Lola Marshall didn’t feeling like singing or dancing when a project in her Grade 5 class at École Herbert Spencer Elementary didn’t turn out well.
But her mood took a dramatic turn when she found out her ability to sing and dance had earned the 11-year-old her first big break in show biz.
“My mom was picking me up from school, and I didn’t have a very good day at school and she was like, ‘Well I have some good news. You got the part of Jane’ and that made my day better,” recalls the effervescent Marshall. “I thought there would not be a very good chance because there’s so many talented girls that auditioned; they were so amazing at everything they do.”
‘Jane’ would be the role of Jane Banks in the Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) production of Mary Poppins that begins its run at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl on Friday (July 7).
Her mother, Cynthia Chapman, became emotional when she got the good news while Marshall was at school, and again when she delivered it to her daughter. “She was excited. She doesn’t get emotional, just excited. I’m crying and she’s like, ‘Oh, God, here she goes again.’ ”
Despite her tender age, Marshall’s rise has been years in the making. Her mother has been going to TUTS since she was a kid growing up in New West. So when the theatre company announced children’s ensemble auditions for Shrek in 2014, Marshall, a longtime competitive dancer, was eager to try out. Last year, she was in Beauty and the Beast.
“I’ve just always had the passion to do it. I’ve always just loved to watch and pretend I’m the characters,” says Marshall, who will be going into Grade 6 at École Glenbrook Middle School in September. “I love to sing and dance, so I thought it would be a great thing for me to do because I’ve always loved theatre and watching musicals.”
Like mother, like daughter isn’t true in one respect.
“I’m not like her wanting to be the centre of attention,” says Chapman, who was more comfortable as a member of the New Westminster and District Concert Band when she was growing up. “She (has) the confidence to get out there and isn’t intimidated singing on her own. Even when she auditioned for Shrek, it was the first time she had sang by herself, so she kind of has that confidence in her.”
Chapman isn’t a stage mom. She doesn’t have to be. While Chapman drives Marshall to rehearsals and lessons, it’s Marshall who is the driving force behind her star quest.
“She’s very responsible already for her age,” says Chapman. “I’ll just drop her off and she does her own makeup for dance, she does her own hair. I’ve barely had anything to do with that. She’s watching videos, she taught herself how to do the makeup and how to do the hair. She’s independent in that way and doesn’t want me helping her.”
One film Marshall has been studying a lot lately is, of course, the 1960’s Disney movie Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke.
“I like the accents because, for me, accents are not that easy,” says Marshall, who frequently catches her classmates off guard. “Sometimes when I’m in school, I’ll randomly do a British accent. They’re like, ‘Why are you all of a sudden British?’ I don’t know, it’s just in my head. I don’t know why.”
One person she has really impressed happens to live in their New Westminster neighbourhood, veteran performer Russell Roberts, who plays Jane’s father, George Banks.
“Very talented young girl … She’s an absolute joy,” says Roberts, who is blown away by Marshall’s confidence. “It’s wonderful to see in a youngster, that ease of being on stage. I wouldn’t know which way was up.”
The admiration is mutual.
“He’s really fun to work with,” says Marshall. “He’s just super nice, and he’s an amazing Mr. Banks. He’s really talented. He’s perfect for the role.”
Russell says the stage version of Mary Poppins has more songs and is darker than the movie.
“It’s interesting that the story is really about the redemption of Mr. Banks, and how Mary Poppins brings the family back together,” says Marshall. “It’s about George Banks who has gone off the rails and ignored his family in favour of work. A very popular theme these days.”
Russell says a roommate of his at theatre school in Britain, Daniel Day Lewis, had a similar upbringing to the Banks children where he and his sister were raised by a nanny. They were brought downstairs to visit their parents at 4 o’clock and then ate supper on their own. Russell himself attended boarding school from age seven to 17.
“We’re not taught parenting skills, and if we’ve had a hard upbringing, and if it’s the only example we’ve got, we repeat the mistakes,” says Russell. “My parenting pendulum swung way the other way. I walked my boys to school and picked them up until they were about 13.”
In 2012, Russell had the joy of performing with his sons in the TUTS production of Titanic. Sayer, 27, is currently performing Guys and Dolls and HMS Pinafore at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Gower, 23, is a graduate of Douglas College’s music technology program and works at the Anvil Centre and Massey Theatre.
Beginning Friday, Mary Poppins will be performed every second night until Aug. 18. For more information and tickets, go to tuts.ca/mary-poppins.
