing I noticed was how polished and professional the show was. For a moment, I thought I was in a theatre on Broadway. These young performers have been practicing since September,
and it showed. This production, which was directed and choreographed by Inika Pierre with musical direction by Inna Kazakova, featured a large youth cast, with several principal roles double cast to give more young performers their moment in the spotlight.
The show opened with ‘Cherry Tree Lane’, a brisk introduction to the Banks’ household. George Banks (Ryan Nock / Ethan Soto) lives in a world governed by rules, timetables and measurable outcomes. Everything must add up. Even affection is rationed. It’s a portrait of a family caught in the logic of transaction – a world where value is calculated, not felt.
Jane and Michael, portrayed by Delaney McTaggart / Zoey Anderson (Jane) and Rosie Bell / Mila Pearce (Michael), respond the way many children do: with mischief, frustration and a longing for something softer. Their song ‘The Perfect Nanny’ isn’t really about hiring help; it’s a plea for someone who listens. It hints that what the family needs is not efficiency, but grace.
Enter Mary Poppins — played with serene confidence by Thandie Pierre / Lilah Wheeler. She arrives without explanation and without any interest in the transactional logic that governs Mr. Banks’ world. Her order is not the order of banking ledgers, but the order of kindness – firm, calm and freely given. She comes from a world where goodness is not earned, but offered.
The early ensemble numbers – ‘Jolly Holiday’ and ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ – were bright, imaginative set pieces delivered with energy and precision. Bert, played by Rayne Harding, guided the audience between the everyday and the magical. Beneath the spectacle lies a deeper message: Joy is not frivolous and kindness is not weakness.
The emotional centre of the evening came with ‘Feed the Birds’. The Bird Woman — Isabella Cecere / Savannah Bodden – has nothing, yet she gives. Not because it solves the world’s problems, but because kindness is its own justification.
And perhaps this is where ‘Mary Poppins Jr.’ spoke most clearly to me. Cayman is shaped by banks, growth and success – yet old-time Caymanians lived by a quieter currency of generosity without calculation.
By the time the chimney sweeps burst onto the stage for ‘Step in Time’, the audience was fully won over. The finale, ‘Anything Can Happen’, brought the story to its true conclusion: George Banks finally lets go. He stops calculating. He simply joins his family.
I walked away from the theatre, back up the road, feeling more hopeful. And this time, a car stopped.
Christopher Tobutt is a freelance journalist who has written for various publications in the Cayman Islands since 2003.
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