MARY POPPINS Opens at Keller Auditorium, 6/24

The Portland premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, June 24, 2011 at 7:30pm at the Keller Auditorium for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, July 10, 2011. MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday through Friday evenings at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 2:00pm and 7:30pm and Sundays at 1:00pm and 6:30pm. "We're very excited that Mary Poppins has flown into town and that audiences in Portland will have the opportunity to experience this blockbuster musical" said Portland Opera General Director, Christopher Mattaliano. "Tickets are on sale and great seats are still available."

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 12 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 27 cities to date.

Oregon native 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, 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, Jesse Swimm, Nic Thompson, Rachel Wallace, Michelle E. White and Neka Zang.

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.