Step in Time: Mary Poppins Jr. Lets Melbourne’s Young Talent Take Flight

When Melbourne audiences file into St Kilda East’s Cripps Centre this July, they’ll be stepping into a world where chim‑chim‑che‑rees echo off the rafters and umbrellas become passports to the impossible. Stage School Australia’s Young Australian Broadway Chorus (YABC) is mounting the city’s first season of Mary Poppins Jr., a high‑energy, 90‑strong spectacular that shrinks none of the magic of the 1964 film or the P.L. Travers stories that inspired it—into its junior‑length running time.

A star practically perfect in every way

Fronting that ensemble is 18‑year‑old Alyssa Jandayan, a Stage School veteran of six years  who is juggling first‑year psychology lectures with rehearsals worthy of the world’s most famous nanny. Landing the title role is, she admits, “a dream come true”, not least because a hefty volume of Travers’ six original tales has been dog‑eared on her bedside table since she was 11. “I think I’ve read that book three times now,” she laughs. “Every story still feels like opening a new door.”

The production: big‑hearted, big‑cast, big‑ambition

Director Robert Coates and producer Corey Smark auditioned more than 300 hopefuls aged 10‑19 before assembling the 90‑member cast. The result, Smark says, “continues YABC’s proud tradition of providing incredible performance opportunities for the stars of tomorrow,” promising audiences will be “blown away by how beautifully this talented young cast brings a classic and much‑loved story to life.”

Though billed as a “junior” edition, Mary Poppins Jr. retains the show‑stopping set‑pieces that define the full‑length musical. Expect swirling chorus lines in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” chimney sweeps leaping sky‑high in “Step in Time,” and that evergreen antidote to chores, “A Spoonful of Sugar.” Musical director Chelsea Plumley and choreographers Jacqui Green & Victoria Morris have tightened the show’s running time without trimming its heart—or its vocal demands.

Growing up Stage School

Stage School Australia is now in its fifth decade of “developing young people through the performing arts,” and its alumni have gone on to professional stages from Broadway to the West End. For Jandayan, that pipeline began at age 12, when she joined a YABC ensemble class “just to try something new.” Seven years later, she credits the program with teaching her resilience, time‑management, and the ability to read a room—skills already proving useful in her university tutorials.

 

Her castmates include Darcy Smith as the ever‑cheerful Bert, Zoe‑Mai T. & Niah M. alternating as Jane, and Louis D. & Ryan S. sharing Michael. The Banks parents are played by Perry Moon (George) and Neave McGeehan (Winifred), while a chorus of sweeps, statues, and parkgoers fill out Cherry Tree Lane’s bustling universe.

Why Mary matters in 2025

At first glance, Mary Poppins feels rooted in Edwardian nostalgia—but its central lesson, that imagination can disrupt the grind of daily life, speaks keenly to teens navigating a world of ATAR scores and algorithm‑curated futures. Jandayan sees the show’s relevance in its insistence on wonder: “Mary arrives when the Banks family is stuck in a routine. She forces them to look up and see possibilities.” It’s a sentiment echoed by her own journey: balancing a science degree with artistic ambition, she’s proof that a spoonful of theatre can make even neuroscience go down.

The creative challenge

Coates’ staging emphasises physical storytelling: children tumble through park tableaux; nannies glide on scooters (no real flying rigs in a junior licence); and the ensemble’s crisp precision gives the illusion of West End scale. Green and Morris mine athletic choreography from playground games and chimney sweep drills, demanding stamina from a cast still fitting homework between dance calls.

Plumley’s musical direction focuses on diction and dynamic contrast—essential when 90 voices join forces in a word‑twisting patter like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” To retain sonic clarity, she splits the chorus into smaller onstage “sound pods,” letting counter‑melodies ping‑pong across Cherry Tree Lane. It’s musical theatre pedagogy disguised as play, but the performers are soaking up techniques they’ll use for years.

Community and connection

Stage School’s productions have long doubled as confidence incubators. Parents often report that shy children emerge from rehearsal periods standing taller, speaking louder, and tackling class presentations with Mary‑Poppins poise. Jandayan agrees: “When you step on stage, you learn to trust a room full of people with your biggest emotions. That kind of trust changes how you move through the world.”

Offstage, she mentors newer YABC members, running warm‑up games and demonstrating the art of hitting a high C without tightening the neck. “You don’t realise how much you’ve learned until you teach it,” she says, a line that could slip straight from Mary’s mouth.

For families seeking a school‑holiday outing that balances affordability with professional polish, Mary Poppins Jr.delivers high‑value escapism, and perhaps a nudge to let imagination steer the umbrella for a while.

As rehearsal winds down, Jandayan slips out of character, one hand still instinctively shaping Mary’s iconic silhouette. “It’s funny,” she reflects, “because Mary says she’ll stay until the wind changes. But I think this show is changing us.” After opening night applause fades and the Cripps Centre lights dim, Melbourne’s newest leading lady will return to lectures and late‑night study sessions. Yet somewhere in her backpack, next to colour‑coded psychology notes, that well‑loved volume of P.L. Travers’ tales will travel on, proof that a little magic, once invited in, never really leaves.

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Season Details

Venue: Cripps Centre, 217 Glen Eira Rd, St Kilda East

Season: Wednesday 16 July – Saturday 19 July (8 performances, including matinees)

Book now at HERE.