A massive musical production of “Mary Poppins” floats through WaterTower Theatre

John de los Santos is dreaming big at WaterTower Theatre. The director and co-choreographer for the Addison-based company’s musical production of “Mary Poppins” has helped bring a unique vision of the Disney classic to life, featuring a second theater built within WaterTower’s current theater space. “The whole thing is designed in this two-dimensional Victorian puppet theater, but the size of a house,” de los Santos says.

According to the theater, the Bob Lavallee-designed set includes a 3-foot-tall deck and a nearly 25-foot-tall custom proscenium arch. More than a dozen hand-painted sliding walls by scenic artist Jayson Phillips mimic a Victorian children’s book. The show’s iconic umbrella flight takes place within the set’s two dimensions thanks to Braun Productions, a special effects team that’s helped stage the aerial acrobatics seen in Pink’s concerts.

It’s a detailed approach inspired not by the show’s iconic British nanny but by the father who needs her help. “Mary Poppins” focuses on the struggling Banks family: husband-and-wife George and Winifred, and their two rambunctious children, Jane and Michael. “The piece for me is really about Mr. Banks regaining his sense of wonderment, his sense of excitement about being alive that he’s missing since he began being a father and working so much,” de los Santos says, noting he feels the script is about 60% based on the well-known Disney film and 40% on the “Mary Poppins” book series.

“It is a completely different space. You’re gonna be blown away,” Jocelyn Hansen, the show’s Mary Poppins, says of the set. Hansen is an accomplished soprano opera vocalist and theater actor, having performed across the metroplex in productions at Dallas Opera and Lyric Stage, among other popular companies. She also performed as Nancy in WaterTower Theatre’s production of “Goin’ Hollywood” last summer, calling it a “formative experience.”

For Hansen, Mary Poppins represents the opportunity to embody the role of one of her “blueprints,” Julie Andrews, and work with de los Santos at WaterTower Theatre. “I really wanted a chance to work with someone who is as prominent as they come in the crossover scene,” Hansen says of working with de los Santos. The “Mary Poppins” director has choreographed and directed both opera and theater productions everywhere from New York to Fort Worth and San Diego. Hansen feels she and de los Santos have a “shorthand” together that is “very unique” to their shared crossover backgrounds.

 “When I heard Jocelyn’s name and saw how she embodied the role with enough reverence for Julie Andrews, but also a lot of her own individual interpretation, it was just the perfect combination,” de los Santos says, calling the task of performing as Poppins “a marathon of a sing.” “She’s absolutely just magic in this role.”

Hansen calls “Mary Poppins” “one of the hardest shows I’ve ever taken on.” She feels her opera experience and vocal training have been essential for preparing for her role. “This show really combines (opera and theater) in such a unique way,” Hansen says.

Songs and scenes like the crowd-pleasing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” embody the challenges presented by the role. Unlike the movie version, de los Santos says the song spells the tongue-twister out with a unique dance movement to represent each letter. “That number is insanely complicated and difficult, but it’s very funny,” de los Santos says.

Hansen practices the “brain-breaking” song every day. “The spelling bit is just, unfortunately, a constant loop in my head now, so it’s never going away,” Hansen says with a laugh. “Hopefully, I get to do this role again because it’s all there.”

Even with all the challenges that come with playing Poppins, Hansen is quick to praise the ensemble cast starring alongside her, especially the children. “I am so impressed with the child actors and youth ensemble in this production because it’s a gauntlet for them too,” Hansen says, praising them for their professionalism and preparedness in tackling such extensive roles. WaterTower Theatre double cast the Banks’ children in the show, with Jessie Prince and Alyssa Sabo playing Jane and Bella Brown and Noah Brown playing Michael.

Hansen refers to Poppins as a “cake topper” who caps off scenes for the ensemble cast that “does such huge amounts of work in the show.” “It takes a team, and I really do feel like over the past couple of weeks in rehearsal, we’ve established that rapport,” Hansen says. “The kids are the best part of the show, and they’re definitely the reason that people should come.”

Hansen feels that parents will see a lot of themselves in the story, calling “Mary Poppins” a “universal” tale about family. “It’s just unabashed joy and fun,” Hansen says.

For de los Santos, the show personally resonates with his family. “This is my mother’s favorite film,” de los Santos says, describing how he grew up watching the movie many times over. “I have this dream of my mom sitting with her two grandkids on either side watching ‘Mary Poppins’ together live. I think that would be a wonderful thing.”

The WaterTower Theatre production of “Mary Poppins” runs through July 28 at the Addison Theatre Centre. For more information, including how to purchase tickets, visit https://www.watertowertheatre.org/.

These interviews have been edited for clarity.