MARY POPPINS HAS BEEN FOUND

Verity Hunt-Ballard from Adelaide has won the most hotly contested role in Australian theatre and play the world’s best loved nanny in the world’s Supercalifragilistic musical, Mary Poppins.

The announcement comes after an exhaustive search and almost 1000 auditions around Australia and New Zealand to find someone ‘practically perfect’. Verity is currently performing in Jersey Boys as Frankie Valli’s lover, and will start rehearsals for Mary Poppins with the rest of the cast in May.

Co-producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh today said, “Verity gave a tremendous audition – witty, charming, self-assured, with her own impish sense of fun… (She) is indeed practically perfect in every way.” Thomas Shumacher added, “All the waiting has paid off – we have finally found  the Mary that Australia deserves!”

Verity joins the all-star cast already announced for the Australian production: Matt Lee as Bert, Philip Quast as Mr George Banks, Marina Prior as Mrs Winifred Banks, Sally Anne Upton as Mrs Brill, Christopher Rickerby as Robertson Ay, Judi Connelli as Miss Andrew, David Henry as Admiral Boom, and Debra Byrne as The Bird Woman.

Mary Poppins is opening at Her Majesty’s Theatre in July this year. Read more about Mary Poppins, view our Mary Poppins hospitality functions, or book online now.

20,000 NEW SEATS FOR MAMMA MIA!

20,000 new seats have been released for MAMMA MIA! in April!

Performances up to Sunday 25 April are now available through Ticketek, and every Sunday from April onwards also has a 1pm matinee performance!

MAMMA MIA! is playing for a strictly 15 week season in Melbourne, so don’t miss out on seeing the original live experience on stage! Read more about MAMMA MIA!, view our MAMMA MIA! hospitality functions and parties, or book online now.

GREENROOM NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

The sizzling cast from Chicago The Musical have been nominated in two categories for the 2009 Green Room Awards.

Sharon Millerchip has been nominated for Best Female Artist in a Leading Role, for her role as Roxie Hart. Sharon won the national Helpmann Award last year in the same category. Also nominated was the Chicago Male Ensemble for the Best Featured Ensemble or Full Ensemble Performance.

Billy Elliot The Musical was the big winner at last year’s ceremony, earning 6 awards, including Best Production, Direction, Female in a Leading Role (Genevieve Lemon), Male in a Leading Role (Michael Dameski, Joshua Denyer, Rhys Kosakowski, Dayton Tavares, and Joshua Waiss Gates) and Male in a Featured Role (Liam Dodds, Thomas Doherty, Landen Hale-Brown and Joel Slater).

The Green Room Awards celebrate work first seen on Melbourne’s stage in 2009. This year’s winners will be announced  on Monday 15 March at the award ceremony held at the Victorian Arts Centre.

Her Majesty’s Theatre congratulates all Green Room nominees. A full list of nominations is available on the official website, www.greenroom.org.au. For media enquiries, please contact Michael Wilkie at MadPR.

NEW MAMMA MIA! MATINEE PERFORMANCES

New performances of MAMMA MIA! in April are now on sale, including a new matinee performance time at 1pm on Sunday!

Performances up to Sunday 11 April are now available through Ticketek. MAMMA MIA! is playing for a strictly 15 week season in Melbourne, so don’t miss out on seeing the original live experience on stage! Read more about MAMMA MIA!, view our MAMMA MIA! hospitality functions, or book online now.

NEW MAMMA MIA! PERFORMANCES

New performances of MAMMA MIA! are now available to Friends of The Maj and My Ticketek members.

Performances up to Sunday 4 April are now available through Ticketek. MAMMA MIA! is playing for a strictly 15 week season in Melbourne, so don’t miss out on seeing the original live experience on stage! Read more about MAMMA MIA!, view our MAMMA MIA! hospitality functions, or book online now.

MARY AUDITIONS ON YOUTUBE

Responding to a call out from Thomas Schumacher and Cameron Mackintosh, budding stars are posting their auditions for the role of Mary Poppins on Youtube.

You can see the serious – and some not-so-serious – auditions at www.youtube.com

Anyone interested in auditioning for the role of Mary should contact their agent, or visit http://www.disney.com.au/marypoppins/#/casting/ for role requirements and more casting information.

