MARY POPPINS Wins Eight Helpmann Awards

Last night at the 10th annual Helpmann Awards celebrating excellence in the performing arts, Australia's equivalent of the Tony® Awards, MARY POPPINS set a new Helpmann record, winning eight awards, including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne and Best Choreography in a Musical for Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear. Additional winners were Verity Hunt-Ballard for Best Female Actor in a Musical; Matt Lee for Best Actor in a Musical; Philip Quast for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical; Stephen Brooker and Michael Tyack for Best Music Direction; Peter Grubb for Best Sound Design.

This brings to 44 the number of major theatre awards MARY POPPINS has earned around the globe, including Tony®, Olivier and Evening Standard awards.

The Australian production of MARY POPPINS opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne in July 2010 and played to 100% capacity at each of its 299 performances there. It is currently playing in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre and moves to the Lyric Theatre QPAC, Brisbane in January 2012. For 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.

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 over 12 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 investment within 52 weeks of its premiere. MARY POPPINS is the only Broadway show from the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance and will soon celebrate its 5th anniversary.

MARY POPPINS can also be seen on tour in North America and Scheveningen, Netherlands (outside of Amsterdam). Productions of MARY POPPINS have also been mounted in Finland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Don't Miss a Australia - Melbourne News Story Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...