MARY POPPINS Opens Tonight at Segerstrom Center

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.