Mary Poppins

Beginning in February, 2010, the world’s most famous nanny will arrive at ASU Gammage. Combining the best of the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film, the Tony® Award-winning MARY POPPINS is everything you’d hope for in a Broadway musical – and more.

Produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, the show includes such wonderful songs as “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and, of course, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. The NY Daily News hails MARY POPPINS as “a roofraising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!”

Let your imagination take flight at this perfectly magical musical!

Running Time: 2 hrs. 40 mins., including intermission

A MESSAGE FROM PRODUCER CAMERON MACKINTOSH

My introduction to MARY POPPINS came 40 years ago from seeing Walt Disney's magical film - I'd just left school. Mary’s character was so extraordinary I could never forget her or the wonderful Sherman brothers’ songs. Intrigued enough to read the original book, I was surprised to find there were several of them and many more stories, characters and adventures than those in the film. 

Shortly after P. L. Travers published the first Poppins book in 1934, Bea Lillie spoke to her about appearing as Mary on stage and in 1948, an 18 year old Stephen Sondheim wrote several songs for his own adaptation which was never completed. I first tried, unsuccessfully, to acquire the stage rights to MARY POPPINS over 25 years ago, as did many other producers on both sides of the Atlantic. Over the next 15 years Mary always hovered about but it wasn't until 1993 that I was to finally meet her creator, Pamela Travers, who was by then 93 herself. Sitting in the window of her Chelsea house, in a street looking remarkably like Cherry Tree Lane, a frail but extremely alert and sharp old lady eyed me up and down and asked me lots of questions about her characters and what kind of musical I wanted to do on stage. When I started to dig for information I felt very like Michael and Jane Banks waiting to be told, “You'll do”.

Over several meetings Pamela decided I could be trusted with her great creation (though she never admitted to creating Mary saying only that “Mary just arrived”) and I was able to persuade her that a stage musical could only be created by combining her stories with the key ingredients and songs from the film to invent something completely new. Up till this point she had always insisted that any stage musical would have to have a new and different score, something I wasn't interested in pursuing. Her ambivalence about the film is well known but I always felt she liked more of it than she let on publicly. Certainly when she came to write an unproduced film sequel she was very happy for its setting to remain Edwardian rather than in the 1930’s period of the books. Armed now with the possibility of joining the Travers’ rights to the Disney rights during the 1990's I had several meetings with Michael Eisner and, though everyone thought it a good idea, the time wasn't right for it to happen. During the last 35 years of producing I've discovered that these kind of delays are usually a good thing. Fate deserves a huge amount of credit for the making of a successful show and, even though Disney and I had yet to come to an agreement, I was able to use the time immersing myself in the books and trying to find a theatrical structure.

Slowly a pattern emerged, many of the stories repeated a similar theme and I could see the possibility of combining stories to dramatise certain existing songs to give them a different narrative function than in the film. It was never going to be either possible or desirable to put on stage the films brilliant and innovative mix of live action and animation. Once again it was Pamela who gave me the clue of how to proceed. Peppered through all her stories and conversation were references to dance, which is the perfect theatrical form to deliver all the magical journeys outside Cherry Tree Lane. The other early decision came from realising that the only way I could reinvent the show musically would be to work with a song writing team who loved the Sherman brothers' songs and could write new material to compliment both them and the wit, style and imagination of P. L. Travers' dialogue. I had only one thought – George Stiles and Anthony Drewe who I had known for many years since we first worked together on the Kipling Just So Stories. They loved the idea and “on spec” sat down and wrote “Practically Perfect” – which they delivered to me in 1993 – and then waited patiently. I thought it was practically perfect and just the style I was looking for for the show. 

Nearly ten years passed and then in December 2001, like Mary out of the sky, someone very special came into my life. Tom Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical, came to London, not to make a deal, but to find out what I had in mind. As I told him what I was searching for, it became obvious that we were both after the same thing; a show both familiar and surprising, that would merge the best of the books and the film into something new. The treatment I devised became a crude starting point for creating our show. Tom was equally enthusiastic about George and Anthony and very quickly the project gathered momentum. This kind of partnership was obviously unusual for Disney but I was to find out that Michael Eisner has a personal fondness for MARY POPPINS which, despite outside scepticism, caused him to expedite our arrangements speedily.

To move Mary forward we needed to have a book writer who would pull together the existing material but also seamlessly add his or her own style. Once again I remembered an old friend, Julian Fellowes. We had never worked together but I admired him as an actor and was delighted to discover, when Gosford Park came out, he was also a hugely talented writer. In his screenplay Julian was particularly skilful at pulling all the various strands of the narrative together and with a real sense of period and comic panache. The film convinced me that he was the perfect choice for our equally unusual task. 

