MARY POPPINS OPENS TONIGHT AT THE BELK THEATER

MARY POPPINS OPENS TONIGHT AT THE BELK THEATER IN CHARLOTTE
The Charlotte premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, Aug. 27 at
8:00 p.m. at the Belk Theater for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, Sept. 19.  MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m., Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 1:00 p.m.  Great seats are still available for most performances.
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 celebrated its first anniversary on March 25, 2010 and announced that it had achieved the milestone of being the most successful touring theatrical event in 2009.
Original UK Tour star Caroline Sheen will reprise her role as “Mary Poppins” while original Broadway company member Dominic Roberts will assume the role of “Bert.”
Joining Sheen and Roberts will be Laird Mackintosh as “George Banks”, Blythe Wilson as “Winifred Banks”, Rachel Izen as “Mrs. Brill”, Dennis Moench as “Robertson Ay”, Ellen Harvey as “Miss Andrew”, Mary VanArsdel as “The Bird Woman”, and Mike O’Carroll as “Admiral Boom.” Performances in the role of “Jane Banks” will be alternated between Camille Mancuso and Paige Simunovich.  Performances in the role of “Michael Banks” will be alternated between Talon Ackerman and Cade Canon Ball. 
Rounding out the cast are Carol Angeli, Jacob ben Widmar, Kiara Bennett, Troy Edward Bowles, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Jonathan Brody, Debra Cardona, Case Dillard, Elizabeth Earley, Steffi Garrard, Michael Gerhart, Geoffrey Goldberg, Eric Hatch, Garett Hawe, Tiffany Howard, Kelly Jacobs, Sam Kiernan, Stephanie Martignetti, Koh Mochizuki, Shua Potter, Nick Sanchez, Q. Smith, Jesse Swimm, Tom Souhrada and Jen Taylor.     
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 James Dodgson. 
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 show has grossed over $447 million and welcomed 6.1 million guests. 
The Broadway production of MARY POPPINS officially opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006 and has been seen by over 2.4 million theatergoers and grossed $195 million to date.  According to figures released by The Broadway League, MARY POPPINS placed on the Top Ten lists for both highest-grossing and best-attended shows of the 2009-10 Broadway season, an indicator of its remarkable success.
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 MARY POPPINS North American tour has also garnered continuous critical praise and achieved box office success since its launch in Chicago in March 2009.  In addition to Broadway and North America, MARY POPPINS can also be seen at the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen, Holland, outside of Amsterdam, and in Melbourne, Australia at Her Majesty’s Theatre.  Later this year, MARY POPPINS opens in Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with plans underway for future productions in Israel, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Korea, Canada and Japan.  
In Charlotte, MARY POPPINS will play Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m., Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 1:00 p.m. Ticket prices start as low as $32.50. Special Premium Ticket Packages are available at select performances, and include premium seating and a complimentary souvenir program.   Tickets are available at the Belk Theater Box Office located in the Tryon Street lobby of the Belk Theater, online at BlumenthalCenter.org or by phone at 704.372.1000.  Orders for groups of twenty (20) or more may be placed by calling 704.379.1380
The Charlotte engagement of MARY POPPINS Is presented by arrangement with the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.
For more information, please visit MaryPoppins.com
For the full press release, please click PDF below.