Mary Poppins: Behind the Curtain with Assumption Theatricals

You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.

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I'm Melissa K bringing you news in our community during this interview I'm talking with Ryan Houston director of campus ministry with assumption Catholic schools and director of assumption theatricals on Thursday October 8th

Thank you for joining me, Ryan, to bring the community an update from Assumption.

I'm happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Oh, it's fun.

I've been looking forward to this conversation.

Matt's been talking you up for the last, I swear, three months.

Oh, I'm sure he has.

Yeah.

So you are Director of Assumption Theatricals.

Yes.

Let's just start with, like, how long you've been doing this?

Yeah.

So if you don't know a little bit of background about me, I graduated from Assumption in 2020.

And when we were in high, when I was in high school,

school we both had the musical my sophomore year and junior year and then we were going to have a senior year but remember I graduated in 2020 so we we weren't able to have Freaky Friday the musical and so then after that there was no director of the musicals for five years and

Basically,

basically while you were in college.

Yes, exactly.

Yes, I didn't direct them when I was in high school, though, you know, but but I I did I was very involved in the theater program and when I came back to teach at assumption I

realized well right now when I started I was like I'm not going to direct the musical and then somebody got me to do it and I was like well okay I guess I will.

So last year was our first, our revival I guess you could call it and then through that I decided we need a company name so I created Assumption Theatricals I think that's a good fit for us.

Yeah

that is

very very fitting because it includes the school name and then what you're doing.

Exactly, exactly.

And so, yeah, I just want to continue what we did last year with Sister Act.

It was a great show last year.

We really just brought back with full force like everything.

I got a new lighting system hooked up.

We have some wonderful set builders who do some amazing things for us over there.

And so it's just a really cool show.

And so, yeah, we wanted to do it again.

And so I said, what should we do?

And that's where...

We came up with the idea to do Disney and Cameron Macintosh's Mary Poppins,

which is a very, very popular musical and has been for decades.

Yes.

I know that this just the name itself is going to bring audiences out.

But

yeah,

let's talk about the talent.

Sure.

So when did you do auditions?

So we really decided.

Well, we really want to make this good.

We want to make sure that we both do this really well for the audiences, but also give the kids a little bit of a breather.

When we started Sister Act last year, it was a really big crunch time thing because it's in the fall and that doesn't give kids a lot of time.

So we actually did auditions in May.

So we knew the cast by May and so in the summer we we just slowly went through had a few little meetings and then really picked it up once the school year started but we've we've been working on it for a while so it's it's

I'm pretty confident in our abilities.

It's going to work really well.

I really appreciate that

you

recognize that students also outside of the theater have scholastics, they have sports, they have so many other obligations, giving them that whole time to know what their, they already know what their role is.

Did they have scripts all summer?

Could they?

Review things or

yeah, they had the ability to review things and look over their lines and stuff like that We kind of started with music in the summer more than more than scripts and acting but But yeah, they've been they've had this time to kind of take in their role figure out things and then I really have given them time Recently to like think about their characters and stuff

because that character development is really what gives an actor just the knowledge

on stage to do what they need to for what we know as stage business.

So when they don't have lines, well, what is my character going to do while I'm standing here?

Basically listening to the lead characters do their thing, but that's where you build your backstory You have in some of these characters that give themselves a name right and and you help them I love that you're helping them develop those other skills because it it Translates to so many other things.

Yeah, and something I tell my actors a lot is it's something that everybody doesn't always realize is that acting is

very simply if you were in a different universe this character would like look like you like that's really what it is so my George Banks from Mary Poppins in a different universe is my

Actor Gabriel hockey right and I and I tell them like this character is you it's just this piece of you Right that and and maybe they have that more prominently or maybe they do this more or whatever But it is them so they have to find out where the character is in them Including like how I can also bring this other part.

That's not me this character.

Yeah, and and then to help develop

You know like talk a little bit about character development for say

ensemble.

Sure.

Oh, yeah.

