MARY POPPINS Celebrates 1500th Performance On Broadway

Broadway's most magical musical MARY POPPINS celebrates its 1500th performance at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Saturday evening, June 19. A co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, MARY POPPINS is the fourth Disney Theatrical Productions show (following Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida) and the fifth Cameron Mackintosh show (joining Cats, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon) to play 1500 or more Broadway performances.

According to figures just released by The Broadway League, MARY POPPINS placed on the Top Ten lists for both highest-grossing and best-attended shows of the 2009-10 season, an indicator of its remarkable success. Now in its fourth smash year, the Broadway production officially opened on November 16, 2006 and has been seen by over two million theatergoers and grossed over $185 million to date, recouping its initial investment within 52 weeks of its premiere.

MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years. Worldwide to date, MARY POPPINS has grossed over $392 million and has welcomed over 5 million guests

The Broadway production currently stars Laura Michelle Kelly in the title role and Christian Borle as Bert. The cast also features Karl Kenzler as George Banks, Megan Osterhaus as Winifred Banks, Valerie Boyle as Mrs. Brill, Ann Arvia as Bird Woman, Mark Price as Robertson Ay, Ruth Gottschall as Miss Andrew and Jonathan Freeman as Admiral Boom.

The MARY POPPINS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR has garnered continuous critical praise and achieved box office success since its launch in March 2009. Original UK Tour star, Caroline Sheen, reprises her role as Mary and original London and Broadway star, Gavin Lee, stars as Bert. The tour will play the following venues and cities in 2010: Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.; Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC; Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, IN; Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY; Wharton Center for Performing Arts in East Lansing, MI; Civic Center of Greater Des Moines in Des Moines, IA; and Opera House in Detroit, MI. Future tour engagements to be announced.

Internationally, MARY POPPINS will premiere two major productions in 2010: an open-ended run began April 11 at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam (presented by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh) and an Australian production opens July 29 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. Additionally, during 2010 MARY POPPINS opens in Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with plans already underway
for future productions in Israel, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Korea, Canada and Japan. Following a successful three-year run in 2008 at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End, a U.K. tour of MARY POPPINS commenced in summer 2008 and concluded its acclaimed run in Cardiff, Wales in April 2009.

This stage production is based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film. The show includes 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; Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre; and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who have composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.

BROADWAY TICKETING

MARY POPPINS ticket prices range from $31.50 - $121.50 and are available online at MaryPoppins.com, in-person at the New Amsterdam Theatre Box Office (214 West 42nd Street), or by calling Ticketmaster's Disney on Broadway hotline at 866-870-2717 (running time is approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes). For performance schedule and more information, visit www.MaryPoppins.com.