Broadway's perfectly magical musical MARY POPPINS is pleased to welcome the West End's original ‘Mary', Olivier Award winner Laura Michelle Kelly, and Tony® Award nominee Christian Borle (Broadway's Legally Blonde) beginning Monday, October 12 at 7pm. Produced by Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatrical Productions and Cameron Mackintosh, MARY POPPINS will celebrate its three-year anniversary at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street) on Monday, November 16.
Laura Michelle Kelly returns to Broadway after earning rave reviews and garnering the Olivier Award for her performance as the original Mary Poppins in the 2004 West End premiere of the show (she played the role for more than 400 performances in the UK until October 2005). Kelly made her Broadway debut as one of Tevye's daughters in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof with Alfred Molina. She made her feature film debut as Lucy Barker opposite Johnny Depp in the musical Sweeney Todd, directed by Tim Burton (2007). Last year, Kelly starred opposite Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in the Old Vic's acclaimed production of Speed-the-Plow. Other West End credits include Eliza in My Fair Lady, Galadrial in Lord of the Rings, Sophie in Mamma Mia, Swallow in Whistle Down the Wind, Eponine in Les Miserables, Wendy in Peter Pan and an 'enchanted object' in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at age 17. Kelly will appear with the permission of Actors' Equity Association (AEA). The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance of this production.
Christian Borle will star as Bert. He earned Tony®, Drama Desk and Drama League nominations for his performance as Emmett Forrest in the Broadway premiere of Legally Blonde. In 2005, he earned a Drama Desk nomination for his performance as Prince Herbert in Monty Python's Spamalot. Earlier this year, Borle appeared in a workshop production of Peter and the Starcatchers, part of the La Jolla Playhouse Page To Stage program, by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions. Borle made his Broadway debut in Footloose (1999) and starred as Jimmy in the Tony Award®-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003).
Kelly and Borle will be joined by new cast members Jeff Binder (‘Zazu' in The Lion King) as Mr. Banks, Jenny Galloway (reprising her role from the West End production) as Mrs. Brill and Michael McCarty as Admiral Boom, returning to the role he created on Broadway.
Rebecca Luker continues to star as Mrs. Banks alongside Ann Arvia as Bird Woman, Mark Price as Robertson Ay and Ruth Gottschall as Miss Andrew.
Juliette Allen Angelo, Alexandra Berro and CASSADY LEONARD alternate as Jane Banks; JEREMIAH KISSANE, Matthew Schechter and ANDREW SHIPMAN alternate as Michael Banks.
Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, MARY POPPINS has played over 1000 performances - a milestone reached by only a rare few number of shows in Broadway history. The production has been seen by more than 1.9 million theatergoers and grossed over $ 154 million to date.
