Zizi Strallen and Matt Lee to Lead New UK Tour of MARY POPPINS

The second UK tour of MARY POPPINS has found its leading lady!

The Daily Mail writes that Zizi Strallen will take on the title role in the production, which kicks off at the Leicester Curve on October 13, 2015. Strallen will be joined onstage by Matt Lee as 'Bert'.

"I'm very good with children, but I'm an absolutely dreadful cook. I can make breakfast, though," Strallen told the Mail. Strallen's sister Scarlett played the role in London and on Broadway, which helped prepare Zizi for her audition. "I did feel I knew the part very well, going for the auditions. It was in me somewhere," she said.

Strallen has also appeared in the West End in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and ROCK OF AGES, as well as this year's UK tour of THE CAR MAN.

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's multi award-winning musical MARY POPPINS will embark on a tour of the UK and Ireland. The magical story of the world's favourite Nanny arriving on Cherry Tree Lane has been triumphantly and spectacularly brought to the stage with dazzling choreography, incredible effects and unforgettable songs. The stage version of MARY POPPINS is brilliantly adapted from the wonderful stories by PL Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film.

The stage production of MARY POPPINS is co-created by Cameron Mackintosh and has a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes. It has a timeless score by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman including the songs Jolly Holiday, Step in Time, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Feed the Birds with new songs and additional music and lyrics by the Olivier award-winning British team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. The producer for Disney Theatrical Productions is Thomas Schumacher.

The internationally renowned and multi award-winning creative team assembled for MARY POPPINS is led by stage and film director Richard Eyre. Co-direction and Choreography is by Matthew Bourne, with Co-choreography by Stephen Mear. Set and Costume Design is by Bob Crowley with Lighting Design by Natasha Katz, Sound Design by Paul Groothuis and Orchestrations by William David Brohn. The International Tour of MARY POPPINS is Directed by Anthony Lyn and James Powell with Original Choreography adapted by Geoffrey Garratt. Musical Supervision is by Stephen Brooker.

The stage production of MARY POPPINS originally opened in 2004 and ran in the West End for three years and over 1,250 performances. During this time it won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography and Best Set Design as well as the Evening Standard Award for Best Set Design and the Variety Club Award for Best Musical. The Broadway production ran for over six years where it won the Tony Award for Best Set Design. The show has subsequently toured Australia, New Zealand, the U.S, the UK, has been seen by over 11 million people and is currently breaking box office records in Vienna.