Read more about Mary Poppins, which opens in Melbourne in July 2010, or you can buy tickets online now!

WHO WILL PLAY MARY?

The Australian Cast for Mary Poppins was announced overnight, with one notable exception! Who will play the lead role of Mary is still up in the air, and the search continues.

Speaking before the Los Angeles premiere of Mary Poppins, the co-producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher said their team had auditioned 20 possible Marys. “We have seen many talented people but not yet someone with the right chemistry,” Mackintosh said.

“We are willing to see anyone,” Schumacher said. “If anyone wants to send us a letter, or a CD or post a clip on YouTube, we will look at it.” The role, he said, was a little out of the ordinary. “If you think of Julie Andrews in the Disney movie you get an idea of what we’re looking for: a triple threat music theatre performer, someone with star quality, of course. But apart from singing and dancing and considerable acting ability, the role calls for that somewhat unconventional look, that elusive personality, that extra “magic” that connects with the audience and that is the essence of Mary Poppins.”

The all-star cast that has been announced include:

• Matt Lee as Bert
• Philip Quast as Mr George Banks
• Marina Prior as Mrs Winifred Banks
• Sally Anne Upton as Mrs Brill
• Christopher Rickerby as Robertson Ay
• Judi Connelli as Miss Andrew
• Debra Byrne as The Bird Woman

The children’s roles will be auditioned and announced next year.

Anyone interested in auditioning for the role of Mary in Brisbane, Perth and New Zealand should contact their agent, or visit http://www.disney.com.au/marypoppins/#/casting/ for role requirements and more casting information.

Read more about Mary Poppins, or buy tickets online now!

WARRIORS OF BRAZIL NOW ON SALE

The energetic and jaw-dropping show Warriors of Brazil is now on sale through Ticketek.

Opening on 2 February, for just eight performances, Warriors of Brazil comes from the producers of Shaolin Warriors and the director of Bar at Buena Vista and combines the extraordinary martial art of Capoeira (kah-poh-ayr-ra) with the music and dance of Carnival!

This show is already an international sensation, so don’t miss out on their first ever Australian tour. Read more about Warriors of Brazil, or buy tickets online now!

COLLEEN HEWETT TO JOIN CHICAGO

Colleen Hewett is joining the award-winning cast of Chicago the Musical, taking over Gina Riley’s role of Matron ‘Mama’ Morton, from Tuesday 10 November. Tickets to all remaining Melbourne performances are now on sale.

When making the announcement, producer John Frost commented, “We’re delighted that the success of Chicago has meant that we are able to extend our stay at Her Majesty’s, but this means that Gina Riley will be leaving on Sunday, November 8.”

“We are delighted that we have managed to obtain Colleen for the role,’ he said. ‘Colleen is a terrific talent, of course, as she showed when she played two other Mamas. In The Boy From Oz and Shout! she played the roles of the mothers of, respectively, Peter Allen and Johnny O’Keefe.”

Colleen Hewett was taken to Australia’s heart in 1970 when she recorded Day by Day, from Godspell, in which she played Mary Magdalene. The song went gold and led to her being voted Queen of Pop for two successive years. She went on to co-star with Johnny Farnham in Pippin, also at Her Majesty’s Theatre, and then had a leading role in Tommy. Most recently, she won a Helpmann Award in 2006 for her role in The Boy From Oz, for Best Supporting Female Role in a Musical.

MARY POPPINS NOW ON SALE

Tickets to Mary Poppins are now on sale through Ticketek! Ticket sales for pre-sale offers have already been through the roof, so make sure you’re among the first to see this highly anticipated production when it flies into HMT next July!

Mary Poppins is the world’s most magical musical. Based on the beloved books by Australia’s P.L. Travers and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins is produced by the legendary Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher for Disney Theatrical Productions. Since opening in London in 2004 and New York in 2006, Mary Poppins has already been seen by 4.2 million theatregoers worldwide and grossed over $US 333m. It has also earned several Tony and Olivier Award nominations.

Read more about Mary Poppins, or buy tickets online now!