Video transcript
Schools Spectacular 2022 - Creating the Magic - behind the scenes - 04. Mary Poppins

MARY POPPINS: Hello there, everyone. I have heard that you've been practising a bit of a step in time. I'm sure your performance will be practically perfect in every way, making me and the chimney sweeps very proud of you. Break a leg.

[music sting]

JACQUELINE ATTARD: The original 'Mary Poppins' is magnificent. I love it. I remember Dad always would get us around the TV and go, 'Oh, let's put it on. Let's put it on.' We'd sit together singing the songs together, especially 'rum punch'. We'd pretend to do the 'rum punch', which is awesome, and I think my favourite part of 'Mary Poppins' is how she pulls everything out of her magical bag.

EMERSON GARCIA: I used to watch it with my sister almost every afternoon as a kid, and the new one just came out recently, that has 'Trip a Little Light Fantastic' in it. So, this whole new generation gets to see a whole new side of 'Mary Poppins', which is phenomenal.

ROBBIE MORGAN: Well, whether they've seen 'Mary Poppins' or not, I guarantee you they'll love everything about this segment. From the wonderful little primary school dancers, to the tappers in high school doing amazing things that people won't think are possible, to the featured artists singing their hearts out and running out of breath after dancing for 5 seconds.

KATIE DUYNHOVEN: I loved getting 'Mary Poppins' as a segment. I think it's just such a magical story to be able to tell. But working with the choreographic team, working with the students just to bring that magic to life, it's been such a great experience. There's heaps of props, and also it's just such a colourful segment, as well. We've got a huge amount of colour, especially in our 'Supercalifragilistic' part of the segment. It's just an explosion of colour.

JANE FIELD: There's lots of musical movements that they haven't been exposed to during primary school yet. Just a range of different movements and the excitement the whole segment brings.

SAM SMITH: My kids have enjoyed being back on stage. They've loved the experience so far. They're loving being able to spend time together not in a school situation, and they're loving being able to build the relationships with everybody.

JANE FIELD: During school time, so when we've been given the segment work, we've been able to go into the hall, we've been able to go in just the classrooms, learn the work together, be able to workshop what works and what doesn't, and slowly go through it so that they were confident then to come back into the rehearsal space and bring it all together with all the other schools.

JACQUELINE ATTARD: I'd never thought that I'd be a Mary Poppins, but it's such an honour, and I'm so excited to take this role, and I think that's what I really want to bring to the stage, that magical-ness of 'Mary Poppins'. I love musical theatre so much because I just love including dancing, singing, acting, and all together, and working as a team, and I really, really love that part of musical theatre. Yeah.

EMERSON GARCIA: I just love being able to transform and transport people into different worlds, and getting to perform as different characters, and getting to sing, dance, and act with my mates on stage. It's just amazing. I love it.

KATIE DUYNHOVEN: I love bringing stories to life, especially through dance, so musical theatre is such a beautiful part of that. Tap is a really important part of this segment, as well. We have the featured tap ensemble that's a really important part and they're older students. They're fabulous at their-- with their skills, and they really inspire our younger students as well, and it's really important, the story that they tell, as those leeries. Yeah, bringing that 'Mary Poppins' story to life.

EMERSON GARCIA: I've been tapping as a tap dancer ever since I was around 4 or 5 years of age, and my love for tap has just grown ever since. I love the patterns, the rhythms. So, before the shows, we get to go into the studio and record all our tapping and all our tapping beats. They've got all these different mics, and they put them on the floor, and you get these big boards, and you have to go in and tap really close to the mics to get that really good sound.

[tapping]

After we record that, when we get to the shows, they get to play it throughout the arena and it creates this loud, huge, amazing sound that everyone gets to hear.

JANE FIELD: --ious?

INTERVIEWER: Well, you can just say supercalifragilistic.

JANE FIELD: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Docious-- Suoicod-- Say it backwards? Can you reverse that? [laughing]

JACQUELINE ATTARD: Supercalifragilistic backwards is suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus.

ROBBIE MORGAN: I can do it really, really fast--

[gibberish]

STUDENTS: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

KATIE DUYNHOVEN: Ah, yeah, I can actually. [laughing]

INTERVIEWER: Oh, let's hear it.

KATIE DUYNHOVEN: Suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus.

INTERVIEWER: Fantastic.

KATIE DUYNHOVEN: [laughing] I learnt the whole song. [laughing]

STUDENTS: Schools Spectacular, 2022. 'Creating the Magic'.

[screaming]

[music playing]