Next we required a very special blend of talents to stage the show. From the outset I always hoped Richard Eyre would be interested in directing MARY POPPINS. He was immediately intrigued by the idea and the books proved irresistible to him, as did the unusual challenge of staging a show that was both the story of a family and an exuberant dance drama. In effect the show required two directors so I was relieved and delighted when Matthew Bourne and Richard agreed to work together to create the theatrical equivalent of the film's mix of live action and animation. We knew the range of the choreography needed to be very wide so another marriage was made between Stephen Mear and Matthew whose individual styles have proved so complimentary. For all of us the brilliantly imaginative Bob Crowley was the natural choice of designer to bring a unique look to these magical stories. Finally we assembled the rest of our team. Orchestrator Bill Brohn, lighting designer Howard Harrison, sound designer Andrew Bruce and production musical supervisor David Caddick have all contributed to the success of many of my previous productions. With Richard leading such an experienced team, Tom and I knew the show could not be in better hands. 

In January 2003 we started. At first I commuted between Julian and George and Anthony until we had enough material to start combining dialogue and songs. I had set George and Anthony the task of writing “a song a week” which miraculously they nearly adhered to! Soon the three of them were working together, egged on by regular interference from me. Every few weeks we would meet and submit our efforts to the scrutiny of Richard, Matthew, Tom and Bob and then go off and do our homework aiming for a read through of the first draft of the show in September 2003. The read through proved that we had a show. George and Anthony's new material was seamlessly interwoven with the original Sherman brothers' songs. You couldn't tell who had written what and the Sherman brothers were both delighted and supportive.

From the outset Tom and I wanted to find a cast that had star quality but who were not necessarily household names. The stars of the film, Julie Andrews, Dick van Dyke, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns, are a tough act to follow; our task was to find fresh talents who, hopefully, will become the stars of tomorrow. The cast that we found has more than fulfilled our dreams. 

Traditionally new musicals used to open out of town before they came to London or Broadway. Nowadays it rarely happens either for economic reasons or because the show is not a draw until it has been the latest “smash hit” in town. With MARY POPPINS we felt we would attract an audience for a pre London run and very much welcomed the chance of bringing the show to life at the Bristol Hippodrome. Bristol audiences have always been tremendously supportive of musicals and when I was at school in Bath I remember seeing many great productions there. In 1954 one famous Bristol musical Salad Days (which was also concerned with magical happenings in a London Park) was fated to inspire me at the age of eight to become a producer of musicals. I never dreamt that 50 years later I would have the chance to bring Pamela's stories to the stage. It wouldn't have happened without the support of the Trustees of the Travers' Estate and Michael Eisner and the hugely pleasurable collaboration with Tom Schumacher who is the embodiment of MARY POPPINS dictum that “anything can happen if you let it.”

When Pamela was a little girl living in rural Queensland, Australia, she was an avid reader of fairy stories from the family's collection of books, her favourites being by the Brothers Grimm. So much so that she called all fairy stories ‘Grims’ and it became the family nickname for story telling. Putting Pamela's own stories on stage nearly a hundred years later has been anything but grim. We've all had the most terrific and exhilarating time. On the day Richard first started putting the rehearsed scenes together I heard him exclaim, “This is a real tonic” – I like to think Pamela Travers would have thought so too.

– Cameron Mackintosh, September 2004

CREATIVE TEAM

CAMERON MACKINTOSH (Producer & Co-Creator) is in his 40th year as a producer, during which time he has put on hundreds of productions including Cats, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera – the three longest-running musicals in Broadway history – and Miss Saigon. He also produced Little Shop of Horrors, Side by Side by Sondheim, Follies, Martin Guerre and The Witches of Eastwick as well as acclaimed revivals of My Fair Lady, Oliver!, and Oklahoma! MARY POPPINS is a subject that he has wanted to do with Disney for more than 30 years. Les Miserables has just overtaken Cats to become the longest-running musical in the world. His latest London production is the Tony Award-winning Avenue Q. Cameron owns seven theatres in London’s West End. He inaugurated the Cameron Mackintosh Chair of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University in 1990 and is president of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. In 1992 he was presented with the Richard Rogers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, in 2002 he was given the Oscar Hammerstein Award. His company received the 1995 Queen’s Award for Export Achievement, and he was knighted in the 1996 New Year’s Honours for his services to the British theatre. 

