MARY POPPINS North American Tour Opens Tonight in Omaha

The Omaha premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, January 28, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, February 13, 2011. MARY POPPINS plays this weekend Friday through Sunday with performances at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday and matinees at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Beginning Tuesday, February 1 through Sunday, February 13, performances will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 8:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 p.m. on Sundays with matinees on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Great seats are still available for each performance. Tickets for MARY POPPINS start at $28. Special VIP Ticket Packages are available at select performances, and include premium seating and a complimentary souvenir program. Tickets can be purchased at the Ticket Omaha Box Office in the Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas streets, Omaha, Neb.; online at TicketOmaha.com; or by calling 402-345-0606. For group sales of 20 or more, call 402-661-8516 or toll-free at 866-434-8587.

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 $470 million and welcomed 6.5 million guests. The musical is the winner of 25 major theatre awards around the globe, including Tony®, Olivier and Evening Standard awards.

The entire original creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the world's most famous nanny to audiences around North America. The MARY POPPINS North American Tour began performances on March 25, 2009 and has played to 1.5 million delighted theatergoers in 21 cities to date.

Original UK Tour star Caroline Sheen will reprise her role as "Mary Poppins" while original Broadway company member Nicolas Dromard will assume the role of "Bert."

Joining Sheen and Dromard will be Jonathan Brody as "George Banks," Blythe Wilson as "Winifred Banks," Rachel Izen as "Mrs. Brill," Dennis Moench as "Robertson Ay," native Omahan Q. Smith as "Miss Andrew," Mary VanArsdel as "The Bird Woman, and Michael McCarty as "Admiral Boom." Performances in the role of "Jane Banks" will be alternated between Camille Mancuso and Paige Simunovich. Performances in the role of "Michael Banks" will be alternated between Talon Ackerman and Cade Canon Ball.

Rounding out the cast are Jacob ben Widmar, Kiara Bennett, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Debra Cardona, Eric Coles, Carol Angeli Dillard, Case Dillard, Elizabeth Earley, Geoffrey Goldberg, Mark Harapiak, Eric Hatch, Garett Hawe, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Sam Kiernan, Stephanie Martignetti, Vanessa McMahan, Koh Mochizuki, Shua Potter, Chuck Rea, Nick Sanchez, Jesse Swimm, Jen Taylor, Rachel Wallace and Michelle E. White.

MARY POPPINS, a co-production of 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 the stage play 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 TonyÒ 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. The tour's creative team includes Tour Director Anthony Lyn, Associate Choreographer Geoffrey Garrett, and Music Director James Dodgson.

ABOUT MARY POPPINS WORLDWIDE

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 Broadway production of MARY POPPINS officially opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, recouping its initial Broadway investment within 52 weeks of its premiere in 2006. MARY POPPINS is the only show that opened during the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance.

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. Productions of MARY POPPINS have also been mounted in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and a new production opens in the Czech Republic next month. Future productions are planned for Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Israel, Japan, Mexico and South America.

Following its Omaha dates at the Orpheum Theater the tour moves to the Boston - Opera House, February 17 - March 20; Philadelphia - Academy of Music, March 23 - April 17; Columbus - Ohio Theatre, April 20 - May 8; Seattle - Paramount Theatre, May 12 - 29; Sacramento - Community Center Theatre, June 2 - 19; Portland - Keller Auditorium, June 22 - July 10 and Costa Mesa - Orange County Performing Arts Center, July 14 - 31, 2011.

In Omaha, MARY POPPINS played two preview performances Thursday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and opens tonight, Friday, January 28, at 8:00 p.m. Additional performances are Saturday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 30 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The following weeks' performances through February 13 will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The Omaha engagement of MARY POPPINS is presented by arrangement with Omaha Performing Arts and Broadway Across America. For more information, visit www.ticketomaha.com; www.omahaperformingarts.org or www.MaryPoppins.com.

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