Matthew Bourne.

The British choreographer/director whose Swan Lake wowed 'em on Broadway a few years back, Matthew Bourne is now burning the candle on both coasts, as it were. His musical Mary Poppins opens on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater on Nov. 16, just two days after his dance play Edward Scissorhands (right), which has been touring internationally, opens in San Francisco. Wendy Perron spoke with him by phone from London last summer.

Was your first encounter with Mary Poppins the book series by P.L. Travers or the movie?

It was the movie. In '65 it came out, I was 5 years old, and I was pretty much in love with Julie Andrews. I sang along with all the songs. I remember having a copy of the book with the film on the cover.

Is there anything from the movie or the book that you're trying to replicate?

We approached it as a piece of theater. In the books, dancing is often used as a metaphor for taking off. Once you start dancing, eventually you take off from the ground and you become light as a feather. In the stories, dancing seems to be the height of joy.

What kind of dancing is in the show?

There's an out-and-out tap number, which is "Step in Time" that's the chimney sweeps. There's a number with gestural language, which is "Supercalifragilistic." And there's a balletic element in "Jolly Holiday," with the statues coming to life.

Do you have in your cast anyone like Dick Van Dyke?

Well, the actors who play Burt need to be a little Dick Van Dyke-like (hopefully with a more authentic accent). Dick Van Dyke is unique. Performers who have an eccentricity about their movement are endearing to watch.

In your Swan Lake and Play Without Words, there definitely was a sinister element. Is Mary Pappins like that?

We were looking for something deeper in Mary Poppins, but darker would be the wrong word. We wanted a story that resonated with a modern audience, something about a family that was adrift and bringing the family together. There is a scene where the kids' toys come to life and put them an trial for treating them badly called "Temper Temper." It's a bit spooky the way the toys come to life. That's the darkest it gets.

Does Edward Scissorhands have more dancing or less than Mary Poppins?

More, because it's a dance show, not a musical. It's a story told through movement, acting, and dance, without any words. In Korea, they call it a dance musical, and other people have called it a "dansical." There's swing dance in it and sort of a balletic pas de deux between Edward and Kim.

What was it like choreographing far those scissory hands?

Wonderful, I loved it. To have this limitation to play with makes you come up with different things: How do they lift? How do we vary this? How do we make this work as a duet? So we came up with all sorts of ways that he could lift her without using his hands. It's very exciting, really--the whole story about him not being able to connect, and their love is an impossible love, because they're so different.

Do you consider yourself more of a choreographer or a director?

I'm still very into the dance side of things, but when I work with my dancers, I talk to them more as actors than I do about steps. I talk about the intention of the movement, the intention of the theme, the characters, and the emotion. It's about pace, actually. A director's job is to make the whole rhythm of the show work.