MARY POPPINS Opens Tonight at the Straz Center

The Tampa, Fla., premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, May 21, at 8 p.m. at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, June 6. MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday- Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Great seats are still available at each performance.

The entire original creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the world's most famous nanny to audiences around North America. Since the tour's launch in Chicago in March 2009, MARY POPPINS has earned continuous critical praise and box-office success.

Original UK Tour star, Caroline Sheen, will reprise her role as "Mary Poppins" while original London and Broadway star, Gavin Lee, will assume the role of "Bert".

Joining Sheen and Lee will be Laird Mackintosh as "George Banks", Blythe Wilson as "Winifred Banks", Rachel Izen as "Mrs. Brill", Dennis Moench as "Robertson Ay", Ellen Harvey as "Miss Andrew", Mary VanArsdel as "The Bird Woman", and Mike O'Carroll as "Admiral Boom." Performances in the role of "Jane Banks" will be alternated between Kelsey Fowler and Bailey Grey. Performances in the role of "Michael Banks" will be alternated between Bryce Baldwin and Carter Thomas.

Rounding out the cast are Tia Altinay, Carol Angeli, Jacob ben Widmar, Gail Bennett, Kiara Bennett, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Jonathan Brody, Debra Cardona, Elizabeth Earley, Michael Gerhart, Geoffrey Goldberg, Emily Harvey, Eric Hatch, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Sam Kiernan, Brian Letendre, Koh Mochizuki, Shua Potter, Dominic Roberts, Nick Sanchez, Q. Smith, Jesse Swimm and Tom Souhrada.

MARY POPPINS, a co-production of 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 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 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.

ABOUT MARY POPPINS WORLDWIDE

MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years. Worldwide to date, MARY POPPINS has grossed over $392 million and has welcomed over 5.3 million guests.

Consistently among Broadway's top-grossing shows, MARY POPPINS has played over 1400 performances since its official opening on November 16, 2006. Now in its fourth smash year at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, the Broadway production has been seen by over two million theatergoers and grossed over $ 180 million to date, recouping its initial investment within 52 weeks of its premiere.

Not only do the Broadway show and the North American tour draw huge audiences, but the show's popularity also reaches around the globe. MARY POPPINS will premiere two major international productions in 2010: an open-ended run began April 11 at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam (presented by Stage Entertainment in association with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh) and an Australian production opens July 29 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. Additionally, during 2010 MARY POPPINS opens in Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with plans already underway for future productions in Israel, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Korea, Canada and Japan. Following a successful three-year run in 2008 at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End, a U.K. tour of MARY POPPINS commenced in summer 2008 and concluded its acclaimed run in Cardiff, Wales in April 2009.

The MARY POPPINS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR celebrated its first anniversary on March 25, 2010 and announced that it had achieved the milestone of being the most successful touring theatrical event in 2009. Original UK touring company star, Caroline Sheen, reprises her role as "Mary Poppins" while original London and Broadway star, Gavin Lee, stars as "Bert.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR SCHEDULE THROUGH JULY 2011

Tampa - Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

May 20 - June 6, 2010

Ft. Lauderdale - Broward Center for the Performing Arts

June 9 - 27, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Kennedy Center Opera House

July 1 - Aug. 22, 2010

Charlotte - Blumenthal Performing Arts Center

Aug. 25 - Sept. 12, 2010

Indianapolis- Murat Theatre

Sept. 23 - Oct. 10, 2010

Buffalo - Shea's Performing Arts Center

Oct. 14 - 31, 2010

East Lansing - Wharton Center for Performing Arts

Nov. 3 - 21, 2010

Des Moines - Civic Center of Greater Des Moines

Nov. 26 - Dec. 12, 2010

Detroit- Opera House

Dec. 16, 2010 - Jan. 2, 2011

Pittsburgh - Benedum Center

Jan. 5 - 23, 2011

Omaha- Orpheum Theatre

Jan. 27 - Feb. 13, 2011

Boston - Opera House

Feb. 17 - March 20, 2011

Philadelphia- Academy of Music

March 23 - April 17, 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 - Orange County Performing Arts Center

July 14 - 31, 2011

In Tampa, MARY POPPINS will play Tuesday

- Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Regularly priced tickets start at $18.50. A VIP ticket package including premium seating
and a complimentary souvenir program is also available. Tickets may be purchased by calling 813.229.STAR (7827) or 800.955.1045 outside Tampa Bay, in person at the Straz Center Ticket Office or online at www.strazcenter.org <http://www.strazcenter.org/>. For more
information about the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts. 

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