Mary Poppins  begins Thursday, September 24, 2009

Music Hall at Fair Park

edited by Madelyn Miler, the TravelLady

Mary Poppins was the first musical I ever saw. I remember thinking it was so much better than TV because all the people were alive. And afterwards my mother took us backstage so the performers could sign our programs.

Flash forward nearly fifty years and I will get to see that musical again at the Texas State Fair. I don't know if I am more eager to taste the fried butter in six flavors and the award winning peaches and cream fried treat or to see Mary Poppins.

Dallas’ most eagerly anticipated stage production will begin performances at the Music Hall at Fair Park on Thursday, September 24, 2009 for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, October 18. The official opening night is Friday, September 25, 2009 at 8 p.m.
 
The entire creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the word’s most famous nanny to audiences across North America.  Original Broadway stars, Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee, will reprise their roles as “Mary Poppins” and “Bert” respectively. 
 
For her portrayal of “Mary Poppins”, Ashley Brown received Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle nominations for Best Actress.  Upon graduating from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ms. Brown landed a leading role in the touring production of Disney’s On the Record. Soon after she was offered the chance to star in Beauty and the Beast and made her Broadway debut as “Belle” in September 2005.  Upcoming projects include concerts with Marvin Hamlisch, the New York Philharmonic and a debut album of American Songbook standards.
 
Gavin Lee made his Broadway debut with MARY POPPINS after originating the role of “Bert” in the world premiere production in London’s West End. Lee received critical acclaim for his portrayal of “Bert”, both in NY and London, and was the recipient of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor.  Lee also received Tonyâ, Outer Critic Circle and Olivier Award nominations for Best Actor. His London theatre credits include Peggy Sue Got Married, Contact, Oklahoma!, Sondheim’s Saturday Night, Crazy For You, and Me and My Girl. In addition, he has appeared in the recent film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera and Beyond The Sea.
 
Joining Brown and Lee will be Karl Kenzler as “George Banks.” Mr. Kenzler’s Broadway credits include Twelve Angry Men, The Caretaker, Dinner At Eight and The Heiress.  “Winifred Banks” will be played by Megan Osterhaus, who comes straight from the Broadway company of Mary Poppins.  Her other stage credits include Mamma Mia, Martin Guerre, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children Of Eden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Gypsy.
 
Valerie Boyle will portray “Mrs. Brill.”  Ms. Boyle has been seen in a wide variety of leading roles in Canada and Europe including Sophie Tucker, Shirley Valentine and Nunsense.  Andrew Keenan-Bolger, who will play “Robertson Ay”, has previously appeared on Broadway in Seussical, Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol and in the National Tours of Spelling Bee, The Grinch and Ragtime.
 
Ellen Harvey will play “Miss Andrew.”  Ms. Harvey’s Broadway credits include 
The Music Man and Thou Shalt Not and she has appeared in the National Tours of Disney’s High School Musical, Mamma Mia, Doctor Dolittle, and Sunset Boulevard.  “The Bird Woman” will be played by Mary VanArsdel, who has appeared in productions of Cole Porter's Paris, Mass, Camelot (with Jeremy Irons), 110 In the Shade, and Gypsy. “Admiral Boom” will be portrayed by Mike O’Carroll, a stage veteran whose past credits include White Christmas, Fiddler on the Roof, Showboat, Will Rogers Follies, Henry IV, Inherit the Wind, and Ragtime. 
 
Performances in the role of “Jane Banks” will be alternated between Abigail Droeger and Aida Neitenbach.  Ms. Droeger has appeared on stage in The Sound of Music, The Pillowman and The Brothers Karamazov and in the films Bedtime Stories and The Blackout.  Ms. Neitenbach hails from Colorado and has recently been seen on stage in Anne of Green Gables, Les Misérables, and The Secret Garden. Performances in the role of “Michael Banks” will be alternated between Christopher Flaim and Justin Hall.  Mr. Flaim is making his National Tour debut with Mary Poppins and has previously appeared in the stage productions of The Nutcracker, Les Misérables, Seussical, and Into the Woods.  Mr. Hall’s stage credits include Shenandoah and the Off Broadway production’s of A Christmas Carol and Don’t Worry.
 
Rounding out the cast are Tia Altinay, Carol Angeli, Gail Bennett, Kiara Bennett, Brandon Bieber, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Michael Gerhart, Geoffrey Goldberg, Emily Harvey, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Wendy James, Justin Keyes, Sam Kiernan, Brian Letendre, Laird Mackintosh, Vanessa McMahan, Koh Mochizuki, Shua Potter, Dominic Roberts, Nick Sanchez, Q. Smith, Jesse Swimm and Tom Souhrada.   
 
MARY POPPINS, a co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, opened on Broadway on November 16, 2006.  Based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, MARY POPPINS features the Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.  The stage production has been created, in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who has written the book, and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who have composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.
 
Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre leads the award-winning creative team, with co-direction and choreography by Tony® and Olivier Award winner Matthew Bourne.  MARY POPPINS features set and costume design by TonyÒ Award winner Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, orchestrations by William David Brohn, and music supervision by David Caddick.  The tour’s creative team includes Director Anthony Lyn, Associate Choreographer Geoffrey Garrett, and Music Director James Dodgson. 

Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, MARY POPPINS continues in its 3rd smash year at the New Amsterdam Theatre and recently celebrated its 1000th performance – a milestone reached by only a rare few number of shows in Broadway history.  The Broadway production has grossed over $­132 million to date, and has been seen by over 1.6M theatergoers.
 
Simultaneously, the show’s popularity grows around the globe. Following a successful three year run (December 2004 - January 2008) at the Prince Edward Theatre on London's West End, a U.K. tour of MARY POPPINS commenced in summer 2008 and concluded its acclaimed run in Cardiff in April 2009. The Australian debut of MARY POPPINS is planned for next year.

An open-ended run of MARY POPPINS will take residence at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam. The show will open in April 2010 at the Circus Theatre following TARZAN’S record setting run there.  MARY POPPINS will be produced in Holland by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh.
 
In Dallas, MARY POPPINS will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Saturday and selected Thursday matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday performances will be at 1:30 and 7 p.m. Ticket prices range from $25 to $85. Special VIP Producers Circle Ticket Packages are available for $135 at select performances, and include premium seating and a complimentary souvenir program.   Tickets are available at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center in Dallas, all Ticketmaster outlets, and online at www.ticketmaster.com.  To charge tickets, call 214-631-ARTS (2787).  For groups of 15 or more, call 214-426-GROUP.
 
The Dallas engagement of MARY POPPINS is presented by arrangement with Dallas Summer Musicals, presented by Comerica Bank, and is a subscription offering of their 2009 season