Photos: Petula Clark Celebrates Her Birthday at MARY POPPINS

Petula Clark who currently plays Bird Woman in the West End production of Mary Poppins was surprised by the cast at the at the curtain call last night (15 November 2021) as she celebrated her birthday. Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh presented her with a birthday cake brought on to the stage to the tune of Don't Sleep in the Subway, one of her many iconic numbers. The Company along with the audience then sang a rousing Happy Birthday.

As an extra special treat, the cast sang Downtown, another one of Petula's all-time hits, a final round of Happy Birthday and plenty of streamers rounded off the celebrations!

The Company performing last night were led by Lucie-Mae Sumner as Mary Poppins and Charlie Stemp as Bert with Charlie Anson as George Banks and Amy Griffiths as Winifred Banks. Jane and Michael Banks were played by Maddison Thew and Logan Clark.

The magical story of the world's favourite Nanny arriving on Cherry Tree Lane has been triumphantly and spectacularly brought to the stage with dazzling choreography, incredible effects and unforgettable songs.

Petula Clark became a star in the UK at nine years old singing for the troops stationed in England during World War II. Many years later she moved to France and soon became a European star recording in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. While still living in Paris, English songwriter Tony Hatch presented her with his new composition, Downtown, which became a worldwide hit and led to a string of top ten records, winning her two Grammy awards and making her an international star. She later met with Charlie Chaplin who penned one of her further major hits This Is My Song. She has performed in her own TV shows in the UK, the US and France and has starred in the iconic films Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire and Goodbye Mr. Chips with Peter O'Toole. Her recent releases are A Valentine's Day Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Starting All Over Again and New Flag as well as the Mary Poppins Cast Album. She has been seen on stage in West End and on Broadway, as well as in a triumphant US tour. During her extensive career spanning eight decades she sold over 70 million records. Clark was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 and was installed as a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on France in 2012.