When musical theater fans complain about Disney Theatrical (And they do complain about Disney Theatrical. If you don’t believe me, go check out the discussion boards over at Talkin’ Broadway and Broadway World), their main complaint about the Mouse seems to be that ” … the shows that Disney presents on Broadway are too corporate.”
Which is what’s kind of ironic about “Mary Poppins,” that London import that’s about to open at the New Amsterdam Theatre. This new musical (Which draws its inspiration from both P.L. Travers’ stories as well as from the Academy-Award winning film) wasn’t the result of some deal that was hammered out by a roomful of attorneys. But — rather — because Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Tom Schumacher shared a real passion for this particular project.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher (l to r)
Photo courtesy of Google Images
“How big a passion?,” you ask. So big that — without first letting anyone in Disney management know what he was planning on doing — Schumacher flew to the U.K. in December of 2001 specifically to meet with Mackintosh. With the hope that Tom might then be able to persuade Cameron to consider co-producing a stage musical version of “Mary Poppins” with Disney Theatrical.
This was actually a pretty gutsy move on Schumacher’s part. Given that Mackintosh had previously met with Disney Company officials in the mid-1990s to discuss a possible “Poppins” co-production. But Cameron had supposedly been put off by the overly-aggressive behavior of those executives. Who — at that time — weren’t talking about what a great stage show “Mary Poppins” could be. But — rather — how big a slice of the “Poppins” profit pie the Mouse was going to get.
And Mackintosh … Well, this world renown producer had worked too long & too hard at acquiring the stage rights to “Mary Poppins” to let a bunch of suits screw this show up. Which is why — at that time — Cameron didn’t cut a deal with Disney. He actually walked away from the negotiations, reportedly leaving an incredibly lucrative deal on the table.
All because Mackintosh reportedly felt that Disney was placing the emphasis on the wrong place with this project. What he was then hearing from company executives wasn’t “Think of what a great show we’ll be able to create out of this source material.” But — rather — “Think of all the money that we’re going to make off of this production.”
Now don’t get me wrong. As the producer of shows like “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “Les Misérables” and “Phantom of the Opera,” Cameron has clearly made a few bucks over the past 30 years. But “Mary Poppins” … That wasn’t so much about making money. But — rather — finally making a 25-year-old dream come true. As well as honoring a promise that Mackintosh had made to “Mary Poppins” author, P.L. Travers.
You see, when I say that it took Cameron Mackintosh a very long time to acquire the stage rights to “Mary Poppins,” I mean that it was a VERY long time. Mackintosh first contacted Travers’ representatives back in 1978. Only to be told that P.L. was already negotiating with veteran producer Jules Fisher about possibly bringing “Mary Poppins” to Broadway.
After a protracted negotiation, Travers did eventually grant Fisher conditional rights to produce a stage musical version of “Mary Poppins.” The only hitch was … Jules had to work off of the original “Poppins” books. He didn’t have the right to use any of the material (be it screenplay, songs & score) that had been created for the 1964 Disney film.
Plus P.L. wanted to have some say over who would write the stage version of “Mary Poppins.” So while Fisher was trying to recruit theatrical legend Stephen Sondheim to compose a score for this show, Travers kept sending him letters listing her suggestions for an appropriate creative team for this project. Which included hiring Wally Shawn to write the show’s book & Alan Jay Lerner and/or Paul McCartney to compose the show’s score.
P.L. also had some very strong opinions about who should play the title role in this new musical. Which is why Travers sent Fisher notes suggesting that he get in touch with Maggie Smith & Vanessa Redgrave. To see if either of these two accomplished English actresses would be interested in playing Mary.
In the end, Jules just couldn’t make this production happen. According to what I’ve heard, most of the theater pros that Fisher spoke with about this proposed show told him that it was just too soon after the “Mary Poppins” movie. That — no matter how brilliant the book was, how soaring the score — his new stage version would still wind up being compared to the 1964 film. And most likely would be found lacking.
Mind you, Fisher couldn’t use the score from the Disney version of “Mary Poppins” because the studio was disinclined (at that time, anyway) to give anyone outside of the company access to that material. More to the point, Ms. Travers tended to run hot & cold when it came to the “Mary Poppins” movie. One day, she’d express genuine affection for the film. The next day, she’d attack the Disney production for taking far too many liberties with her characters & her stories.
Given that he was basically in an unwinnable situation, Jules eventually allowed his option to produce a stage musical version of “Mary Poppins” to lapse. Once that happened, Walt Disney Company officials then approached P.L. in 1984. First to see if Ms. Travers would agree to allow the studio to try & develop a a “Mary Poppins” TV series (She did). Then — after that project fell through when studio execs decided that the “Poppins” franchise was far too valuable to waste on television — P.L. participated in the writing of a “Mary Poppins Comes Back” screenplay. Which would have served as the basis for a sequel to the 1964 film.
But then — when that project fell through too — Disney gave some very serious thought to turning this Academy-Award winning movie into a musical for the stage. How serious? Check out this transcript of comments that Dick Nunis — the then-Chairman of Walt Disney Attractions — made back in April of 1994.
At the opening night party for “Beauty & the Beast,” Nunis was approached by a reporter. Seeing how well the musical had gone over that night, this reporter then turned to Dick and said:
REPORTER: Given “Beauty and the Beast” ‘s reception tonight, do you think that Disney will be headed back to Broadway anytime soon?
