MARY POPPINS Opens Tonight In Costa Mesa

The Orange County premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, August 7. MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 2 p.m., Sunday matinees at 1 p.m. with additional performances on Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m. "We are very pleased to have Mary Poppins at the Segerstrom Center this summer," said Center President Terrence W. Dwyer. "It's a wonderful show that the entire family can enjoy, and it is gratifying that the response from our audiences has been so enthusiastic."

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 11.5 years. The musical is the winner of 36 major theatre awards around the globe, including Tony®, Olivier and Evening Standard awards.
The entire original creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the world's most famous nanny to audiences around North America. The MARY POPPINS North American Tour began performances on March 25, 2009 and has played to 1.5 million delighted theatergoers in 28 cities to date.

Steffanie Leigh will star as "Mary Poppins" while original Broadway company member, Nicolas Dromard, will assume the role of "Bert."

Joining Leigh and Dromard will be Laird Mackintosh as "George Banks," Blythe Wilson as "Winifred Banks," Rachel Izen as "Mrs. Brill," Dennis Moench as "Robertson Ay," Q. Smith as "Miss Andrew," Janet MacEwen as "The Bird Woman," and Michael McCarty as "Admiral Boom." Performances in the role of "Jane Banks" will be alternated between Camille Mancuso and Marissa Smoker. Performances in the role of "Michael Banks" will be alternated between Talon Ackerman and Tyler Merna.
Rounding out the cast are Josh Assor, Jacob ben Widmar, Kiara Bennett, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Arielle Campbell, Debra Cardona, Hannah Chin, Eric Coles, Anthony Christian Daniel, Elizabeth Earley, Tyler Foy, Molly Garner, Eric Giancola, Geoffrey Goldberg, Mark Harapiak, Eric Hatch, Lisa Kassay, Koh Mochizuki, Michael Dean Morgan, Chuck Rea, Sam Strasfeld, Nic Thompson, Rachel Wallace, Michelle E. White and Neka Zang.

Tickets to see MARY POPPINS start at $22.50 and are on sale now. Special Premium Ticket Packages are available for select performances, and include premium seating and a complimentary souvenir program. Tickets can be purchased online at SCFTA.org, by calling (714) 556-2787 and at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For inquiries about group ticket discounts, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746. The 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, July 23 will be sign-language interpreted.

Segerstrom Center applauds Wells Fargo for its generous support of the Center's 2010-2011 Broadway Series. Cox Communications is the media partner of the Broadway Series.

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 Daniel Bowling.

ABOUT MARY POPPINS WORLDWIDE
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 Broadway investment within 52 weeks of its premiere in 2006. MARY POPPINS is the only show from the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance.

The MARY POPPINS North American tour has garnered continuous critical praise and achieved box office success since its launch in Chicago in March 2009.

MARY POPPINS can also be seen in Scheveningen, Netherlands (outside of Amsterdam at the Circus Theatre) and Sydney, Australia (at the Capitol Theatre). Productions of MARY POPPINS have also been mounted in Finland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

For more information, please visit MaryPoppins.com

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center traces its roots back to the late 1960s when a dedicated group of community leaders decided Orange County should have its own world-class performing arts venue.

As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, Segerstrom Center for the Arts owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for the Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony® Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

MARY POPPINS
Segerstrom Center for the Arts - Segerstrom Hall

July 14 - August 7, 2011

Tuesdays - Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
The 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, July 23 will be sign-language interpreted.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts - Segerstrom Hall

600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA
Tickets: Start at $22.50
In person - The Box Office

600 Town Center Drive

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily

Online - SCFTA.org

Phone - (714) 556-2787

Open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily

TTY number - (714) 556-2746

Group Sales - (714) 755-0236
Information provided is accurate at the time of printing, but is subject to change. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is a private, non-profit organization. "Segerstrom Center for the Arts" is a registered trademark.

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