MOUNT CARROLL – Timber Lake Playhouse opens its 56th Summer Season with Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins. The production is one of the largest and most ambitious in the history of the company. Featuring songs like “Supercali-fragilisticexpialidocious,” “Step In Time,” and “ Feed The Birds,” Mary Poppins will begin Thursday June 1 and run through Sunday June 11.
Based on P.L. Travers’s cherished books with elements of the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins features the Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The stage has a script by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes (“Downton Abbey,” School of Rock the Musical), and the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.
Erica Stephan returns in the title role to the theatre in rural Mount Carroll, where she previously played Eponine in Les Miserables, Maggie in A Chorus Line, Gertrude in Seussical and Ariel in Footloose. She has most recently been seen in Saturday Night Fever and Crazy for You (Drury Lane Oakbrook) and Wonderful Town (Goodman Theatre).
Joining Stephan will be Grant Alexander Brown (TLP’s Big River and Hairspray) as Bert, as well as Ken Singleton (Mr. Banks), Kiersten Frumkin (Mrs. Banks), Samantha Bonzi (Mrs. Brill), Kieran McCabe (Robertson Ay), and Elya Faye Bottiger (Bird Woman). Lily Leding of Clinton, Iowa will play the role of Jane Banks. Gabriel Pauley of Milledgeville, Illinois will play the role of Michael Banks.
“Mary Poppins is a celebration of childhood, whimsy and pure magic—wonderful elements for a musical for all generations. The stories of Mary, Bert and the Banks children resonate with all families, and the musical version brings them to vivid life in an explosion of joyous song,” said artistic director James Beaudry. “Our resident performers for 2017 come from the top universities around the country to fill out the cast, and this year’s crop is proving to be particularly amazing.”
The resident company includes Sam Columbus, Nick Drake, Molly Hernandez, Areo Keller, Chris Kelley, Emilie Kouatchou, Marcus Martin, Enrique Miguel, Charles Mayhew Miller, Hope Elizabeth Schafer, Levi Skoog, and Nissi Shalome Smith.
Director Zachary L. Gray leads the creative team for Mary Poppins with choreography by Jeff Award winner, and longtime TLP favorite, Sawyer Smith. Mary Poppins features special effects by Troy Trinkle, scenic design by Matthew Hamel, lighting design by Riley Wood, sound design by Colin Marshall. Emma O’Dell is the costuming supervisor.
Have “Tea with Mary Poppins” on June 3 before the matinee performance. Enjoy “High Tea” of sandwiches and pastries and have time to talk to Mary while you get your picture taken with your favorite Nanny.
Subscriptions to see Mary Poppins, Ah, Wilderness!, Evita, Scapino!, Carousel, and Little Shop of Horrors are available through the run of Mary Poppins for $119, a 25% savings off the individual ticket price. Student subscriptions are only $68. Million Dollar Quartet, Grease, and Cinderella After the Ball are not included in subscriptions, but individual tickets are on sale now.
For show times and to purchase tickets, visit www.timberlakeplayhouse.org or call the Box Office at 815-244-2035. The Box Office is open from 10:00 – 3:00 Monday through Friday. The playhouse is located at 8215 Black Oak Road in rural Mount Carroll.
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