NUNIS: Absolutely. We’re already looking into other ideas for shows we can produce. Other films we can adapt to the stage.
REPORTER: Really? Adapting other Disney films to the stage? Which movies are we talking about?
NUNIS: I’m really not supposed to say. Let’s just say … Our next show will be supercalifraglisticexpialidocious.
So back in 1994, Disney was obviously already planning on bringing “Mary Poppins” to the stage. Of course, what the Mouse didn’t know then was that — a full year earlier — Cameron Mackintosh had begun meeting with P.L. Travers. And over a two year period, Cameron slowly convinced P.L. that he was the guy who could succeed where Jules Fisher had failed. That Mackintosh wouldn’t do to her what Disney executives had done. Which is dither for a decade about whether the studio should produce a “Mary Poppins” television series or a sequel film … then do neither.
Which is why — just months prior to her death at the ripe old age of 96 — P.L. Travers awarded Cameron Mackintosh the rights to produce “Mary Poppins” as a stage musical. Which — to be honest — caught Disney flat-footed. Mouse House officials had always assumed that they had the inside track when it came to acquiring the stage rights to “Poppins.” But now Cameron had claimed the prize.
Of course, these rights came with a few conditions. Mackintosh had to agree that the stage version of “Mary Poppins” would hew much closer to the style and tone of Travers’ books. That the characters in this new musical would behave more like the characters in P.L.’s original “Poppin” stories did.
Cameron agreed to these conditions … Provided that Travers agreed to one of Mackintosh’s conditions. Which was: Given that the songs from the Disney film were now so closely identified with the Mary Poppins characters, that — if Cameron could ever persuade Mickey to grant him the rights to use the music from the movie as part of his new stage show — P.L. would not oppose that decision.
Travers agreed to Mackintosh’s proposal. And — with that — the deal was closed.
Which brings us back to Cameron’s disastrous first meeting with Disney. Where he learned that the executives who were running Disney Theatrical at that time were more interested in cutting a smart deal than they were in producing a good show. So Mackintosh walked away from the table. And — figuring he never get access to Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman‘s brilliant score for “Poppins” — he then asked George Stiles & Anthony Drewe to write a few spec songs for the project.
The London cast of “Mary Poppins”
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Right out of the box, George & Anthony wrote a new introductory number for Mary Poppins called “Practically Perfect.” Which was just what Cameron had hoped it would be. In that this song was much closer to the style & spirit of the original P.L. Travers stories. But — at the same time — “Practically Perfect” still had the same sort of bounce, wit & verve that the score that the Sherman Brothers had written for the “Mary Poppins” movie had had.
But — again — without actually having the rights to that music, there was really no point in going forward with development of a stage version of “Mary Poppins.” So Mackintosh reluctantly tabled the project. While still hoping that all of the roadblocks that were stalling out this particular production might someday be removed.
In the end, all it took to get around these roadblocks was a plane. Or — rather, to be more precise — one man on a plane: Tom Schumacher.
For years, people in the theatre community had been pestering Schumacher about “Mary Poppins.” Asking this Disney Theatrical exec why the Mouse had yet to mount a stage version of this movie. How this project was a no-brainer, almost certain to be a hit on Broadway. And then Tom would have to go through this laborious explanation about how the Walt Disney Company didn’t actually own the stage rights to the P.L. Travers stories. How Cameron Mackintosh did. Which was why this particular production had been stalemated for so low.
Finally — in December of 2001 — Schumacher decided that it was finally time to break the stalemate. As to why he flew to the U.K. without first telling his bosses at Disney, Tom told a reporter that:
“I so wanted (the stage version of ‘Mary Poppins’) to happen and I didn’t believe that lawyers, and agents and studio heads and executives could get it done … So I slid in under the radar and went to go see Cameron. I asked him what was in his head. We ignored the deal and starting talking about what the show would be like.”
Mackintosh was so pleased that Schumacher seemed to share his same vision for this show that — that very first day as these two were meeting — he pulled out “Practically Perfect,” the spec song that Stiles & Drewe had written eight years earlier. To give Tom some idea of what an enhanced, expanded version of “Mary Poppins” might sound like.
Schumacher was said to be thrilled with that song. More importantly, that he & Mackintosh seemed to share the very same sensibility when it came to the stage version of “Mary Poppins.” That — in the end — the deal wasn’t important. What was important was producing the best possible show that combined P.L. Travers’ original stories as well as elements from the 1964 film.
So Tom then flew home and told his bosses at the Disney about his secret meeting with Cameron. Then — following eight months of rather intense negotiations between the Mouse & Mackintosh — a press conference was held announcing this ambitious co-production.
So — yes — when you look at “Mary Poppins” and see how skillfully the Walt Disney Company has been promoting its newest Broadway production (Speaking of which: A behind-the-scenes feature on the making of the stage version of “Mary Poppins” will air on “20/20” tonight. That ABC news magazine typically airs in this network’s 10 – 11 p.m. programming block), it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that this new musical is just another product that the Mouse Factory has churned out.
But — in this case — you’d be wrong if you thought that. For there’d be no “Mary Poppins” opening at the New Amsterdam next Thursday night if Tom Schumacher & Cameron Mackintosh hadn’t pulled an end run on all of Disney’s lawyers. If these two hadn’t cut through all of the corporate bullsh*t and said “Hey, you wanna put on a show?”
Copyright Disney Enterprises & Cameron Mackintosh, Inc.