We received tickets to the Starlight Broadway shows for review purposes.

The air was sweltering last night. You know when it’s the middle of the summer, and a storm is somewhere in the near future, and the air is perfectly still and heavy and so, so hot? That was last night when we went to the last Broadway show of the 2015 season at Starlight.

BUT. Even though we were sweating and fanning ourselves, along with a theater full of other people, we were so excited to see Mary Poppins on stage. This was the one show of the season that was produced by Starlight (rather than a touring production), and had a lot of local talent in the cast. Let me tell you….Kansas City has some talented people. It was just as well done as any of the other shows this summer.

I grew up watching Mary Poppins, the movie, and recently introduced it to my kids (who also love it). So I was surprised to watch it on stage with some pretty big character/plot differences. I wouldn’t say it was more “modern” really, but some things about the story had been changed. They weren’t any better or worse, though, just different.

The ending was fantastic, and totally made us smile as we walked out to our car. Where we promptly cranked up the A/C.

I really do recommend this last show of the season. It’s running for NINE nights, and there’s bound to be a breeze for the rest of them. Pro tip: we learned last night that you can bring in one (unopened) bottle of water per person and that the $2 fans they sell at the service desks work really well.

Cast photo by Kelsey Clark

Tickets for Mary Poppins at Starlight Theatre are on sale now for $14 to $96. Tickets are available online at www.kcstarlight.com, by calling 816.363.STAR (7827) or at the Starlight box office at 4600 Starlight Road, Kansas City, MO 64132. All performances begin at 8 p.m.

I received two complimentary tickets to the show but no other compensation. All opinions are 100% my own.