It was excellent, it was awesome, it was supercalifragi-somethingorother.

Mary Poppins, Cotter’s annual fall musical, ran Friday through Sunday, November 10-12, in the St. Cecilia Theater to large and enthusiastic crowds.  The crowds were impressed by the crisp acting, the set, the live music from the pit, and the famous numbers, including “A Spoonful of Sugar”, “Chim Chim Cheree”, “Step in Time”, “Practically Perfect”, and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

“The Friday show is always special because of the energy in the crowd, but we had three really solid audiences with over 300 people on Friday, 280 on Saturday and about 240 on Sunday,” Frincis Koll, who played on the leads, the chimney sweep Bert.

“It’s amazing how the play comes together every year, our first full cast rehearsal was on Wednesday and the opening night was Friday and we only began rehearsals a month earlier. It was fun doing a show that people were familiar with, most of the audience knows the basic plot and the most famous songs from the show, which helps with the audience response,” Francis said. “We had a pretty intricate set and only 4 stage crew, and on Friday night there were only three so it was a team effort to make the show run smoothly.”

Koll, a junior, was one of the standouts of the show, bringing energy, precision, presence, and a believable British accent to the role of Bert.

“I did a summer workshop at the Great River Shakespeare Festival a few summers ago and learned from a voice coach there how to do a Cockney accent, so that part came back pretty easily,” Francis said.

Sage Villanueva excelled in the lead role, her swagger and exceptional voice made brought the character of Mary Poppins, the itinerant nanny, to life.

Jackson Loomis and Quin Morgensen also shone as George and Winifred Banks, whose family drama is at the center of the plot.

Two of the crowd favorites were Cotter 6th grader Susie Kimber and 5th grader Walker Woodworth as Jane and Michael Banks.  Apparently their performance not only impressed the audience but their fellow cast members as well.

“The kids literally ran every rehearsal, they knew every line of the show,”  Francis said.

“They brought they energy every night to practice and if they weren’t there we all sagged.  Having been a younger actor in shows and having leaned on the older actors and looked up to them, it was cool being the older actors in that role.  Those two were amazing,” said Lily Corcoran, who was part of the chorus, among other roles.

The live music supplied by the orchestra pit, under the direction of Cotter band director Andy Meurer and led by Cotter music teachers Tara Welch, Sheila Connington, and and Phil Smithley, and featuring a number of Cotter students gave the musical numbers an intimate and energetic feeling.

The set design was also elaborate and was designed by director Mark Roeckers along with Cotter parents and Mr. Reigstad’s engineering students. Cotter grad Claire Penning directed the choreography which was particularly impressive in the large ensemble numbers.

Mark Roeckers expert direction was in evidence throughout.

“It’s amazing how Mr. Roeckers is able to coordinate the whole show in the limited time we have,” Francis said.

There were a number of costume changes and director Roeckers, presented costume designer and former Cotter parent Maureen Marek  with a bouquet of flowers prior to the opening performance and recognized her with the following remark: “Mrs. Maureen Marek has been involved with costumes for our shows for 30 years! Thanks so much to Maureen for her years of dedication to our shows and for the brilliant work she has done to make our students look so good on stage.”

Mary Poppins was a tremendous success on all levels, which makes one wonder what will this crew do to top it next year?