ANTHONY DREWE (New Songs & Additional Lyrics). During his 23-year writing collaboration with composer George Stiles, Anthony has written the book and lyrics for Tutankhamun, Just So, Soho Cinders, the multi award-winning Honk!, and the lyrics for Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure (book by Willis Hall). With composer Tony Hatch, he wrote lyrics for The Card and, with Singaporean composer Dick Lee, the lyrics for A Twist of Fate. Work as a director includes Snoopy, Honk! (South Africa, Chicago, Tokyo and Singapore), and Just So (North Shore Music Theatre, and Chichester Festival Theatre). As a performer recent work includes Rogues to Riches, The Three Musketeers, and A Twist of Fate. MARY POPPINS marks his Broadway debut. www.stilesanddrewe.com 

DAVID BENKEN (Technical Director). Broadway: The History Boys, The Lion King, The Woman in White, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Democracy, Jumpers, The Boy from Oz, A Class Act, The Wild Party, Peter Pan. Tours: The Lion King, The Producers, Beauty & the Beast, Kiss Me Kate, Martin Guerre, Carousel, Miss Saigon, Peter Pan, Les Miserables, Evita. Las Vegas: Phantom, We Will Rock You.

GEOFFREY GARRATT (Associate Choreographer) trained at Bird Theatre College in London. Associated choreographer on MARY POPPINS (London); Miss Saigon (UK Tour/Korea/Australia); Oliver! (London/Australia/Holland/Toronto/UK/US Tours); Witches of Eastwick (London/Australia); South Pacific (National Theatre); Hey, Mr. Producer! (London/USA). Choreographic credits include: Little Shop of Horrors, Blues In The Night, and A Doll’s House for West Yorkshire Playhouse, Jack and the Beanstalk (Belfast) and Fascinating Aida (UK Tour and West End). Performed in Cats, Martin Guerre, Fiddler on the Roof, Matador, West Side Story, Mister Cinders, and Joseph… 

GEORGE STILES (New Songs, Additional Music, Dance & Vocal Arrangements). Stiles and Drewe’s musical Honk! won London’s Olivier Award for Best New Musical (2000) and has since been seen in over 2,000 productions worldwide. Their other shows include Just So (North Shore Music Theatre), Peter Pan, Tutankhamun, and Soho Cinders. George’s new musical The Three Musketeers, with lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby, recently played at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Other work includes the scores for Sam Mendes’ Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya (BAM), musical adaptations of Tom Jones and Moll Flanders, songs for the RSC’s Shakespeare Revue, and blissful spell as Dame Edna's pink pianist and resident composer. MARY POPPINS marks his Broadway debut. www.stilesanddrewe.com

HOWARD HARRISON (Lighting Design). Recent Broadway: Mamma Mia! (also Japan, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Moscow, Toronto, Madrid,  Stockholm, Australia and National Tour), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Putting It Together. Recent West End: MARY POPPINS, Mamma Mia!, Guys and Dolls, Rock ‘N’ Roll, Donkeys’ Years, Edward Scissorhands, Heroes, Suddenly Last Summer, Skellig, The Master Builder, Oleanna, Ragtime, The Witches of Eastwick. Opera includes: Aida, Il Trovatore and I Masnadieri (Royal Opera, Covent Garden), The Makropulos Case, Nabucco (Metropolitan Opera). Howard has been nominated seven times as Best Lighting Designer for the Laurence Olivier Awards and received the Australian Green Room Award in 2001 for his work on Mamma Mia!

JULIAN FELLOWES (Book). A British, Oscar-winning screenwriter, Julian is also an actor and director. He studied at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His first script for cinema, Gosford Park (2001), won him the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, plus honors from the Writers Guild of America, among others. He received the National Board of Review’s Best Directorial Debut Award for the film Separate Lies starring Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson, based on his own screenplay. He most recently wrote and directed the feature film From Time To Time starring Maggie Smith and wrote the screenplay for The Young Victoria which stars Emily Blunt. His other projects include the books Snobs, The Curious Adventures of the Abandoned Toys and Past Imperfect, and the scripts for Vanity Fair and The Tourist starring Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron which is now in pre-production. Julian is married to Emma Kitchener and they share homes in London and Dorset with their son Peregrine.

MATTHEW BOURNE (Co-Director, Choreographer).Widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer/director, Matthew is the creator of the world’s longest running ballet production, a five-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won the Tony® Award for both choreographer and director of a musical. He is Artistic Director of New Adventures which has created an enormous new audience for dance with its groundbreaking dance/theatre productions: Nutcracker!, Highland Fling, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Car Man, and Play Without Words. Musical theatre includes: Oliver!, My Fair Lady (Olivier Award), South Pacific, and MARY POPPINS (Olivier Award). Matthew’s latest production, Edward Scissorhands, based on Tim Burton’s classic film, is currently touring the USA. www.matthewbourne.org

NAOMI DONNE (Make Up Design). Films include: License to Kill, The Crucible, Object of My Affection, Six Degrees of Separation, The Russia House, Little Women, Chocolat (BAFTA nomination), Zoolander, The Royal Tennenbaums (Hollywood Make Up Guild Award), Meet the Fockers, The Producers. Theatre London: Song & Dance, Follies, Starlight Express, MARY POPPINS. New York: Sweet Smell of Success, Aida, Nine, Tarzan.