Well, ensemble, you know, the interesting thing about ensemble is everyone kind of pushes them to the side, but really ensemble is like the heart and show of every of our heart and soul of every production.

You can't do a show like Mary Poppins without an ensemble.

No, you can't.

No, you can't.

And the the thing about the ensemble is they they have to have much or even more energy than the main actors to be able to, you know, get going.

And so for an ensemble.

Um, they, they have to put so much effort, so much heart into it.

And they really do.

As you said, I have to develop who, who am I right now?

What am I doing right now?

Um, where did my character come from?

Or if, you know, if I'm in the scene, how much energy do I give out or different things like that?

Or, or, you know, going through all these different personalities, especially in Mary Poppins, where you go from.

people in a park who are very, um, voiceless and excited, uh, to chimney sweeps who are very excitable and, you know, very low class to these very uptight bankers who walk in the bank and have this book that they open and close and all these like dramatic things.

They have all these different things that they have to do.

And, and they kind of have to learn like, where am I in that?

Like, how do I do those things, you

know?

And did you cast it in a way, um, that your ensemble plays in each of those scenes?

Yes.

So we only have a cast of 16, which is actually quite small for Mary Poppins, right?

And so I have the best thing about Mary Poppins, part of why I chose it too, is that it has a lot of side characters.

So everybody really gets a part or like two or three sometimes, but they also have to do the ensemble scenes, otherwise we won't have an ensemble.

So it's very interesting for them because they get to experience not only the part that they play, but now they have to learn.

a bunch of other things.

Right.

And so they they really get to be be involved like very much in the whole show.

And it's really cool because I mean, a lot of Broadway's cast for Mary Poppins, for example, are a lot bigger than this.

But like a lot of Broadway ensembles are like that where they come in.

They have 10 people who play different roles, but they're all part of the ensemble in the end of the day.

You know, and that's kind of how our ensemble is, which is really cool.

Do you have a lot of costume changes for your ensemble?

Because if they're going from people in a park to.

bankers, obviously that's going to look a little different.

Oh yeah,

we have a lot of costume changes.

We have, I think, over 250 costume pieces in this show that I counted.

Oh my

goodness.

With the cast of 16.

Yes, with the cast of 16.

Yeah, we have lots and lots of costume pieces.

My costume director, Beth Peters, is having a fun time right now.

But she pulls it off.

and we do a good job with it.

But yeah, it's a lot of costume changes.

I'm working with one of my ASMs.

to which if you don't know what that means, it's assistant stage manager.

She's in charge of costumes as well as other things on stage.

But we've been working to put together a costume plot, which is for our costume crew.

Where do costumes go at times and all these other things?

Because some of those

changes have to happen quickly where you because you to go from a full dress into maybe like a pantsuit for the different and then

to be

the chimney sweep.

then they got that that's a very different costume as well

exactly exactly yeah I think we have a change that's about

like 30 seconds long, maybe at the most.

So yeah, that's gonna take a lot of people.

It takes a team effort to do these things.

Well, and that is something that people, when you're watching a show like this, that they don't think about.

Like, okay, this is a small cast of 16.

There's maybe a little bit of a distracting scene going on so that you're not thinking about the fact that, oh, the person who was just out here walking there with their kid or whatever it was is...

now suddenly becoming a banker.

Yeah, you know, don't think about it when you're watching a couple people have a conversation.

Right, right.

And that's just some of the behind the scenes magic that we get to hear with

an interview

like this.

Yeah.

Well, we're going to take a short pause here to hear from our sponsors.

I'm Alyssa K talking with Ryan Husted, Director of Campus Ministry with Assumption Catholic Schools and Director of Assumption Theatricals.

And you're listening to Perspective on 1320 AM, 975 FM WFHR.

Welcome.

You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.

97 5 fm.

I'm Alyssa Kay bringing you news in our community I'm speaking with Ryan Houston director of campus ministry with assumption Catholic schools and director of assumption theatricals and where we left off we were talking about Mary Poppins which is the musical production being put on by assumption theatricals this season and some of the behind-the-scenes things that people don't necessarily think about during a musical because of the

magic that's happening on stage.

