WHAT A FEATURE!

HMT had a terrific 8 page Advertising Feature in The Sunday Age’s M Magazine on Sunday 18 April, 2010. Produced by The Age, the feature has some great stories, interviews, photos and of course a big presence from MAMMA MIA! and Mary Poppins.

Just in case you missed it, you can download the HMT Advertising Feature as a PDF (1.2mb).

NEW PERFORMANCES TO MARY POPPINS

New performances of Mary Poppins have just been released!

Performances up to Sunday 10 October are now available through Ticketek. And don’t forget, the ‘preview’ performances, from 16 to 27 July, are also now on sale.

Mary Poppins is making its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre in July this year. Featuring an all-star Australian cast and filled with memorable music, Mary Poppins will leave you dazzled! Read more about Mary Poppins, view our Mary Poppins hospitality functions, or book online now.

FINAL MAMMA MIA! TICKETS ON SALE

All remaining tickets for MAMMA MIA! have now been released! No extensions are possible, so this is your last chance to see the world’s Number 1 show before it leaves Melbourne!

Performances up to Sunday 30 May are now available through Ticketek, and every Sunday from April onwards also has a 1pm matinee performance.

MAMMA MIA! is touring Australia to celebrate its 10th Anniversary, 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.

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!