MARY POPPINS Flies Across The World To Her Majesty's Theatre In Melbourne In July 2010

Based on the beloved books by Australia's P.L. Travers and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, MARY POPPINS, the world's most magical musical, will open at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne in July 2010.

Tickets for the Melbourne season will be on sale later this year.

Produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher for Disney Theatrical Productions, the Australian production of MARY POPPINS is among the first of many planned internationally. The musical will open in Holland next year and upcoming productions in the near future include Helsinki, Copenhagen, Prague, Stockholm and Budapest. Plans are in development for productions in Korea, Japan and Mexico.

Meanwhile, the Broadway production is in its 3rd smash year and the North American tour, which grossed $18 million in its first engagement in Chicago, continues its acclaimed run.

To date, MARY POPPINS has been seen by 4.2 million theatergoers worldwide and grossed over $333 million.

The Melbourne engagement is a homecoming for the beloved character. MARY POPPINS was born in the pen of author P.L. Travers, who herself was born in Maryborough, Queensland, grew up there and in Bowral, NSW, and was an actor and journalist in Sydney before moving to London. The first Mary Poppins book was published in 1934 and the enduring story of the ‘practically perfect governess' enchanted millions of readers of all ages.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh said, "For years we have been looking forward to bringing Mary Poppins home to Australia and I am delighted to be opening in Melbourne where I have enjoyed so many successes, from CATS, to Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera and most recently, Miss Saigon.

I'm also very proud that my productions have spawned the regeneration of several great theatres in Australia. The inspired creator of Mary Poppins, the celebrated Australian writer P.L. Travers, grew up near Brisbane and Sydney, and spent her early life performing in theatres across Australia. Many of the people she knew there became inspirations for the classic and enduring characters that the world has grown to love.

This October we start putting together a great Australian cast to bring the classic story to life on stage. Ever since MARY POPPINS opened triumphantly in London and on Broadway, this show has been a labor of love for Thomas and me and next year we promise that Australia is in for the Jolliest Holiday it's ever had."

Producer Thomas Schumacher said, "Walt Disney first fell in love with Pamela Travers' stories when he discovered his own children reading her magical books. It took him another 25 years to convince her to allow him to make his Academy Award winning film and perhaps the greatest triumph of his filmmaking career.

In Cameron Mackintosh, we have been blessed with a producing partner who has proven to be both a theatrical visionary and a steward of Pamela's legacy. I would hope she would have been proud of what the stage musical has become and taken great pleasure in its enormous success around the world.

We've enjoyed tremendously our previous Melbourne engagements with both The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but nothing pleases us more than finally bringing MARY POPPINS home to the audiences of Australia."

It has been 75 years since P.L. Travers first wrote about the magic of Mary Poppins in her cherished novels, and the tale remains fresh and resonant to so many generations today. MARY POPPINS the stage musical 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 wrote the book, and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.

Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre led the MARY POPPINS 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.

MARY POPPINS features such beloved songs as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Step In Time," "Spoonful of Sugar," "Feed The Birds," "Let's Go Fly A Kite," and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" along with new songs such as "Practically Perfect" and "Anything Can Happen."

For more information, visit www.DisneyonBroadway.com