So let's talk about the magic.

When is

the

show?

How do people get tickets?

Let's let's dive into this.

Yeah.

So assumption theatricals Disney and Cameron Macintosh's Mary Poppins.

Wow, what a mouthful.

Yes.

It opens on November 12th and it runs through November 13th and 14th.

And so we've got three show dates, but we actually have four performances.

So you have two shows on one day.

Yes, which is very fun for the kids.

It's a rush.

Yes, it is.

I tell them to take a good nap in between the two.

So actually what we

have on our first, on our opening night is called The Assumption Theatricals Musical Gala.

And it's this, it's our traditional dinner show that we do, but we ju-ju-dup a bit.

We've got raffle baskets there.

which are really cool.

And yeah, it's just a good fundraiser.

We got raffle baskets going.

We might be doing a 50-50 raffle.

I'm unsure about that one, but we could.

Raffles galore?

Yes, raffles galore.

And we've got lovely, lovely dinner provided by Lori and Friends Catering.

So we've got a whole thing going on.

What the schedule looks like that night is we've got 5.30 p.m., cocktails, social, and...

the raffle baskets, all of that.

Dinner starts at 6 p.m.

It's a nice sit-down dinner.

It's very lovely.

Meet some nice people there too, you know, before you see the show.

And of course, our main event that night is the...

show Mary Poppins at seven o'clock p.m.

Okay, so 530 cocktail six o'clock dinner and this is

one that they if they if they want to come for the dinner part of

the

show that night they have to get tickets in advance

yes you need to go to our office talk to our lovely secretary Pat Hoffman and she will give you both the tickets and help you figure out where you're seated right because the dinner shows different it's not like you sit down in a normal

Yes, it in a nice table and get the lovely dining experience as well.

So she'll help you with all of that And then yeah, the next performance we've got is on November 13th It's a seven o'clock p.m.

Performance.

That's a Friday if you were wondering and then on November 14th, which is a Saturday We got a one o'clock matinee and a seven o'clock closing night performance in the evening.

Okay

Yeah,

and about how long is the production?

So

the production takes about two hours 50 minutes according to multiple sources So basically three three hours you can expect to spend at assumption, which is a lovely amount of time to be there by the way

Yes, yes Well in the show itself, let's talk a little bit about some of the songs because this is a classic musical It's a classic movie with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

So people are very and of course, there's the remix

but the original is mine.

has a special place in my heart.

But the songs are so well known.

I mean, automatically, I'm thinking of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,

because

everybody knows that

one.

It's a little hard to say.

But so let's talk a little bit about the songs and how the kids are progressing on those.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Our cast is we've got some great singers in our cast.

We've got some a lot of people returning from Sister Act last year.

So if you like Sister Act and

all the singers there they're back in there they're gonna be singing in their full glory once again which is lovely but yeah we've got we've got some lovely songs in the show that everybody knows obviously we have super Cal we've got spoonful of sugar we have feed the birds all of these Disney classics that you that you were like remember from the movie but an interesting aspect of the show too is when it was created for the stage the woman

who had given the rights to Disney and stuff like that earlier kind of more kind of denied them at first.

And so for basically she asked for British people to be working on the show completely.

And so there's going to be some songs that you'll find that are very new and some scenes that you'll find that are very new because the beginning of the show was approached to start with the book.

And so.

There's there's some new characters.

You're like, oh, I've never heard of that character before, but that's because they're from the book.

But they're just just as lovely as the characters from the movie.

And it's a really good tie in together.

But yeah, there's there's some new material, which is kind of exciting, especially when you want to see something a little bit different.

And you're like, well, you know, that would be cool to see.

Yeah.

Well,

and I think that that might even draw in more audiences

because

yeah, well, we've seen the movie and we've seen the remake and we've seen the other remake.

and maybe you got to see another community theater do this show in previous years.

