To the Editor:

On March 20, Newtown High School Players invited senior citizens to the dress rehearsal of the spring musical, Mary Poppins. Over the years, I’ve come to expect great things from our young people, but this production exceeded even those high expectations. The actors’ singing and acting were exceptional and their timing expert. If I were to cite individual performers for praise, I would risk slighting others. They were all terrific. The musical accompaniment was so professionally done, I thought the director had purchased a sound track until I turned around and saw the musical director conducting on closed circuit TV.

The sets were breathtakingly courageous. The crew expertly rotated these as scenes shifted from the living room to the nursery, then the park and the rooftops. Actors bravely scampered up and down the stairs that were in two clamped-together sections. Burt, the chimney sweep, magically slow mo’ walked up one side of a roof, teetered precariously on the top, and then walked down the other. Mary Poppins soared high over the audience as she left the Banks family, and flew back for a curtain call. Actors, directors, crew, and musicians worked seamlessly to make this a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious production.

Many thanks to Players for inviting us, the PTA for feeding us a delicious potluck dinner, and the student council for guiding us to the cafeteria and making sure we all got to the auditorium on time.

With “a spoonful of sugar,” Mary Poppins reminded us that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.

Jan Brookes

38 Hundred Acres Road, Newtown         March 26, 2019