Directing Mary Poppins

Episode 153:  Directing Mary Poppins Artistic Director of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Todd Espeland directed the musical Mary Poppins last fall.  How did put his own stamp on the musical? How did he handle the flying? Todd talks about having a unique vision with the piece without ignoring the show’s iconic nature. Listen in to this one on one look at directing a specific piece. Show Notes Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Edward Gorey - The Gashlycrumb Tinies Images are courtesy of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. All photos by Fred Western. Click on the large image to scroll through the gallery.   Episode Transcript Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, and theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 153. You can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at theatrefolk.com/episode153. All righty. Today’s conversation is an absolute delight. I get to talk to one of my favorite theatre artists who is not only a great teacher, a director, a mask maker, a physical performer – the list goes on and on and on. Todd Espeland is the artistic director of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre and recently directed Mary Poppins so we’re going to talk about it. How did he put his own stamp on the musical? How did he handle the flying? Let’s find out in this one-on-one look at directing a specific musical. Wee! I can’t wait! LINDSAY: Today, I am talking to Todd Espeland. Hello, Todd! TODD: Hello! LINDSAY: Hello, the one, the only! Todd is currently the artistic director of the… TODD: Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. LINDSAY: Awesome. I didn’t quite remember that name. Very good catch! I was like, “I think there’s a ‘civic’ in there somewhere.” Yes. TODD: Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. It’s 87 years old. It’s the third-biggest community theatre in the country. We do 13 shows a year. LINDSAY: Which is amazing. The reason that I am talking to Todd today is that he just completed a very successful run. How many times was the show held over? Twice? TODD: We held it over twice for a total of 20 performances. LINDSAY: And they just finished a very successful run on Mary Poppins. Now, I know that some of our listeners, at your schools you are doing Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is insanely popular in the high school circuit right now. TODD: It’s insanely popular everywhere right now. LINDSAY: And there’s lots of reasons for that, right? TODD: Oh, yeah. I think it’s a really good show. You know, I had some doubts going into it, directing it.