MARY POPPINS Ohio Premiere Generates over $4.4 Million in Ticket Sales in Four Weeks, Moves To St. Louis 8/13

On Sunday, August 9, Mary Poppins folded her umbrella for the final time at the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland as the second city of the MARY POPPINS North American Tour completed its smash four-week engagement. Having performed for over 72,000 theater patrons and grossed an extraordinary $4.4 million at the box office, the tour continues on to St. Louis, Missouri to work its magic on audiences at the Fox Theatre beginning Thursday, August 13.

"The spectacular four-week run of Mary Poppins advances the non-profit mission of PlayhouseSquare as the hub of the arts and entertainment scene in the region. Over 72,000 patrons flocked to area restaurants and hotels. In addition, our community was deeply enriched by the extraordinary high level of on-stage performance and the generosity of the cast as they contributed to the week long summer theatre camp for teens," says Art Falco, President and CEO of PlayhouseSquare.

The magical musical launched its North American Tour in Chicago on March 11, 2009 with the original Broadway "Mary Poppins," Ashley Brown, who as Tony Brown from Cleveland's Plain Dealer writes, "not only fills the very proper shoes of the title character, she runs them off to places never before dreamed of." The National Tour also stars Gavin Lee, the original London and Broadway "Bert."

Upcoming 2009 engagements of the MARY POPPINS North American Tour include: The Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, the Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas, TX, the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Future engagements in 2010 to be announced.

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. 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, Oliver 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.

For more information, please visit www.MaryPoppinsTour.com