Because I have so much to do in the show, it's actually quite a nice little rest for me when I get to fly, and we have a brilliant team that makes me feel very safe.вЂќДЄs Mary PoppinsвЂ™ production manager, Neil White, explains, the most important person travelling with a show on this scale is the health and safety advisor, who performs checks after every performance, including between matinee and evening shows. вЂњIt feels amazing,вЂќ adds Strallen, вЂњand the audience just love it because it's so well done. вЂњThe Saturday matinees are my favourite,вЂќ says Garrett, вЂњbecause that's when all the kids come with their mums and their dads, and you can just see their faces light up when they see Mary flying - it's so magical!вЂќ For those who haven't, we'll refrain from spoiling anything, but suffice to say there's flying involved. Those who know a little about the show might already have heard whispers of its spectacular finale. In Jolly Holiday, a drab black-and-white palette suddenly explodes into colour, while numerous chimneys fill the stage for Chim Chim Cher-ee, each with their own individual smoke machines. The BanksвЂ™ three-dimensional home is pulled out, spun around and opens up to reveal different rooms at the front and back the upper floor nursery and the bank are separate sets entirely. Intricately hand-painted backdrops have the charming, sketchy quality of storybook illustrations, as though the action has burst into life directly from the page. Then there's the larger-than-life look of the film, beautifully reimagined for the stage through elaborate sets and some truly spectacular effects.

Strallen's favourite is the poignant Feed The Birds, while Garrett prefers the energy of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius (вЂSupercalвЂ™ for short): вЂњIt's really exhilarating,вЂќ she says, вЂњespecially when we do the reprise because all the audience tends to clap along and join in.вЂќ There's no sense of throwing the baby out with the bathwater either: this is a show-stopping, super-sized musical retaining all the Sherman Bros' irresistible tunes, along with the odd addition here and there. Worcester-born Maria Garrett, whoвЂ™s performing in the ensemble cast, agrees: вЂњI feel like the film focuses more on Mary and Bert, whereas the musical takes you on this journey with the family, and really shows the importance of how George and Winifred Banks come together as a family unit at the end.вЂќ вЂњMy mum read the books to me and my sisters when we were younger,вЂќ says Strallen, вЂњso I was always very aware of that side of the story, and I think it gives the show a really good journey.вЂќ Mary PoppinsвЂ™ triumph here is to draw out courage and kindness from very vulnerable people, not only preventing unfortunate adults from inflicting their misery on their children, but encouraging them to see their kids as offering a clean slate - an opportunity to find happiness themselves. Moreover, there's perhaps a greater satisfaction to be derived from the Banks family's resolution of genuine problems. Though partly inspired by the real-life figures which are a dark blot on many childhoods, Mr BanksвЂ™ own monstrous nanny, Miss Andrew, is more pantomime villain than genuine horror. Nevertheless, this isn't to suggest that Julian Fellowes' reworking of the story is in any way downbeat. I'm quite feisty at the beginning, and then I start to soften towards the end.вЂќ вЂњAnyone who's read them will know that in the books, Mary Poppins is a stricter nanny, more of a disciplinarian, and the kids are really badly behaved by comparison. вЂњI think the show is a mixture of the film and the PL Travers books,вЂќ explains Zizi Strallen, who will follow in her big sister Scarlett's footsteps by playing the title role. Her vision of Mary Poppins was as a much more hard-nosed figure, fighting to win round the kind of materially spoilt but under-nurtured trouble-makers that most of us will recognise - a far cry from the misunderstood angels in the movie.Д®mbarking on a new UK tour for 2016 that stops off at Birmingham Hippodrome in the spring, Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed stage production aims to strike a balance between the two. Now firmly cemented in popular imagination, Mary Poppins has won over generations with her spoonfuls of sugar, magic umbrella and bottomless carpet bag.Д«ut as anyone who's seen the film Saving Mr Banks will know, the creator of the iconic character was rather less than impressed with Disney's saccharine-sweet adaptation of her stories. It's over 50 years since Walt Disney's take on PL TraversвЂ™ classic story of a magical nanny first captured the hearts of families around the world.

Supercal costume