Mary Poppins Archives - North West End UK

12Apr

By Coral MourantNo Comments

North West

Mary Poppins – Palace Theatre

Disney’s magical nanny is back delighting audiences all over the UK, and children (even the big kids) are bound to leave the theatre with a smile on their face. Based on the book series by P.L. Travers, this production by Disney Theatricals in collaboration with Sir Cameron Mackintosh, first took the West End by storm over twenty years ago. But just the same as its movie adaptation, I believe that this version is ultimately timeless. The Banks family wish for a nanny to fix all their problems, Jane wants someone fairly pretty, Michael wants someone to play games with, and their parents just want one to stay. Blown in by the wind, the “practically perfect” Mary Poppins appears and takes us all on an amazing adventure filled with colour, magic and a song or two. The twelve-piece orches...

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals – AO Arena

29Jan

By Abigail PendleburyNo Comments

North West

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals – AO Arena

On 27th January the AO Arena in Manchester welcomed back The National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals. Celebrating 30 years of National Lottery funding for theatre and performing arts across the UK, the event brought together an impressive lineup of West End and touring productions, as well as special guests, offering a night of unforgettable performances. Hosted by the comedic charm that is Jason Manford, the evening featured a series of show-stopping numbers that highlighted the diversity and vibrancy of contemporary musical theatre. The event opened with a ‘Supercalifragalistic’ performance from the current touring cast of Mary Poppins, setting an exhilarating tone for the night. Other show-stopping performances included a first look at Disney’s Hercules, where Luke Brady gave us a p...

27Jan

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Mary Poppins – Festival Theatre

In P.L. Travers’s book, ‘tossed and bent under the wind’, Mary is thrown ‘bag and all, at the front door’ by an east wind, at which ‘the whole house shook’. Here (as in the film), despite the proximity of Storm Eowyn, her arrival and appearance are ‘practically perfect’*, all spit-spot and efficiency. Which pretty much describes this abundant sweetshop of a production; it dazzled, shone, all slick, gloss and polish, which, given its producers (the hyper-successful Cameron Mackintosh and Disney Theatrical Group), was not surprising. Which can be an issue with these huge shows where the creative team includes no less than two responsible for ‘set design adaptation’ and two whose remit is ‘illusions’. Technically, everything (and the kitchen sink) is thrown in, from small prop details like...

Louis Gaunt joins the cast of Mary Poppins

22Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Louis Gaunt joins the cast of Mary Poppins

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh are delighted to announce that tonight (22nd June 2022) Louis Gaunt joins the cast of Mary Poppins to play the iconic role of Bert, replacing Charlie Stemp whilst he performs as Bobby in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Crazy for You this summer. Based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the original Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins continues to play at the Prince Edward Theatre and is now on sale to 18th December 2022. Louis Gaunt made his professional stage debut at Grange Park Opera in Oklahoma! for which he won The Stage Debut Awards in 2018. His other theatre credits include Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse), Kiss Me, Kate (Sheffield Crucible Theatre), Standing at the Sky's Edge (Sheffield Crucible Theatre), The Happy Prince (T...

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC – Mary Poppins flies back into the West End

12Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC – Mary Poppins flies back into the West End

Based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the original Walt Disney film, Cameron Mackintosh and Disney’s Olivier award-winning production of Mary Poppins resumed performances at the Prince Edward Theatre on 7th August 2021 and is currently booking to 13th February 2022. The principal cast comprises Zizi Strallen as Mary Poppins and Charlie Stemp as Bert with Charlie Anson as George Banks, Amy Griffiths as Winifred Banks, Petula Clark as Bird Woman, Liz Robertson as Miss Andrew, Claire Machin as Mrs Brill, Jack North as Robertson Ay and Paul F. Monaghan as Admiral Boom and Bank Chairman. Katie Cox, Rose Dawson, Megan Donovan, Megan Judge, Ellie Kit Jones and Maddison Thew will alternate the role of Jane Banks with Logan Clark, George Hamblin, Charlie Murphy, Frankie Treadaway and Fred ...