Caroline Sheen Wins Helen Hayes Award for MARY POPPINS

Last night at the 27th annual Helen Hayes Awards celebrating excellence in Washington, D.C. theater, Caroline Sheen won Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production for the title role in the 2010 Kennedy Center premiere of the MARY POPPINS North American Tour.

This brings to 36 the number of major theatre awards MARY POPPINS has earned around the globe, including Tony®, Olivier and Evening Standard awards.

During its eight-week engagement at the Kennedy Center Opera House (July 1 - August 22), the smash-hit musical played 61 performances, entertained over 114,000 theater patrons and grossed $11.4 million at the box office. The MARY POPPINS North American tour has garnered continuous critical praise and achieved box office success since its launch in Chicago in March 2009.

The MARY POPPINS North American tour currently stars Steffanie Leigh as Mary and Nicolas Dromard as Bert and is playing in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Theatre, now through May 8. The tour's 2011 schedule is listed below. For more information, visit MaryPoppins.com.

A co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, this stage production is based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film and includes the film's Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The stage production was created, in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who wrote the book; Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre; and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who composed new songs and additional music and lyrics. 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 Daniel Bowling.

ABOUT MARY POPPINS WORLDWIDE
With four productions currently running on three continents, MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years. Worldwide to date, the six productions of the show have grossed over $521 million, welcomed 7 million guests and cumulatively run 11.5 years.

MARY POPPINS received its worldwide premiere at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End in December 2004. Following its successful three-year London run, the production launched an acclaimed U.K. tour.

The Broadway production of MARY POPPINS officially opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, recouping its initial Broadway investment within 52 weeks of its premiere in 2006. MARY POPPINS is the only show from the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance.

MARY POPPINS can also be seen in Scheveningen, Netherlands (outside of Amsterdam at the Circus Theatre), Melbourne, Australia (at Her Majesty's Theatre through April 1st) and Sydney, Australia (at the Capitol Theatre, opening May 5th). Productions of MARY POPPINS have also been mounted in Finland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR SCHEDULE THROUGH DECEMBER 2011
Columbus - Ohio Theatre
April 20 - May 8, 2011

Seattle - Paramount Theatre
May 12 - 29, 2011

Sacramento - Community Center Theatre
June 2 - 19, 2011

Portland - Keller Auditorium
June 22 - July 10, 2011

Costa Mesa - Segerstrom Center for the Arts
July 14 - 31, 2011

San Diego - San Diego Civic Theatre
August 10 - 28, 2011

Salt Lake City - Capitol Theatre
September 1 - 25, 2011

San Antonio - Majestic Theatre
September 29 - October 9, 2011

Chicago - Cadillac Palace Theatre
October 13 - November 6, 2011

Toronto - Princess of Wales Theatre
November 10 - December 18, 2011