MARY POPPINS North American Tour Becomes Highest Grossing Theatrical Event In LA For 2009

In the sixth week of a thirteen-week premiere engagement at The Ahmanson Theatre, the North American tour of MARY POPPINS has already achieved the milestone of being Los Angeles' highest grossing theatrical event in 2009. The engagement has generated over $11 million at the box office and welcomed over 65,000 theatre-goers to date.

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS, featuring original Broadway stars Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee reprising their roles as the world's most famous nanny and chimney sweep, received rave reviews from Los Angeles' top theatrical critics. "The high-flying spectacle, running on the rocket fuel of such memorable movie numbers as ‘A Spoonful of Sugar' and ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,' can't help but be delightful!" wrote Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times. Phil Gallo of Variety heralded the production as "An explosion of song, color and dance! ‘Mary Poppins' is the rare touring production that over-delivers at every level." Jeff Favre of the Los Angeles Downtown News called MARY POPPINS, "The most visually arresting, technically elaborate production ever to appear at the Ahmanson Theatre." "Mary Poppins weaves its own special brand of magic," raved Paul Hodgins of the Orange County Register.

Following the Los Angeles engagement, the MARY POPPINS North American tour will play the following venues and cities in 2010: ASU Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, AZ, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, CO, the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, OH, the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA, the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, FL, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. and the NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC. Future engagements to be announced.

MARY POPPINS 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 musical features the Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The 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 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. The tour's creative team includes Tour Director Anthony Lyn, Associate Choreographer Geoffrey Garrett, and Music Director James Dodgson.

Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, MARY POPPINS continues in its fourth smash year at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The Broadway production has been seen by two million theatergoers and grossed over $ 160 million to date.

Simultaneously, the show's popularity grows around the globe. Following a successful three year run (December 2004 - January 2008) at the Prince Edward Theatre on London's West End, a U.K. tour of MARY POPPINS commenced in summer 2008 and concluded its acclaimed run in Cardiff in April 2009. The Australian production of MARY POPPINS will premiere in July 2010 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.

An open-ended run of MARY POPPINS will take residence at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam. The show will open in April 2010 at the Circus Theatre following TARZAN'S record setting run there. MARY POPPINS will be produced in Holland by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh.

In Los Angeles, MARY POPPINS plays Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. There are no performances on Mondays. There are exceptions to this schedule: Holiday schedule - Additional 2 p.m. performances on Wednesdays, December 23 and December 30; one performance only on Thursday, December 24 at 2 p.m. and one performance only on Thursday, December 31 at 6:30 p.m.; No performances on December 25 and January 1. Final week schedule - Additional performance on February 3 at 2 p.m.; no 6:30 p.m. performance on February 7.

Great seats are still available before the production flies out of Los Angeles on Sunday, February 7, 2010. Tickets are available by calling Center Theatre Group Audience Services at (213) 972-4400, in person at the Center Theatre Group box office located the Ahmanson Theatre or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org.

Ticket prices for MARY POPPINS range from $20 to $102. VIP/Premium Ticket Packages are also available at select performances for $135 and $150, and include premium seating and a complimentary souvenir program. Hot-Tix, priced at $20, are available and can be purchased in advance, or subject to availability, on the day of performance at the CTG box office (no checks). For the deaf community, call TDD (213) 680-4017 for tickets and information. Orders for groups of 15 or more may be placed by calling (213) 972-7231. Tickets subject to applicable service charges. Performance prices, dates, times and cast are subject to change.

For more information, please visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org or www.MaryPoppins.com.