After almost exactly eighteen months, Mary Poppins is returning to the Golden Chain Theater’s stage. Caroline McDonald and most of the cast of over forty are returning to the roles they only got to play for one weekend out of the five planned for March of 2020 when the show had to be closed because of the burgeoning pandemic.
The Golden Chain Theatre is known for its summer melodramas. Since 1967, audiences have been booing, cheering, and enjoying free popcorn. But what was to happen in the summer of 2020 when gatherings of family and friends were not happening? How could we make sure that our patrons continue to smile beneath their masks?
This has been a difficult time for everyone. Not only are businesses closed that aren’t essential, but all events have been canceled as well. Many of those events have found creative ways to happen virtually, providing mostly free entertainment for those of us stuck in our homes. Community theatre has been hit particularly hard, canceling their shows has not only been disappointing for everyone, but they also don’t have those ticket sales coming in to help pay the bills.
J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is the definitive western icon of unending childhood and his home in Neverland; the archetype for all fantasy lands. For so many of us, this story is not only a symbolic representation of the wonders of our own childhood, but the anchor by which we hold on to our child-like heart.