It made the rounds, I want to say, about two decades ago.

We won't talk about how long ago that was.

But this one will be a new show

to see

because it's going to be actors you haven't seen doing these roles before.

And like you said, there's some new songs, some new characters, a little bit of a different...

different telling of the

story.

Oh my gosh, that was so different than something I've seen before.

And so I've got magic tricks in the show that people wouldn't be expecting from the show.

I have the way the set works is a little bit different than some people do it.

I really enjoy...

just throwing in different things.

I've got some little stunts in the show too that you don't usually see.

So yeah, it's very different than what you could be expecting, but it's also still Mary Poppins.

Right.

So

it's really

the classic story.

It's going to like surprise you in ways that you don't really know are coming, but you're still going to be like, ah, it's it's still the show.

There she is.

She's got the umbrella.

She's got the classic outfit.

You

know,

well, and that's the beauty of live theater is that you do and every show is unique and every show is different because it's happening in the moment and those actors have to to react to whatever is happening in that moment.

So.

Another aspect I wanted to touch on briefly is the dancing

because

there is a fair amount of dancing in some of these shows.

How did you approach that?

So very interestingly enough, our choreographer is an alumni from assumption, but she is in Salt Lake City.

Oh, and so that's been a very interesting aspect of how we approach the dancing.

There's a lot of in Mary Poppins.

There's a lot of like songs that people just kind of walk through, which is great.

So I could take care of that.

but when it came to dancing, what we have to do is the lovely Lauren Maynell from Salt Lake City records it on her phone, sends it to me.

I give it to our dance captain, Sabina Helmick, who is also Winifred in the show, Mrs. Banks, and she teaches the people, like the cast, the choreography.

Oh, nice.

So yeah, it's a little odd situation,

but it works quite well on it.

We've had some technical difficulties here, but let's close out this interview.

We were talking about the dancing that is in this, and it's the difficulties of working across the country, really, with your Korean effort.

Yes, it's been quite a challenge in some ways, but it's been a very, very awesome thing to do in other ways.

I know other companies have had guest choreographers, and I know usually those choreographers come in, but her job is to create the dance, and that's what she does, and she does it very well, even though she's all the way in Salt Lake City.

Well, and one of the things that really did

I guess you could look at it as a benefit of having lived through COVID and what

we

have to do to get through that.

It did really broaden our horizons on what is possible when you are being socially distanced.

Yeah, exactly.

That is so true.

We really are able to do this because of probably COVID kind of making it available for us.

Right, and making it a necessity versus, no, that would be nice.

Right, yes.

Well, what people do have a choice in is coming to see Mary Poppins.

Let's go over the dates again one more time so everybody knows where and when and how to get tickets.

Yeah, so our Gala Dinner Show is November 12th, which is also opening night.

Remember, Cocktails at 5.30, 6 o'clock, Dinner by Laurie and Friends, 7 o'clock show.

We have a 7 o'clock PM performance on November 13th.

We have two performances on November 14th.

We have one o'clock matinee and 7 o'clock closing night performance.

And then to find tickets, if you're wondering, we have multiple ways.

Our online ticket platform, if you just want to search it up, is you just type in our, like you and me, our.show, slash, ahspoppins.

Again, our.show, slash, ahspoppins.

And now if you didn't write that down, you can find that link either on assumptioncatholicschools.org.

or on our Facebook, Assumption Theatricals.

By the way, be sure to follow our Facebook for show updates, backstage antics, cast information, and fun challenges and rewards.

This is a really good place to go.

It's just called Assumption Theatricals.

And if you're not the online ticket type, tickets are available in our office right now.

Okay.

Well, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today.

I'm Melissa Kaye, talking with Ryan Hustead, Director of Campus Ministry with Assumption Catholic Schools and Director of Assumption Theatricals.

Thank you for coming in today and also putting up with all these technical difficulties, Ryan.

I appreciate

it.

Thank you for having me, Melissa.

It's been great.

And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on perspective, 1320 AM, 975 FM, WFHR.