Casting Announced For The San Francisco Playhouse Production Of MARY POPPINS

San Francisco Playhouse celebrates the magic of the holiday season with the hit Broadway musical Mary Poppins. Susi Damilano will direct the Playhouse production, with music direction by Katie Coleman and choreography by Kimberly Richards.

The entitled children of the stern Mr. Banks have made short work of a string of nannies. But when the tattered sorceress Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep, she must use a combination of magic and common sense to engage the children to drop their silver spoons and lead their distracted dad to kite-flying redemption. A new take on a classic tale, this musical will truly make you believe that anything can happen if you let it-and want to sing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from the chimney tops!

The cast features El Beh as Mary Poppins and includes Bay Area favorites Dominic Dagdagan, Ryan Drummond*, Rudy Guerrero*, Kathryn Han*, Abby Haug*, Grace Hutton, Billy Hutton, Ruth Keith, Sophia LaPaglia, Catrina Manahan, Katrina Lauren McGraw*, Anthony Rollins-Mullens*, David Rukin, Neil Rushnock, Marie Shell*, Wiley Naman Strasser, and Gina Velez.

"It's a cherished memory of mine-as a 5 year old huddled with my cousins, captivated in front of the television watching the Disney film of Mary Poppins," recalls director Susi Damilano. "Mary Poppins was remarkable with her open invitation to believe that anything is possible while nurturing the power of imagination, inspiring both children and adults. I want to bring that experience to San Francisco audiences this holiday season."

San Francisco Playhouse's production of Mary Poppins is made possible by Season Producer Andrew Teufel; Executive Producer Robert Hulteng and Producers Fred and Leslie Karren.

P.L. Travers (Author of the Mary Poppins stories) was born in 1899 in Australia in a residence above the bank where her father was branch manager. She began to write while a member of a touring stage company. In 1924, able to support herself as a journalist, she left Australia for England. She wrote a number of other books in addition to the Mary Poppins stories. She was fascinated by myth and fairy tales and traveled widely, living for a time with the Navajo. She was made "writer in residence" at both Smith and Radcliffe colleges in Massachusetts and also received an honorary doctorate from Chatham College, Pittsburgh. She died in London in 1996.

Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman (Original Music & Lyrics). Honors include two Oscars (Mary Poppins), nine Oscar nominations, three Grammy Awards, 24 Gold/Platinum albums, a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early hits, including "You're 16" and "Tall Paul", led to a long-term association with Walt Disney and more than 150 songs for Disney films, TV and theme parks with "It's A Small World" being the world's most translated and performed song. Their Disney film credits include The Jungle Book, The Parent Trap, Bedknobs And Broomsticks, Winnie The Pooh, The Aristocats and The Tigger Movie. Other films: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tom Sawyer, The Slipper And The Rose, Charlotte's Web and Beverly Hills Cop 3. Stage credits include Over Here!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London, Broadway, UK tour), Busker Alley, Mary Poppins (London and Broadway).

Julian Fellowes (Book). A British, Oscar-winning screenwriter, Julian is also an actor and director. He studied at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His first script for cinema, Gosford Park (2001), won him the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, plus honors from the Writers Guild of America, among others. He received the National Board of Review's Best Directorial Debut Award for the film Separate Lies, based on his own screenplay. He most recently wrote and directed the feature film From Time To Time starring Maggie Smith. His other projects include the books Snobs and Past Imperfect, the television series, Downton Abbey, and the scripts for Vanity Fair, The Young Victoria, and The Tourist.

George Stiles (New Songs, Additional Music, Dance & Vocal Arrangements) Stiles and Drewe's musical Honk! won London's Olivier Award for Best New Musical (2000) and has since been seen in over 2,000 productions worldwide. Their other shows include Just So (North Shore Music Theatre), Peter Pan, Tutankhamun, and Soho Cinders. George's musical The Three Musketeers, with lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby, played at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Other work includes the scores for Sam Mendes's Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya (BAM), musical adaptations of Tom Jones and Moll Flanders, songs for the RSC's Shakespeare Revue, and a blissful spell as Dame Edna's pink pianist and resident composer. Mary Poppins marked his Broadway debut. www.stilesanddrewe.com

Anthony Drewe (New Songs & Additional Lyrics) During his 23-year writing collaboration with composer George Stiles, Anthony has written the book and lyrics for Tutankhamun, Just So, Soho Cinders, the multi award-winning Honk!, and the lyrics for Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure (book by Willis Hall). With composer Tony Hatch, he wrote lyrics for The Card, and with Singaporean composer Dick Lee, the lyrics for A Twist of Fate. Work as a director includes Snoopy, Honk! (South Africa, Chicago, Tokyo, and Singapore), and Just So (North Shore Music Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre). As a performer, work includes Rogues to Riches, The Three Musketeers, and A Twist of Fate. Mary Poppins marked his Broadway debut. www.stilesanddrewe.com

