Interview: Annika Low of MARY POPPINS at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre

The beloved tale of Mary Poppins began its life as a series of children’s books by P.L. Travers in the 30s. In 1964 Disney created a film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke that continues to delight audiences to this day, with songs written and composed by The Sherman Brothers. The 2004 stage musical fuses many elements from the books and the film and features many of the songs by The Sherman Brothers along with additional music by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and book by Julian Fellowes. Dutch Apple presents Mary Poppins this summer from June 26th-August 8th under the direction of Amy Marie McCleary and starring Annika Low as Mary Poppins.

BWW: Tell us a little about yourself.

Low: Hi! My name is Annika (rhymes with Hanukkah), and I live in Brooklyn with my sweet cat and my best friend of 13 years. I attended Ball State University in Indiana and have performed opera in Salzburg, Austria and Arezzo and Saluzzo, Italy. Being a crossover artist, I LIVE in golden age musical theatre, but I have a huge soft spot for the 80s megamusical. When not performing, I love to sew and paint!

BWW: How do you feel about the state of the arts today?

Low: I believe that we perform on the stages we build, which means that we, as artists, hold the power to create our own opportunities; sometimes this means that our kindness or our talents connect us with the people who can move our careers forward, and sometimes this means literally getting out there with a hammer and nails and building the stage that no one has built for us! I am vocally and vehemently anti-AI. It is in every performance contract I sign that no generative AI may be used in the set, costumes, or promotional materials, and my likeness cannot be fed to AI programs for any reason. Since adding this to my contracts at the end of 2025, every theatre I have worked with has agreed to accommodate this stipulation, and I encourage actors who believe that AI is antithetical to their work as artists to add it to their future contracts as well. I will never work with a company that employs AI over human artists, and it's been a great joy to work with theatres that feel the way I do and celebrate the innate humanity that drives our art form.

BWW: Tell us about your first time performing.

Low: I've always loved singing; my dad used to say I could sing before I could talk. I joined choir in 6th grade and began taking voice lessons and competing vocally that year, which gave me a deep appreciation for classical music. My love for legit singing didn't have a home until I saw The Phantom of the Opera and understood that there was a place in the world for what I could do. From that moment, there was never another option for me. When I was fifteen, I watched The Phantom of the Opera (the 2004 movie, which my dad had rented from Netflix, for those who remember the era of mail-in DVDs!). That overture hit, and Christine started singing, and I knew I had to do THAT for the rest of my life. I called my school and had them put me in theatre the very next day! I was blessed to have a wonderful theatre program at my high school, and my first role was as Mrs. Squires/Marian understudy in The Music Man really cemented my love for performing in Edwardian-era musicals.

BWW: What has your favorite role been so far in your career and why is it your favorite?

Low: My favorite role to date is, undoubtedly, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. I was a sophomore in college when I was cast as Eliza the first time, and in that production, the director, Dr. Michael O'Hara, was the President of the International George Bernard Shaw Society (Shaw being the man who wrote the play Pygmalion, which My Fair Lady is based on). He took such a richly informed, intentional, text-based approach to the show that it changed my understanding of how live theatre could, and should, be done. I had seen the movie of My Fair Lady and found it disappointing and uninspiring. His love for the story made me see that Eliza is one of the strongest, most well-rounded female protagonists in the musical theatre canon. This sparked an intense passion in me for taking on these often misunderstood ingenues and representing them onstage as the heroines they were always meant to be. Pygmalion is, to this day, hailed as a feminist masterpiece and a paragon of progressive playwriting for its day, while My Fair Lady is often considered dated and misogynistic; why is this? And how, then, do we, as theatre artists, take these "dated" shows and make them relevant to modern audiences? Playing Eliza not only gave me the "how," but the "why": in doing so, we carry on a legacy that is far greater than ourselves, and become a part of musical theatre history that will live forever. It's the most worthy pursuit I can dream of. That's the gift Eliza gave me. I have brought that lesson to every role I've played since. 

BWW: In your cast biography you mention that you have a goal of portraying all of the characters played by Julie Andrews. What is it about her characters or performances that you love so much?

Low: Playing Eliza also sparked my dream of playing all the Julie Andrews roles! What better career path for a legit soprano, right? Something funny about American culture, which does not exist in European cultures, is that we tend to treat opera singers and operatic/legit singing as the butt of a joke. Just look at Timothee Chalamet denouncing opera as a dying art with a sneer; whereas opera is a foundation of culture and history for places like Italy, Germany, and France, and thus treated with respect, classical music is not really considered a viable career path here in America. Julie Andrews is the gateway for a lot of American audiences to understand that legit singing can be beautiful and is worthy of time and investment. She has had a spectacular career originating some of the biggest, most iconic and recognizable roles in musical theatre history, from Cinderella in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to Eliza Doolittle to Guenevere in Camelot, in addition to bringing Maria von Trapp and Mary Poppins to life onscreen. And it isn't just her voice that resonates with audiences fifty, sixty, seventy years later. Julie Andrews has continued doing what she was put on this earth to do--tell stories--despite losing her voice in 1997. She has taken an active role in American politics, advocating for children affected by the Vietnam war and supporting organizations which offer aid to children with disabilities, among other humanitarian efforts. She has published over a dozen books, many of which are children's books, and hosted an educational television program called "Julie's Greenroom" to introduce children to the world of theatre. She has been a role model for generations, and shows no signs of slowing, as she's currently directing an Australian production of My Fair Lady. She did not let the loss of her singing voice stop her from using her platform to do good in the world and create meaningful art. It makes me believe that what matters is not the beauty of our voices, but how we use them. Perhaps I hope that by stepping into Julie's shoes, I may carry a touch of her perseverance, a trace of her strength and creativity and courage. It's an immense privilege, and I am grateful for it every day.

