MARY POPPINS National Tour 'Soars' at B.O., New Cities Added

The Mary Poppins national tour continues its high flying success coast to coast with enormous box office grosses in its inaugural engagement in Chicago and an itinerary that now stretches through August 2010. Additionally, tickets go on sale for the show's Cleveland engagement today and for the St. Louis engagement this Sunday, April 26th.

Produced by Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatrical Productions and Cameron Mackintosh, Mary Poppins features original Broadway stars Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) and Gavin Lee (Bert) reprising their roles as the world's most famous nanny and chimney sweep.

For information visit www.MaryPoppinsTour.com.

The Mary Poppins tour opened at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre on March 25th to unanimous critical acclaim and overwhelming box office success, grossing over $6.3 million in the first six weeks of its 18 week stand. Critics have hailed the production as "lavish and entertaining, with a slew of enchanting performances" (Chicago Sun Times) and "savvy, entertaining and emotionally engaging" (Chicago Tribune). Variety declared it, simply, "an unwavering treat that feels as if it were written for this very moment."

Meanwhile, more engagements have been added to the Mary Poppins tour itinerary, bringing the show literally coast to coast through August 2010. See schedule below.

Tickets for the tour's second and third engagements go on sale this week. The box office at Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare opened today for the engagement July 17 - August 9. The Fox Theatre box office in Saint Louis opens this Sunday, April 26 at 10am for the engagement there August 13-30.

Mary Poppins, a co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, opened on Broadway on November 16, 2006. Based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins features 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, 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, with co-direction and choreography by Tony® and Olivier Award winner Matthew Bourne. Mary Poppins features set and costume design by Tony® Award winner Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, orchestrations by William David Brohn, and music supervision by David Caddick.

Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, Mary Poppins continues in its 3rd smash year at the New Amsterdam Theatre and recently celebrated its 1000th performance - a milestone reached by only a rare few number of shows in Broadway history. The Broadway production has grossed over $ 132 million to date and been seen by over 1.6 million theatergoers.

Simultaneously, the show's popularity grows around the globe. Following a successful three year run (December 2004 - January 2008) at the Prince Edward Theatre on London's West End, a U.K. tour of Mary Poppins commenced in summer 2008 and concludes its acclaimed run in Cardiff this month. The Australian debut of Mary Poppins is planned for next year.

An open-ended run of Mary Poppins will take residence at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam. The show will open in April 2010 at the Circus Theatre following TARZAN'S record setting run there. Mary Poppins will be produced in Holland by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh.

US NATIONAL TOUR SCHEDULE

CITY/VENUE First Performance

Chicago - Cadillac Palace Theatre March 11, 2009

Cleveland - PlayhouseSquare July 17, 2009

St. Louis - Fox Theatre August 13, 2009

Minneapolis - Orpheum Theatre September 3, 2009

Dallas - Music Hall at Fair Park September 24, 2009

Houston - Hobby Center for the Performing Arts October 22, 2009

Los Angeles - Ahmanson Theatre November 13, 2009

Tempe - ASU Gammage February 11, 2010

Cincinnati - Aronoff Center for the Arts April 8, 2010

Atlanta - Fox Theatre April 29, 2010

Tampa - Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center May 20, 2010

Ft. Lauderdale - Broward Center for the Performing Arts June 10, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Kennedy Center Opera House July 1, 2010

Charlotte - Blumenthal Performing Arts Center August 26, 2010