The impeccable nanny Mary Poppins sings she is “practically perfect in every way” and “Mary Poppins,” the final show in Maine State Music Theatre’s 2013 season, fits that description to a T.

Add a bunch of other letters and a young child might describe it as “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” a nonsense word made up for the 1964 movie version of P. L. Travers’ book, and used by children to express approval.

This is the East Coast regional premier for “Mary Poppins,” occurring only seven years after the musical’s debut on Broadway. Despite that novelty, audiences will be familiar with the story, music and dancing thanks to the aforementioned Academy Award-winning film. And while it may be difficult to not make comparisons, the film cannot hold a candle to the high-caliber live performance currently at Pickard Theater.

Everything that makes a production come together — from the singing to the sets, the stage management to the spotlights — is in top form.

Let’s start with the set design, which must have cost the crew many hours of sleep. The Banks family’s two-story home is like a Fisher-Price toy made life-size, a creation that folds in half to display interior rooms, the outside facade and balconies or be rolled offstage. There are backdrops and scrims that give a sense of London rooftops or a canopy of trees in the park. There are scenery wagons for furniture and props, such as the breaking table and the bed upon which Mary Poppins puts her bottomless portmanteau.

The audience clapped as often for the technical achievements of this show as for the actors; the staging and coordinated lighting design are that interesting. When Mary Poppins and her umbrella first float down onto the stage, the applause is for Lauren Blackman and for the well deserving technical crew.

Blackman isn’t “practically perfect” in the title role — she is perfect as the perennially sunny but stern governess who sets the family straight with the snap of her graceful hands. She enunciates all her words, spoken or sung, in a crystal clear, proper British accent. She gives such a commanding performance, there is no doubt the other characters would do anything she asked, especially the equally admirable Tyler Hanes as Bert, the chimney sweep who loves Mary but lets her be.

Hanes pulls off a Cockney accent while maintaining salt-of-the-earth charm. The duo is a delight, as is the pair of child stars Sophie Calderwood and Alec Shiman as Jane and Michael Banks, who share impish grins and twinkles in their eyes.

It is easy to see that both children are having fun on stage and can hold their own against the more experienced equity actors.

As Mary Poppins takes care of the children, she also mends the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, played by Jeffrey Coon and Heidi Kettenring. Not often in a musical does a character transform so completely as does Mr. Banks. It is to Coon’s credit that the tightly wound banker believably breaks his rigid rule bound persona to become a warm and loving husband and father. Kettenring brings a vulnerable yet experienced sensibility to her mostly humorous role as the put-upon wife. Chuck Ragsdale as a bumbling butler and Susan Cella as housekeeper Mrs. Brill provide standout comic relief.

“Let’s Go Fly A Kite,” “Chim Chiminey,” and “A Spoonful of Sugar” are three songs that stick in the ears like melted marshmallow on a Hershey bar. The show-stopper stomping song is “Step in Time,” where Hanes, Blackman and the ensemble hoof it with tap shoes and kick up their heels as if the Highland Games came to Brunswick sooner than scheduled.

There is a lot of magic to Mary Poppins, the character and the show. She simply claps and statues come alive or she opens her umbrella and rises into the sky.

What isn’t as easily replicated is the joy a cast and crew feels and shares with the audience. Mary Poppins comes to the Banks to remind them that family is more important than wealth or status, and she does this by teaching the children how to have fun. It is clear that everyone is having fun on stage doing something they love. That joy is infectious and, as everyone knows, laughter is the best medicine for what ails you.

‘Mary Poppins’

WHEN: through Aug. 24
WHERE: Pickard Theater,
Bowdoin College campus
INFO: http://msmt.org/
725-8769