Australian Cast Recording of MARY POPPINS Available 2/18

An Australian cast recording  of MARY POPPINS will be available beginning February 18.

Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly-titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre Choreography. The musical features the film's music and lyrics by the Academy Award winning Sherman Brothers, along with additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. The book was written by Julian Fellowes. The musical was directed by Richard Eyre and co-directed by Matthew Bourne, who also acted as co-choreographer with Stephen Mear. A Broadway production with a near-identical creative team opened in November 2006, with only minor changes from the West End version. It received seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, winning for Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.

The stage musical is a fusion of various elements from the film and the books. Some elements from the Mary Poppins series of children's books that had been omitted from the film were restored, such as the walking statue and the ladders rising to the stars. Others were removed, such as the scene in which Uncle Albert gets caught on the ceiling, laughing.

The first Australian production began previews at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on the 14 July 2010. The show officially opened on the 29 July. The cast includes Australian theatre icons Marina Prior as Mrs Banks, Debra Byrne as The Bird Woman, Philip Quast as Mr Banks, Judi Connelli as Miss Andrew, Matt Lee as Bert, Sally Anne Upton as Mrs Brill, and Christopher Rickerby as Robertson Ay. Verity Hunt-Ballard plays the title character, Mary Poppins. Hunt-Ballard was awarded the role late in the casting stage, after a long and exhaustive search. The Melbourne production will close on April 1, 2011. It was also confirmed that the musical would play Sydney at the Capitol Theatre starting in April 2011.

The track list is as follows: 

1. Prologue/Chim Chim Cher-ee
2. Cherry Tree Lane (Part 1)
3. The Perfect Nanny
4. Cherry Tree Lane (Part 2)
5. Practically Perfect
6. Jolly Holiday
7. Let's Hope She Will Stay
8. A Spoonful of Sugar
9. Precision and Order
10. Feed The Birds
11. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
12. Playing the Game
13. Chim Chim Cher-ee (Reprise)
14. Ent'racte: Run Away
15. Brimstone and Treacle (Part 1)
16. Let's Go Fly A Kite
17. Good For Nothing
18. Being Mrs Banks (Reprise)
19. Brimstone and Treacle (Part 2)
20. Step in Time
21. A Man Has Dreams/A Spoonful of Sugar (Reprise)
22. Anything Can Happen
23. The Task Is Done A Spoonful of Sugar (Reprise)
24. A Shooting Star
25. Bows/Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Reprise)