The Banks family is in turmoil.

The children misbehave to get attention from their parents,
"Our children must be monsters."

The mother gave up her career to focus on her husband and children, but finds it hard to do either.
"Being Mrs. Banks
Should be an easy role
And yet it's one, which I don't seem
Too good at on the whole
Being Mrs. Banks
What does that entail?
Facing tests of character
I always seem to fail."

The father works hard to be a good provider, but often forgets to be a good husband and parent.
"Precision and order
That's all I ask
The running of a household
A straightforward task
The children, the servants
Are all your domain
Whilst I remain the sovereign of Cherry Tree Lane."

The series of nannies they hire and their meaningful servants are not helpful.
"Who gets stuck with the children when there's no nanny in the house? Me! That's who!"

"A father, a mother, a daughter, a son,
The threads of their lives are all raveling undone
Something is needed to twist them as tight
As the string you might use when you're flying a kite."

Enter Mary Poppins who asks…
"When will you learn to look past what you see?"
She teaches the family what is important and gives them the following guidelines in how to live a good life.

A person must be:
"Prim and proper and never too stern,
Willing to learn,
Clean and honest,
Wear shoes of the sensible kind,
Not Temperamental,
Not Grouchy or Gruff."

A person needs to:
"Show them you care,
Stretch your mind,
Broaden Your Horizon,
Never think of pressing your advantage,
Open different doors,
Have your own set of wings, with your feet on the ground,
Raise the curtain on things you thought impossible,
Chase your dreams you won't regret it."

A person should know that:
"Changes can be made,
In ev'ry job that must be done…find the fun,
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."
and finally that
"Life is out there waiting, so go and get it grab it by the collar."

According to Thomas Shumacher, producer of MARY POPPINS, (Sibley & Lassell, 2007) "who of us doesn't want a Mary Poppins in our life? Someone to love us unconditionally, to be magical but not too sappy, to enchant us and to make everything right, and then to leave us to do it on our own."

Once Mary teaches the family how to live…she's off to help another family.

"With every job when it's complete
There is a sense of bitter-sweet
That moment when you know the task is done
Though in your heart you'd like to stay
To help things on their way
You've always known they must do it alone."

All quotes are lyrics from MARY POPPINS.
For more lyrics from the show go to: http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/m/marypoppins

Photo: The Original National Tour Company of MARY POPPINS perform "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." ©Disney/CML. Photo by Joan Marcus.