After flying high in Los Angeles for 13-weeks, MARY POPPINS folded her umbrella at the Ahmanson Theatre for the final time on Sunday, February 7. During the premiere engagement, the production played 100 performances, entertained over 188,000 theater patrons, grossed $13.7 million at the box office and achieved the milestone of being Los Angeles' highest grossing theatrical event in 2009.
Charles Dillingham,
Center Theatre Group Managing Director stated, "
Center Theatre Group is thrilled by our audience's reception to this wonderful show, and proud to be continuing our long partnerships with
Cameron Mackintosh,
Thomas Schumacher and
Disney Theatrical Productions. We are particularly gratified to see so many large family groups enjoying the show."
Stars of film, television, stage and sports embraced MARY POPPINS throughout its run, including such Hollywood luminaries as
Tom Cruise,
Katie Holmes,
David Beckham,
Calista Flockhart,
Angelica Houston,
Lauren Conrad and
William Shatner. An historic night for the production occurred on January 22 when Disney legend
Dick Van Dyke delighted the audience by making a surprise cameo appearance as the crotchety bank president "Mr. Dawes," a character he portrayed in addition to the affable "Bert" in the 1964 film version of MARY POPPINS.
Disney and
Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS 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 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.
Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, MARY POPPINS continues in its 3rd smash year at the New Amsterdam Theatre and recently celebrated its 1000th performance - a milestone reached by only a rare few number of shows in Broadway history. The Broadway production has grossed over $ 168 million to date and been seen by over 2.1 million theatergoers.
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. MARY POPPINS will premiere two new major international productions in 2010, including the Australian production at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on July 29 and an open-ended run at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam on April 11. MARY POPPINS will be produced in Holland by
Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and
Cameron Mackintosh.
For more information, please visit
www.MaryPoppins.com
