Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 11

Everyone has eaten today. So far. I have Topkapi to feed at night, who never gives me trouble (although just by saying that I've probably jinxed it, and she'll refuse the mouse today). Damascus was of course his greedy self and wanted more food. Coral was surprisingly less hyper today than usual. I think she's getting used to me grabbing her and holding her, and it's about time. While she ate, I changed the mulch in her cage, and you can imagine the irritation when I put her back inside. She was beyond pissed that I had cleaned her cage, but it had to be done and at least for a few weeks I won't have to worry about the condition of it.

So, like I mentioned yesterday, I went to see "Mary Poppins: The Musical" with my mom. Overall, it was entertaining in a very Disney-on-steroids way. The singing was not the best, the voices were strident and hard to hear (even with microphones and only a 10 piece orchestra, at the most). The diction was atrocious, I could only understand one word out of ten. I don't know if it was the forced English accents that some of the actors had, or if it's just a case of sloppy consonants, but it is a problem when you see an actor pause to give the audience time to laugh, and there is just silence. Either brush up on diction or get super-titles like at the opera.
Mary Poppins was by far the worst of the bunch. Her voice made me long for Julie Andrews and that is not something I admit to lightly. She couldn't even dance properly. I know that musical theater performers have to be multi-talented and know how to act, dance, and sing, but do they have to be so mediocre at all three? Pick one and stick to it, like some of the more famous ones have done. No one wants to see a Jack of all trades, master of none on stage.
The two children were surprisingly good. The girl stood out in particular. I could understand her, she sang in tune, and she was a good actress.
There was one good singer in the bunch, a woman who played the evil nanny. She had a terrific voice, a grown-up voice, which was a relief after Mary Poppins's whiny-teenager's voice. I like men to sound like men, and women like women, not like children, which is probably why I always end up listening to classical singing.

The production itself was marvelous. The scenery and the costumes were perfect and the special effects went off without a glitch. At least not a noticeable one. It was a little over the top, with glitter, people flying through the air and things moving constantly to amuse the audience. I guess they think we are all ADD sufferers and need shiny objects constantly flashing in our faces. There was actually a sign outside of the theater that warned people with epilepsy about the intense strobe lights they would be using.
My mom really enjoyed it (although the singing did make her visibly wince a few times) and if I can stop being a nit-pick and a cynic for a minute, I also had a good time, and like everyone else in the theater, left singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", happily stumbling over a few consonants of my own.