Kenzler, Osterhaus And More Join Cast Of MARY POPPINS

Broadway In Chicago and producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher are pleased to announce full casting for the eagerly anticipated North American National Tour of Mary Poppins. Performances begin Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.) in preparation for a Wednesday, March 25 opening night. In addition to this Chicago engagement, productions of Mary Poppins are currently running in NY and on tour in the UK.

As previously announced, the show's two original Broadway stars, Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee, will be reprising their roles as Mary Poppins and Bert respectively on the tour.

Joining Brown and Lee will be Karl Kenzler (Mr. Banks), Megan Osterhaus (Mrs. Banks), Valerie Boyle (Mrs. Brill), Mary Vanarsdel (Bird Woman), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Robertson Ay), Ellen Harvey (Miss Andrew) and Mike O'Carroll (Admiral Boom). Christopher Flaim and Justin Hall will alternate in the role of Michael Banks. Kirrilee Berger and Abigail Droeger will alternate in the role of Jane Banks.

The cast of 38 performers includes two local Chicago-area natives: Droeger and Michael Gerhart (Von Hussler).

Rounding out the cast are Tia Altinay, Carol Angeli, Gail Bennett, Kiara Bennett, Brandon Bieber, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Michael Gerhart, Geoffery Goldberg, Emily Harvey, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Wendy James, Clark Johnsen, Justin Keyes, 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 at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, and quickly proved to be a hit with audience members and critics alike.

Based on P.L. Travers's cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins features the Academy Awardâ-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 assembled for Mary Poppins with co-direction and choreography by Tonyâ and Olivier Award winner Matthew Bourne. Mary Poppins features set and costume design by Tony Awardâ winner Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Steve Canyon Kennedy, orchestrations by William David Brohn, music supervision by David Caddick, and music direction by Annbritt duChateau.

The North American Tour of Mary Poppins begins performances at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre on March 11, 2009 and will play Wednesday at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday at 1:00pm and 6:30pm. Please note there will be 7:30pm Tuesday performances on March 24, and March 31. There will not be 2:00pm Wednesday matinee performances on March 11 and March 25. There will not be 6:30pm Sunday performances on March 15, March 22, and April 5.

Ticket prices range from $23.00 to $90.00. Premium Ticket Packages, which include prime seat locations and a commemorative souvenir program, are also available and range in price from $123.00 to $150.00. Tickets are available at Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (18 W. Monroe, 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including Carson Pirie Scott stores, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com. Groups of 20 or more should call (312) 977-1710.

After Chicago, the tour is scheduled to play The State Theatre in Cleveland, The Fox Theatre in St. Louis, The Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas and The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, with additional cities, venues and dates to be announced.

Simultaneously, the show's popularity grows around the globe. Following a successful three-year run (December 2004-January 2008) at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End, the UK tour is garnering critical and box office success. Audiences and critics the world over are noting the parallels between the themes of Mary Poppins and the current economic climate. Tina Brown, writing for thedailybeast.com in early 2009, was struck by the show's renewed relevance: "For the real deal you have to do what I did over the holidays and go and see the Broadway production of Mary Poppins. I'd seen the marvelous translation of P.L. Travers' 1934 classic two years ago but back then it didn't have the same resonance."

In April of 2010, an open-ended run of Mary Poppins will launch at the Circustheater in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam. Holland will mark the fifth production of Mary Poppins, with a sixth planned for Australia in 2010. Last month, a new local production opened in Gothenburg, Sweden, and upcoming engagements are scheduled for Denmark, Finland and Hungary.

Mary Poppins is part of the 2009 Broadway In Chicago season series.

For more information please visit www.MaryPoppinsTour.com or www.BroadwayInChicago.com