Mary Poppins National Tour Adds New Cities

The national tour of Mary Poppins, which continues at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace through July 12, has announced an extended schedule through September 2010.

After Chicago, the show will play Cleveland’s PlayhouseSquare, St. Louis’ Fox Theatre, Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre, Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park, Houston’s Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre, Tempe’s ASU Gammage, Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center for the Arts, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center Opera House, and the Bluementhal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The show, based on stories by P.L. Travers and the Oscar-winning 1964 Walt Disney film of the same title, is directed by Richard Eyre, with co-direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne and additional choreography by Stephen Mear. It has a book by Julian Fellows, and uses the original film score by Robert and Richard Sherman, augmented by new songs written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

The cast features original Broadway stars, Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins and Gavin Lee as Bert, along with Karl Kenzler (Mr. Banks), Megan Osterhaus (Mrs. Banks), Valerie Boyle (Mrs. Brill), Mary Vanarsdel (Bird Woman), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Robertson Ay), Ellen Harvey (Miss Andrew), and Mike O’Carroll (Admiral Boom). Christopher Flaim and Justin Hall alternate in the role of Michael Banks, while Aida Neitenbach and Abigail Droeger alternate in the role of Jane Banks.

For more information, visit www.MaryPoppinsTour.com.