'Mary Poppins' floats in this month as SYHS Theatre Group's fall show

By Mike Chaldu · Fri Nov 13 2026

Musical classic will run for five performances this month at the school's Little Theatre

This past spring, the Santa Ynez High School Theatre Group put on its production of "The Sound of Music" with much success. For this fall semester, the group has decided to put on another Julie Andrews classic.

The SYHS Theatre Group, consisting of SYHS students and led by drama teacher Amy Curti, is currently in rehearsals for "Mary Poppins," based on the classic 1964 Disney movie starring Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

For those few who don't know the story, nanny Mary Poppins magically answers a request to watch over the kids of the Banks family, and not only enchants the young ones, but improves the family dynamic with the parents. Of course, much singing and dancing is done in the process, with numbers like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "A Spoonful of Sugar" being the best known of the lot.

Sophomore student Macie Martinez has been tapped to play the title role. She's no stranger to SYHS productions as she played the Mother Abbess in last spring's "The Sound of Music."

"It's not typical I would cast a sophomore in a big role like this," Curti said of Martinez's casting. "But, Macie auditioned and she was so impressive, I just had to cast her as Mary."

Martinez is excited to take on the role, although she does understand the gravity of the role.

"It's a little harder than it would be for other roles, because everyone knows Mary Poppins, and you have to have the look and the accent," she said. "But it's fun to have a role so iconic, and with the songs and the vocals.

I knew I was ready for this role, and it's good to have it."

A younger actor will take on another major role, as freshman Caden Rennick is playing Bert, the cockney-speaking chimney sweep made famous by Dick Van Dyke's portrayal.

Rennick considers playing in the show a dream come true.

"When Mrs. Curti said we were doing 'Mary Poppins,' I was super thrilled," he said. "It's been on a bucket list of mine; it's one of the very best shows I ever saw. When I was very young and barely able to stand, I stood through the whole show. The only time I cried was at the end, because it was over."

Alluding to Martinez's role of Mary needing to be a certain way, Rennick is pleased that he has some flexiblity with the Bert character.

"Bert's really fun, he doesn't have a lot of instructions, in constrast to Mary, which has a lot of directions," he said.

What should bode well for the scenes with Mary and Bert is that while Martinez and Rennick have just started high school, they've actually been working together for quite a few years in various youth theater productions.

"They've been working together since they were 8 or 9 years old," Curti said. "I don't really have to coach [Macie and Caden]. I just let go do what they do, I only have to cut them off when they go a little too far."

Also prominent in the cast are the characters of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, played by Victoria Kelsey and Isla Burditt, respectively. Both have been in multiple SYHS productions.

"It feels great getting ready for another show," Burditt said. "This is my seventh show and I'll be doing an eighth show in the spring."

Burditt also happy to be working in tandem with Kelsey as the parental couple.

"I love playing this role with Victoria," she said. "We're great friends and we do well playing off each other, although sometimes we have trouble getting through rehearsal trying not to laugh at each other."

For Kelsey, some might feel it's unusual to have a female actor playing Mr. Banks, but she said it's more common than one thinks.

"I actually have a history of male roles because of my lower register [on my voice]," Kelsey said. "Also, the ratio of female to male is high — typically more women are in the program, and having lower register can fill some roles; it's worked out pretty well."

For now, the cast and crew are hard at work on preparation and rehearsals, and Curti said they will even be bringing in a diction coach from PCPA in Santa Maria to help with the actors' various English accents.

While the "Mary Poppins" story is familiar to most people, Rennick said audiences should keep an eye out for some new wrinkles.

"We'll stay faithful to the story, but I think there are some little things we can add to make it our own," Rennick said. "They'll see some surprises."

The show will run for five performances during the weekend of Nov. 19-22. Showtimes are 6:30 on Thursday, Nov. 19, and Friday, Nov. 20; two performances, at 1 and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21; and 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22. Ticket prices range from $12 to $50 (for VIP tickets) and can be purchased at the new SYV Theatre Foundation website at www.syvlittletheatre.com/