Mary Poppins will step into Brisbane, January
In a media event today at the QPAC, Brisbane, the Premier of Queensland Anna Bligh and President of Disney Theatrical Productions Thomas Schumacher announced that Mary Poppins will be Stepping In Time all the way to Brisbane.
The forthcoming season of Mary Poppins will open in January at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre, making Brisbane the third Australian city host the blockbuster musical. “I am delighted to announce Mary Poppins is coming to Brisbane, marking the first time a major Disney musical theatre work has been presented in Queensland”, said QLD Premier, Anna Bligh.
“This story has delighted children and families for generations and now Queenslanders can see this world class production without having to travel overseas or interstate.” Creator of Mary Poppins, Pamela Travers, was born in Maryborough (QLD) in 1899 in an old bank building which still stands today. Bligh believes that it is extremely fitting that Disney’s first major production in Queensland should have such a strong connection to the state. “Each year Maryborough holds a Mary Poppins Festival to celebrate its ties to the world’s most famous nanny”, she said. The cast performed ‘Supercalifragilistic’ at the media event, to everyone’s delight, giving the Brisbane media a taste of Mary’s magic.
Disney Theatrical President, Thomas Schumacher said today: “From the imagination of a young Queensland girl came one of the most enduring characters the world has ever seen. Walt Disney first fell in love with Pamela Travers’ stories when he discovered his own children reading her magical books. 25 years later he made the Academy Award-winning film and perhaps the greatest triumph of his career.”
Producer, Cameron Mackintosh believes the Australian production boasts one to the world’s finest creative teams, and that Brisbane audiences will find the production “practically perfect in every way”. “The journey of “Mary Poppins” has been a long and magical one thanks to the inspired flight of Pam Traver’s imagination from her earliest childhood experiences in Maryborough, where she was born, and her subsequent touring of Australia working as an actress, to the little cottage in Mayfield in Sussex where she first put pen to paper and brought Mary Poppins to life inspiring Walt Disney to make his wonderful movie and now back to the stage, in this hugely successful adaptation, drawn from all her books, finally Mary returns to where it all started in Queensland.
Starring Verity Hunt-Ballard as Mary, Matt Lee as Bert and an all star supporting cast (Debra Byrne, Philip Quast, Marina Prior and Judi Connelli), the musical has been nominated for 12 Helpmann Awards, including Best Musical, best Actress in a Leading Role (Hunt-Ballard), and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Lee).
Tickets for the Brisbane production are not on sale yet, but previews are set to begin from 27th December 2011.
Pre-sale begins from 3 August
Tickets on sale from 8 August
For Bookings: CALL 136 246VISIT www.marypoppinsthemusical.com.au
IN PERSON at QPAC, or any QTIX outlet
Read more:
Mary Poppins Dominates Green Room Awards
Magic of Mary headed for Sydney
Excitement Builds as Mary Poppins Lands
