Gavin Lee Returns to MARY POPPINS, 8/24; Joins Original Co-Star Laura Michelle Kelly

For the first time in its smash 3 ½ year Broadway run, New York audiences will have the opportunity to see Mary Poppins' original stage stars performing the roles they created together when Gavin Lee re-joins the Broadway company as Bert opposite his original Mary and Oliver Award-winning West End co-star Laura Michelle Kelly at the New Amsterdam Theatre beginning Tuesday, August 24.

"We are enormously excited that, at long last, Broadway will get to see the sublime on-stage pairing of Laura Michelle Kelly and Gavin Lee, our original Mary and Bert," said Thomas Schumacher, producer and president, Disney Theatrical Productions. "Their winning chemistry and star power delighted London audiences and critics alike and now New York has the opportunity to see them together."

For the role of Bert, Lee garnered an Oliver Award nomination in the world premiere West End production and later marked his Broadway debut with the show in October 2006, receiving a Tony® nomination and the Drama Desk Award as Best Actor in a Musical. Gavin Lee re-joins the Broadway company fresh from the Kennedy Center engagement of the MARY POPPINS North American tour, having originated the role of Bert when the tour premiered in Chicago in March 2009. While performing with the touring company, Lee earned unanimous praise from the nation's top theatrical critics and performed for President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama as well as countless Hollywood luminaries including the legendary Dick Van Dyke.

Produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, MARY POPPINS will mark four smash years on Broadway on Tuesday, November 16. Just last week, Variety wrote of the show's continued resurgent popularity and "stalwart appeal."

Joining Laura Michelle Kelly and Gavin Lee in the Broadway cast are 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. Alternating in the role of Jane Banks are Catherine Missal, Rachel Resheff and Rozi Baker; alternating in the role of Michael Banks are Christopher Flaim, David Gabriel Lerner and Ethan HaberField.

(Original Broadway company member Nicolas Dromard assumes the role of Bert on tour beginning September 10; original U.K. tour star Caroline Sheen remains in the title role.)

A co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, this stage production is based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film and includes the film's Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The stage production was created, in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who wrote the book; Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre; and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.

With four productions currently running on three continents, MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years. Worldwide to date, the show has grossed over $430 million and welcomed 5.9 million guests.

The Broadway production of MARY POPPINS officially opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006 and has been seen by over 2.4 million theatergoers and grossed $191 million to date. According to figures 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 Broadway season, an indicator of its remarkable success.

MARY POPPINS received its worldwide premiere at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End in December 2004. Following its successful three-year London run, the production launched an acclaimed U.K. tour. The MARY POPPINS North American tour has also garnered continuous critical praise and achieved box office success since its launch in Chicago in March 2009. In addition to Broadway and North America, MARY POPPINS can also be seen at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam, and in Melbourne, Australia at Her Majesty's Theatre. Later this year, MARY POPPINS opens in Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with plans underway for future productions in Israel, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Korea, Canada and Japan. For more information worldwide, visit www.MaryPoppins.com.

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), at Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling Ticketmaster's Disney on Broadway hotline at 866-870-2717 (running time is approximately 2 hours, 40 minutes).