By Nick Mabey.
Cameron Mckintosh’s production of Mary Poppins returns to Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre on 27th August for a jam-packed thirty performances in 24 days. For Poppins aficionados (yes I’m a proper fan boy) it’s a chance to relive the timeless magic of the flying governess and for anyone who has never had the pleasure then I’d thoroughly recommend you take this opportunity.
Ahead of the Mayflower Theatre shows I got the chance to interview one of the cast, Southampton’s very own Darcy Finden, who was speaking from Birmingham, where the show is currently being staged. I started by asking when she first encountered Mary Poppins.
“I think it’s one of those where it’s as early as your first memory. I think I watched it on the telly and also I think we had it on VHS, from age three or four. I remember me and my older brother singing along to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It was a big thing when you were young to know that word and say that word wasn’t it?”
I had to agree that the Mary Poppins film seemed an essential part of early childhood for several generations including me, and that I had tried to write out Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as a very small child. I asked Darcy when she first saw the live show?
“I saw the first tour. I think I was about 13. It’s one of those that really sticks in your mind. I think I wasn’t expecting it to be as jaw-dropping as it was, because I think it really stuck with me. As a musical lover, I just expected to go and say ‘these songs are nice’. But actually, I remember being blown away when I went to watch it. It’s so much more than just like a trip down memory lane. It’s like a spectacle.”
It was this and other experiences that drew Darcy into dreaming of a career on the stage. After sixth-form at Barton Peveril she studied at the famous Mountview dance school before graduating straight into Covid lockdowns. From there she spent three years in the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show before joining the Poppins production when the UK tour started in Bristol last November.
As someone else who also saw the first UK tour in 2004, I was keen to ask Darcy how the current production compares to her first visit all those years ago.
“I’d say that it’s very, very similar. And I think what’s so amazing about it is that the way that the set in the West End has been replicated for the tour. On a lot of tours you have to downsize and lose a lot of the things because it’s just too difficult. But somehow they managed to do it and it’s as big and as magical as it was when it was in the West End, which I think is almost unheard of.”
I won’t spoil it for those who don’t know what the show is made up of, but Darcy’s words were music to my ears because a faithful retelling of the original story is exactly what I was hoping for. Darcy is part of a big ensemble cast, and also 1st understudy to Stefanie Jones for the role of Mary Poppins. I asked for her favourite song from the show. Without missing a beat she said she loves listening in the wings to Feed the Birds which, unlike in the film, is a duet between Mary Poppins and the bird woman (played by the legendary Patti Boulaye). And Darcy’s favourite number to perform to is Step in Time – which is also my favourite from both the film and the show – not least because it brings back memories of my then three year-old son replicating every move in front of the TV.
That’s the thing about Mary Poppins. It’s a family institution that many of us can relate to and that seems to hold a special place in our memories. And sometimes it can also launch a career in musical theatre, something Darcy is grateful for.
Tickets for Mary Poppins (Wednesday 27 August – Sunday 21 September2025) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
You can find out all the facts and figures about the show here:
Mary Poppins: 2024 – 2026 UK and Ireland tour – facts and figures
Main image by Danny Kaan.
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