I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is A Little Happier.

I love the story of Mary Poppins,

the brilliant uncanny books by Peele Travers,

and also the Disney movie starring Julie Andrews.

And so of course years ago, I took my daughter

to see the Broadway show of Mary Poppins.

It was a very elaborate production with lots of complicated sets.

I remember at one point, Mary Poppins actually flew

over the heads of the audience.

And we were watching the play and it was underway,

and all the actors were singing a song that wasn't in the movie,

a new song, and there were some big figures on stage.

I don't remember if they were giant clown heads or monsters,

but whatever they were, they were all moving around

as the actors sang and danced.

And among the actors, of course, were the two children

who played Jane and Michael Banks.

Now at one point, given the complicated nature of this set,

something broke down and everything slowed to a halt.

And the boy playing Michael,

gamely kept on going with his lines.

You could practically hear him thinking,

...