Cameron Mackintosh (Producer and Co-Creator) For nearly 50 years, Cameron Mackintosh has produced more musicals than anyone else in history including the three longest-running musicals of all time, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats, which are still running successfully across the world. Cameron, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of both Les Misérables and The Phantom Of the Opera, mounted new versions of both shows which were as successful as the original. His new production of Miss Saigon, which was the fourth of his great hits of the 1980s, opened to record-breaking advanced booking in London's Prince Edward Theatre, having been acclaimed around the world. Mary Poppins, his co-production with Disney, continues to disperse its magic globally. Some of his other musical productions that continue to be produced around the world include Little Shop of Horrors, Side by Side by Sondheim, Martin Guerre, The Witches of Eastwick, Betty Blue Eyes, and Barnum. He also produced the most successful production ever of Stephen Sondheim's legendry Follies in London. In 2013, Cameron, in conjunction with Working Title Films and Universal, produced his first hugely successful musical film, the Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA award-winning Les Misérables. Cameron owns seven historic theatres in London's West End - the Prince of Wales, Gielgud, Queen's, Wyndham's, Noël Coward, Novello, and Prince Edward. In May 2014, Cameron announced the acquisition of two major West End theaters - the Victoria Palace Theatre and the Ambassadors Theatre. He is also the co-owner of Music Theatre International, the world's largest owner of secondary rights of the greatest musicals. In 1995, his company received The Queen's Award for Export Achievement and he was knighted in the 1996 New Year's Honours for his services to British theatre. In 2006, he received the National Enjoy England Award for Excellence for his Outstanding Contribution to Tourism, and he was the first British producer elected to the Theater Hall of Fame on Broadway.

Susi Damilano (Director, Producing Director) is co-founder and Producing Director of San Francisco Playhouse. Directing credits include Playhouse productions of Born Yesterday, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Noises Off, She Loves Me, Stage Kiss, Company, Stupid f-ing Bird, Into the Woods, A Behanding in Spokane, Den of Thieves and Wirehead (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nomination), the West Coast premieres of Honey Brown Eyes (SFBATCC nomination), Dead Man's Cell Phone, Coronado, The Mystery Plays and Roulette, and the world premieres of On Clover Road by Steven Dietz, From Red to Black by Rhett Rossi, and Seven Days by Daniel Heath in the Sandbox Series. She is a five-time recipient of the Excellence in Theatre Award for Principal Actress - Play from the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle for Abigail's Party, Harper Regan, Bug, Six Degrees of Separation and Reckless. At the Playhouse, Susi has performed leading roles in Barbecue, The Roommate, Red Velvet, Tree, Bauer, Abigail's Party, Harper Regan, Coraline, Slasher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Landscape of the Body, First Person Shoot, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, The Crucible, Kimberly Akimbo, Our Town, and The Smell of the Kill.

Katie Coleman (Music Director) is a Bay Area native and a graduate of University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. Recent music direction credits include Urinetown (ACT Young Conservatory), Sweeney Todd, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (San Jose Stage Company), Lizzie (City Lights), Next to Normal (Jewel Theatre), Title of Show, Assassins, Bat Boy, Company, (Los Altos Stage Co.). She also served as pianist for Wicked and Lion King national tour stops in San Francisco, Transcendence Theater Company, and multiple new works presentations in NYC and the Bay Area.

Kimberly Richards (Choreographer) launched her versatile career 45 years ago: actress, aerialist, choreographer, comedienne, dancer, director, and illusionist. She co-starred (with Louis Parnell) in SF Playhouse's first production, It Had to Be You, and recently played Dottie in Noises Off! (2017). Her choreography credits include productions in Las Vegas, and at SF Playhouse including She Loves Me (2016), A Christmas Story - The Musical (2017), and Sunday in the Park with George (2018). She won 3 BATCC Outstanding Choreographer Awards: My Fair Lady (2012), Company (2015), and La Cage aux Folles (2017), with multiple BATCC and TBA Choreography nominations for Promises, Promises (2014) and Into the Woods (2014). She co-choreographed Abe Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, awarded Best New Play in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival. Since 2001, Kim has toured the continent starring as "Sister" in all 7 installments of the hit one-woman comedy series Late Nite Catechism.

San Francisco Playhouse
Founded in 2003 and boasting 2800 subscribers, San Francisco Playhouse is the only mid-sized professional venue in downtown San Francisco; an intimate alternative to the larger more traditional Union Square Theater fare. Presenting a diverse range of plays and musicals, San Francisco Playhouse produces new works as well as re-imagined classics, "making the edgy accessible and the traditional edgy." And with its bold Sandbox Series, dedicated to nurturing World Premieres, the Playhouse has become a significant player in developing new works as well. San Francisco Playhouse is committed to providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theater lovers converge to create and experience dramatic works that celebrate the human spirit.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.