MARY POPPINS Begins At The Fox Theatre 8/13, Stars Brown, Lee And More

Producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher are pleased to announce full casting for the St. Louis engagement of MARY POPPINS. St. Louis'smost eagerly anticipated stage production will begin performances at the Fabulous Fox Theatre on August 13 for a limited engagement of 3 weeks through August 30. The firstperformance is Thursday, August 13 at 8pm.The entire creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the word's most famousnanny to audiences across North America. Original Broadway stars, Ashley Brown and GavinLee, will reprise their roles as "Mary Poppins" and "Bert" respectively.

For her portrayal of "Mary Poppins", Ashley Brown received Drama League, Drama Desk andOuter Critic Circle nominations for Best Actress. Upon graduating from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ms. Brown landed a leading role in the touring production of Disney's On the Record. Soon after she was offered the chance to star in Beauty and the Beast and made her Broadway debut as "Belle" in September 2005. Upcoming projects include concerts with Marvin Hamlisch, the New York Philharmonic and a debut album of American Songbook standards.

Gavin Lee made his Broadway debut with MARY POPPINS after originating the role of "Bert" in the world premiere production in London's West End. Lee received critical acclaim for hisportrayal of "Bert", both in NY and London, and was the recipient of the Drama Desk Awardfor Outstanding Featured Actor. Lee also received Tony®, Outer Critic Circle and OlivierAward nominations for Best Actor. His London theatre credits include Peggy Sue Got Married,Contact, Oklahoma!, Sondheim's Saturday Night, Crazy For You, and Me and My Girl.

In addition, he has appeared in the recent film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera andBeyond The Sea. Joining Brown and Lee will be Karl Kenzler as "George Banks." Mr. Kenzler's Broadwaycredits include Twelve Angry Men, The Caretaker, Dinner At Eight and The Heiress."Winifred Banks" will be played by Megan Osterhaus, who comes straight from the Broadwaycompany of Mary Poppins. Her other stage credits include Mamma Mia, Martin Guerre,Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children Of Eden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoatand Gypsy.

Valerie Boyle will portray "Mrs. Brill." Ms. Boyle has been seen in a wide variety of leadingroles in Canada and Europe including Sophie Tucker, Shirley Valentine and Nunsense.

Andrew Keenan-Bolger, who will play "Robertson Ay", has previously appeared on Broadwayin Seussical, Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol and in the National Tours of Spelling Bee, The Grinch and Ragtime.

Ellen Harvey will play "Miss Andrew." MS. Harvey's Broadway credits include The Music Manand Thou Shalt Not and she has appeared in the National Tours of Disney's High SchoolMusical, Mamma Mia, Doctor Dolittle, and Sunset Boulevard. "The Bird Woman" will beplayed by Mary VanArsdel, who has appeared in productions of Cole Porter's Paris, Mass, Camelot (with Jeremy Irons), 110 In the Shade, and Gypsy. "Admiral Boom" will be portrayedby Mike O'Carroll, a stage veteran whose past credits include White Christmas, Fiddler onthe Roof, Showboat, Will Rogers Follies, Henry IV, Inherit the Wind, and Ragtime.

Performances in the role of "Jane Banks" will be alternated between Abigail Droeger andAida Neitenbach. Ms. Droeger has appeared on stage in The Sound of Music, The Pillowmanand The Brothers Karamazov and in the films Bedtime Stories and The Blackout. Ms.Neitenbach hails from Colorado and has recently been seen on stage in Anne of Green Gables,Les Misérables, and The Secret Garden. Performances in the role of "Michael Banks" will bealternated between Christopher Flaim and Justin Hall. Mr. Flaim is making his National Tourdebut with Mary Poppins and has previously appeared in the stage productions of TheNutcracker, Les Misérables, Seussical, and Into the Woods. Mr. Hall's stage credits includeShenandoah and the Off Broadway production's of A Christmas Carol and Don't Worry.

Rounding out the cast are Tia Altinay, Carol Angeli, Gail Bennett, Kiara Bennett, BrandonBieber, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Michael Gerhart, Geoffery Goldberg,Emily Harvey, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Wendy James, Clark Johnsen, Justin Keyes,Brian Letendre, Laird Mackintosh, Vanessa McMahan, Koh Mochizuki, Shua Potter, Dominic Roberts, Nick Sanchez, Q. Smith, Jesse Swimm and Tom Souhrada.

MARY POPPINS, a co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, opened on Broadway on November 16, 2006. Based on P.L. Travers' cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, MARY POPPINS features the Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics of Richard M.Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The stage production has been created, in collaborationwith Cameron Mackintosh, by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, whohas written the book, and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and AnthonyDrewe, 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. MARYPOPPINS 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'screative team includes Director Anthony Lyn, Associate Choreographer Geoffrey Garrett, andMusic Director Annbritt duChateau.Consistently among the top-grossing shows on Broadway, MARY POPPINS continues in its 3rdsmash 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 $132 million to date and been seen by over 1.6 milliontheatergoers.

Simultaneously, the show's popularity grows around the globe. Following a successful threeyear 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 inCardiff in April 2009.

The Australian debut of MARY POPPINS is planned for next year.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 CircusTheatre following TARZAN'S record setting run there. MARY POPPINS will be produced inHolland by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh.In St. Louis, MARY POPPINS will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre August 13-30. Performance timesare Tuesday-Friday evenings at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday at 1pm. There will beperformances on Sunday, August 16 and 23 at 6:30pm. There is also a weekday matinee onThursday, August 27 at 1pm.

Ticket prices range from $28-$75 and are subject to change.Please visit www.fabulousfox.com for current pricing information. Special VIP Ticket Packagesare available for $130 at select performances, and include premium seating and acomplimentary souvenir program. Tickets are available at the Fox Theatre Box Office, all MetroTix outlets and online at www.metrotix.com. To charge tickets, call MetroTix at 314-534-1111.

Orders for groups of twenty (20) or more may be placed by calling 314-535-2900.The St. Louis engagement of MARY POPPINS is presented by arrangement with Fox Associates and is a subscription offering of the U.S. Bank Broadway Series.