The Banks family is in deep trouble, but have no fear. The winds are in their favor, and the grand nanny of them all is about to swoop in to the rescue.

The stage version of “Mary Poppins” is very much like her “chin-up” song, “Spoonful of Sugar” — the “supercalifragalistic …” moments in life help the medicine go down, in the most delightful ways.

The musical could easily have been subtitled “Saving Mr. Banks,” the title of a movie based on the prickly relationship between Walt Disney and “Mary Poppins” creator P.L. Travers that inevitably allowed the Disney studios to create the 1964 Oscar-winning movie. George, the Banks’ patriarch, puts his philosophy into perspective when he tells his wife that her job is to be his wife and his job is to make money. The children he ignores will be raised by a nanny as he was, and that is that.

While counting his money, he never counted on Mary Poppins.

“Mary Poppins” was brought to the stage by mega-producer Cameron Mackintosh and “Downton Abbey” writer Julian Fellowes, with additional songs added to the familiar ones by Richard and Robert Sherman. The stage show veers to darker places than did the film, but there’s never a doubt that magical Mary will take two misbehaving children, their cold banker father and beleaguered mother and kick dysfunction out the door.

Lindsey Bliven is a “Practically Perfect” Mary Poppins, with a winning smile and a voice that puts you in mind of Julie Andrews’ original. From the moment she floats onto the Benedum Center stage, you recognize the character described by Jane and Michael Banks’ advertisement for “The Perfect Nanny.”

CLO Mini-Stars Clare Chiusano and Mario Williams are a treat as Jane and Michael, going toe-to-toe with pros including the multitalented David Elder as Bert, the charming chimney sweep and Mary’s friend and admirer. He turns the pages for the audience, often dancing across the stage with a connective lyric to the Oscar-winning tune of “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

Bert and Mary know that Jane and Michael misbehave to get the attention of their distant father. Their mother — the wonderful Erin Dilly — also is at her wits’ end. When Mary leaves, Mrs. Banks hits on an idea to put things right: hire George’s former nanny, Miss Andrew.

George runs in fright when he sees “the Holy Terror,” and we begin to see how he arrived at his present state. J. Anthony Crane takes us on his difficult journey and “iCarly’s” Mason Alexander Park as the tyrannical Miss Andrew shrieks and struts his way into the annals of memorable villains.

Mr. Elder and Ms. Bliven have done this show before, and they hit the ground running with a spirited CLO ensemble and a couple of veterans, Tim Hartman and Susan Cella.

The experience was needed on opening night. “Mary Poppins,” a first-timer for CLO, features a new scenic design by Timothy R. Mackabee, whose Broadway credits include the revival of “The Elephant Man,” starring Bradley Cooper. The set that will travel next to Kansas City on a four-city swing still had a number of kinks to work out, notably the loud bang when the pieces that form Jane and Michael’s bedroom came into place. There were lesser issues as well with light and sound.

Mr. Elder, the lead for last season’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” was in splendid form when his feet could come down to earth, but there was a problem with the wires for his aerial attempt during the grand rooftop number, “Step in Time.” He eventually swung into the wings before cheerfully re-emerging onstage.

The design met its potential in the first-act park scene to “It’s a Jolly Holiday With Mary,” a dazzler of color and choreography by director Linda Goodrich. It was there that Cameron Scot Slusser, in his CLO debut, made his mark as the animated statue Neleus.

At more than 21⁄2 hours with intermission, this child-friendly show has always felt one number too long, and the nightmarish scene in which Jane and Michael are beset by toys is not my cup of tea, but perhaps truer to the novel than the Disney-fied movie.

“Mary Poppins” has a two-week stay at the Benedum, plenty of time for the CLO to work its magic so that super-nanny Mary Poppins can perform hers. She reminds us to look for the extraordinary in the mundane and cherish the important things — each other.

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: SEberson_pg.

First Published: June 11, 2015, 4:00 a.m.