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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Aspiring actors at a Marine
Park middle school brought
the house down with their
back-to-back performances of
“Mary Poppins” this month.
More than 30 PS 207 students
took the stage to show
off their thespian talents on
Jan. 10 and 11, performing an
adaptation of the beloved 1964
fi lm with more than a spoonful
of professionalism, according
to the teacher who directed
the show.
“I was beyond proud of the
students — they even put on
a British accent,” said Kim
Simek, an educator at the Fillmore
Avenue school, who also
runs its drama club.
Many of the sixth-througheighth
grade students in the
cast had never acted before,
according to Simek, who said
the show featured other students’
fi rst performances in
leading roles — including seventh
grader Ava Ercolino, who
starred as Mary Poppins, and
her classmates Frank Capiello
and Kristy McDonough, who
played the titular nanny’s
young charges, Michael and
Jane Banks.
And another seventh
grader, Grace Gillen, charmed
the audience as chimneysweeper
Bert, delivering an
endearing rendition of “Chim
Chimney” as part of her dazzling
performance, the director
said.
The kids started rehearsing
back in September, dedicating
time to practice after school as
many as three times per week,
according to Simek, who said
the show’s plot — which alternates
between realism to fantasy
— presents a challenge to
seasoned performers, let alone
amateur actors.
“You’re going from lifted
spirits and skipping around to
being angry, upset, and serious,”
she said.
But the kids kicked any lingering
nerves as soon as the
curtain went up, according to
the teacher-director.
“All of them seemed so
happy to be there, so excited
and passionate to be up on
stage,” Simek said.
Another educator who built
the show’s set credited the performances’
success to its cast’s
camaraderie.
“What I really loved about
it was the teamwork of the
cast members, how they supported
each other and cheered
each other on. It was so amazing
to watch them be so supportive
of one another,” said
Antoinette Spada.
BRUSH WITH FAME: Grace Gillen,
playing Bert the chimney sweeper,
delighted spectators with her rendition
of “Chim Chimney.”
Photo by Steve Solomonson
PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY: The cast of talented students
included seventh-graders Frank Cappiello, left, who played Michael
Banks, and Ava Ercolino as Mary Poppins. Photo by Steve Solomonson
‘Poppins’ visits Marine Park!
Kids at local school dazzle in stage adaptation of classic fi lm
/myfatlossexpert.com