I played Maria von Trapp last summer with the Stephen Foster Drama Association in KY, and Eliza Doolittle again this spring with the Thumbcoast Theaters in MI. Mary Poppins completes my Julie Andrews trifecta in one year!! I hope to play Cinderella in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and Guenevere in Camelot in the future and am hopeful that someone will write a Princess Diaries musical in the next four decades so I can play the Queen of Genovia someday.

BWW: For audience members who grew up watching the film version of Mary Poppins, what do you think they will enjoy the most about the stage version?

Low: Our director, Amy, has done an INCREDIBLE job taking inspiration from both the 1964 film and the beautiful Mary Poppins books to create something truly magical onstage. Amy has been very clear and communicative with us about her vision: the action of Mary Poppins is coming to life from the pages of the beloved children's series, and we are creating the story out of its detailed and imaginative illustrations! The stage show is VERY different from the movie we all know and love; a lot of familiar songs like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "Spoonful of Sugar" are recontextualized to align with P. L. Travers's original intent in the novels, now with even more magic! Fans of the books will be thrilled to meet the characters we don't get to see in the movie, like Robertson Ay, Mrs. Corry, and Miss Andrew; fans of the film will be amazed with the spectacular new arrangements of their favorite songs, as well as the WILDLY talented cast singing them! We are so lucky to have so many brilliant singers, dancers, and actors lighting up the stage with this glorious Disney music. Our set designer, Clifton Chadwick, and Costume Designer, John P. White, have pulled out all the stops to make this show a feast for the eyes. Between the music, costumes, scenery, dancing, and the beautiful story, Dutch Apple's Mary Poppins has something for everyone to love.

BWW: What is your favorite song in the show and why?

Low: I'm ALL about the costumes, so I thought "Jolly Holiday" was going to be my favorite song because of the BEAUTIFUL dress I get to wear! But there's some pretty spectacular new music in the stage show that's not in the movie, and I have fallen in love with the show's central theme, "Anything Can Happen". It's the perfect reminder that life is what we make it, that we must choose to love one another fiercely, that radical acts of joy and kindness can change the world. What a needed message!

BWW: The Mary Poppins books date to the 1930s, the film was produced in the 1960s, and the stage version premiered in 2004. In your opinion, what is it about the story of Mary Poppins that continues to

delight audiences after all this time?

Low: Mary Poppins has been beloved for almost 100 years. I think what makes it so

magical is that it spans generations. When you're little, you identify with the children and dream of being saved by a kind and magical authority figure like Mary Poppins. When you grow up, you identify with Mr. and Mrs. Banks, who represent what society expects a father and mother to be like, but who carry their own traumas and burdens and must learn to accept themselves, and one another, as they are. The story changes, and becomes so much richer, the older you get. Therefore, it's timeless. And its lesson is just as important today as it was 92 years ago! Mary Poppins is an incredibly difficult character to play, not only because it is so physically and vocally demanding, but because she doesn't get to live in this world of joy and kindness that she creates throughout the show. That is the ultimate expression of her purpose: that joy and kindness are gifts, and it is our solemn duty to give them away as often and as loudly as we can. Society has taken a decidedly individualistic turn, especially in the last ten years, and I think a lot of people have forgotten that societies only work when we look out for one another and take care of each other. Mary Poppins reminds us that, like Mr. and Mrs. Banks, change begins when we accept ourselves and the people around us. Mary Poppins says, "Let's go fly a kite," and what it means is, "Let's be the good we want to see in the world."

BWW: Mary Poppins is filled with magic. If you could have one magic power, what would it be and why?

Low: If I could have one bit of Mary Poppins magic, I would want that big carpet bag with infinite space! It never gets too heavy, and whenever you stick your hand in there, you pull out exactly what you need! PERFECT! I wonder if it would get through TSA...

BWW: Is there anything else you'd like to let our readers know about yourself or Mary Poppins?

Low: I am so lucky to be able to do a lot of theatre with and for young kids, many of whom are just starting their journey falling in love with theatre. So many young audience members ask me for advice on how I got to where I am today--travelling the country doing these fabulous shows with these incredible companies like Dutch Apple. My answer is always the same: never be the one to say no to yourself. Being able to make art is a GIFT, and the more you share it with others, the more opportunities will come your way! There are plenty of folks out there who will say "no" to you. Don't be one of them! Say yes to yourself! Say yes to yourself, and others will say yes to you, too. You never know who or what will change your life, so say YES!

Website: annikalow.com

Instagram: @annika_christine_low

Visit dutchapple.com to join Annika and the rest of the cast and crew of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins for an evening of magic for all ages.

Photo credit: Andrew Bisdale Photography

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