Chim chim cher-ee! Mary Poppins comes to town, courtesy of St. John's school

It's a bi-annual tradition: the students and staff of Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John's come together to stage a musical production.

This time they set their sites on Mary Poppins, a story brought back into the public eye by the recently released and Oscar-nominated film Mary Poppins Returns.

Beginning Thursday, PWC will bring the classic Walt Disney film to life on stage at the Arts and Culture Centre.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

The school began its musical products in 2000, previously tackling Fame and Les Miserables.

The sense of community in the school during these musical productions is one of the biggest reasons why they strive to do this every two years, says Terry Howlett, PWC music teacher and Mary Poppins' musical director and producer.

"It's all about building a community, and this process builds a huge community within the school," Howlett said.

A significant part of the school community becomes involved with each production, he said: about 50 students on stage, another couple dozen backstage, parent and teacher volunteers, and the people working on set construction and design.

"You're looking at probably about 150 people involved, and it just builds that community within the school."

'The most amazing experience of my life'

Despite months of long rehearsals, character research, dance practices and more, the students involved in these productions say that they are grateful for the experience and excited to bring their characters to life on stage.

Marta Lacoba, an exchange student from Spain, plays the "bird woman" in the musical, and will sing Feed the Birds.

"It was really difficult at first because I didn't know anyone here," Lacoba said of becoming involved in the production.

"But now, it's been the most amazing experience of my life."

Will Read, who has been involved in PWC musicals since Grease in 2017, says that performing in these shows is a "super valuable experience to have."

"If I want to do any of these shows outside of high school, I already know how the process works," Read said. "Going into the ACC … I know how to carry myself in there."

Rachael Currie, cast as Mary Poppins, said she was shocked when she was given the role of the musical's title character.

"I haven't had a role like this before. I've done other plays, but I've never actually done a musical, so this is pretty new to me," Currie said.

"It's a bit crazy. I was kind of shocked when I found out [about the role] ... it's a lot to live up to, but I just tried to get all of it into one character and I really looked at Emily Blunt's role and Julie Andrews. They helped a lot as well."

Balancing math and musicals

While the musicals are a fun and rewarding experience for students, Howlett said that there are high expectations for students to keep their grades up while they are involved.

"We do have an expectation of them to maintain all of their schooling. Let's face it — they're here to go to school … We expect them to maintain the highest of academic standards right through, from the get-go until well after the show is over."

While it can be difficult to balance schoolwork with the musical, it is doable, Currie said.

"I'm a real academic, so I take a lot of pride in the courses I take." she said.

"It's been very difficult, because I've had to balance all of these rehearsals and balance how much my schoolwork means to me. It's taken a little bit of adjusting, but it worked out."

'Great, timeless story'

Fans of the classic movie can expect a lot of singing and dancing at the PWC production, Howlett said, but also plenty that is familiar.

"[It's] a great, timeless story that everyone knows … hopefully we will be able to give everyone that story and they'll walk away humming a scattered tune or two."

Mary Poppins runs from Feb. 21-23 at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's.

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