P.L. TRAVERS (Author of the Mary Poppins stories) was born in 1899 in Australia in a residence over a bank where her father was the branch manager. She began to write while a member of a touring stage company. In 1924, able to support herself as a journalist, she left Australia for England. She wrote a number of other books in addition to the MARY POPPINS stories. She was fascinated by myth and fairy tales and travelled widely, living for a time with the Navajo. She was made writer in residence to both Smith and Radcliffe colleges in Massachusetts and also received an honorary doctorate from Chatham College, Pittsburgh. She died in London in1996.

RICHARD EYRE (Director) was director of the Royal National Theatre (1988-1997). He has directed many classics and new plays by David Hare, Christopher Hampton, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, Trevor Griffiths, Tony Harrison, and Nicholas Wright. He directed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible on Broadway (2001) and Hedda Gabler in the West End (2006). He has won five Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard Awards, three Critics Circle Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Director’s Guild. He has directed many award-winning films for TV and four feature films – The Ploughman’s Lunch, the Oscar-nominated Iris (which he co-wrote), Stage Beauty, and Notes on a Scandal (with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett).

RICHARD M. SHERMAN & ROBERT B. SHERMAN (Original Music & Lyrics). Honors include two Oscars (MARY POPPINS), nine Oscar nominations, three Grammys, 24 Gold/Platinum albums, a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early hits including “You’re 16” and “Tall Paul” led to long-term association with Walt Disney and over 150 songs for Disney films, TV and theme parks, “It’s A Small World” being the world’s most translated and performed song. Sherman Disney film credits include The Jungle Book, The Parent Trap, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Winnie The Pooh, The Aristocats, and The Tigger Movie. Other films: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tom Sawyer, The Slipper & The Rose, Charlotte’s Web, and Beverly Hills Cop 3. Stage credits include Over Here!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London, Broadway, UK tour), Busker Alley, MARY POPPINS (London and Broadway).

STEPHEN MEAR (Co-Choreographer). London Theatre credits include: On The Town (Eno), Acorn Antiques, Tonight’s The Night, Anything Goes (Winner: What’s On Stage Award for Best Choreography, 2003 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Singin’ In The Rain (Winner: What’s On Stage Award for Best Choreography, Olivier Award nomination), Soul Train (Olivier Award nomination), Witches Of Eastwick (Co-Choreographer with Bob Avian). Regional Theatre: Just So, How To Succeed…, Putting It Together, Bouncers, Shakers, Honk, Snoopy, Half A Sixpence. Opera: Don Giovanni (Royal Opera House). Music Videos: “Number One” (Goldfrapp), “The Importance Of Being Idle” (Oasis). Stephen won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best Choreography with Matthew Bourne for MARY POPPINS.

STEVE CANYON KENNEDY (Broadway Sound Designer) was the production engineer on such Broadway shows as Cats, Starlight Express, Song & Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, Carrie, and Aspects of Love. His Broadway sound design credits include MARY POPPINS, The Lion King, Jersey Boys (Drama Desk Award), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, Hairspray, The Producers, Aida, Titanic, Big, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Carousel, and The Who’s Tommy (Drama Desk Award). Steve is married to actress Loni Ackerman and together have two sons, Jack and George.

TARA RUBIN CASTING (Casting). Broadway: Pirate Queen; Les Miserables; History Boys; Spamalot; Jersey Boys; …Spelling Bee; The Producers; Mamma Mia!; Phantom…; Good Vibrations; Bombay Dreams; Oklahoma!; Flower Drum Song; Imaginary Friends; Metamorphoses. LCT: The Frogs; Contact; Thou Shalt Not; A Man of No Importance. Off-Broadway: Second Stage. Regional: Williamstown; Kennedy Center; La Jolla; Yale Rep. Film: The Producers.

WILLIAM DAVID BROHN (Orchestrations) received the 1998 Tony Award (Best Orchestrations) for Ragtime, and Drama Desk awards for both Miss Saigon and The Secret Garden in 1991. Other Broadway musicals he has orchestrated are Crazy For You, Carousel, Showboat, Oklahoma!, Sweet Smell of Success and Wicked. After Cameron Mackintosh commissioned Brohn to orchestrate Miss Saigon (1989) for London's Drury Lane Theatre, this association continued with Oliver!, Witches of Eastwick,Martin Guerre and Hey Mr Producer!, and co-productions at the National Theatre of Carousel, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, and South Pacific. Brohn's output includes arrangements for solo singers and instrumentalists, choruses, ballet companies, and symphony orchestras.