STAGE TUBE: The Story Behind MARY POPPINS' 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'

Watch the video below for the inside story of how Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman dreamed up the lyrics for "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in Disney's classic film, Mary Poppins. For the theatre, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe expanded the song to make it "a stage excursion for the whole cast." Check out the interview, featuring lots of great footage from the touring production, below!

In the award-winning musical “Mary Poppins”, which opened Friday, August 10th at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Rachel Wallace (Mary Poppins) and Nicolas Dromard (Bert), an original Broadway company member, lead an extraordinary cast which includes Michael Dean Morgan as George Banks, Elizabeth Broadhurst as Winifred Banks, Tregoney Shepherd as Mrs. Brill, Blake Segal as Robertson Ay, Q. Smith as Miss Andrew and Bird Woman, and Ryan Hilliard as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman. Performances in the role of Jane Banks will be alternated between Marissa Ackerman and Cherish Myers. Performances in the role of Michael Banks will be alternated between Zach Timson and Zachary Mackiewicz.

Rounding out the cast are Benn Atkin, Danielle Benton, Elizabeth Ann Berg, Lindsey Bliven, Ian Campayno, Ben Cherry, Kerry Conte, Emily Cramer, Sean Patrick Doyle, Andrew Eckert, Jordan Grubb, Kenway Hon Wai K. Kua, Con O’Shea-Creal, James Patterson, Tonya Thompson, James Tolbert, Paige Williams, Minami Yusui, Elizabeth Earley, Billy Griffin, Annie Petersmeyer and Stephen Roberts.

The entire original creative team reunited to bring this magical story of the world’s most famous nanny to audiences around North America. The “Mary Poppins” North American Tour began performances on March 25, 2009, and has played to more than two and a half million theatregoers in over 40 cities to date.

“Mary Poppins” previously played a record-breaking run at the Ahmanson Theatre November 2009 - February 2010. The musical became Los Angeles’ highest grossing theatrical event of 2009, grossing $13.7 million at the box office and entertaining more than 188,000 theatregoers during the 13-week engagement.

Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre leads the award-winning creative team, with co-direction and choreography by Tony and Olivier Award winner Matthew Bourne. “Mary Poppins”features set and costume design by Tony Award winner Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, orchestrations by William David Brohn, and music supervision by David Caddick. The tour’s creative team includes Tour Director Anthony Lyn, Associate Choreographer Geoffrey Garrett, and Music Director Daniel Bowling.

“Mary Poppins” received its worldwide premiere at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End in December 2004. Following its successful three-year London run, the production launched an acclaimed U.K. tour. The Broadway production of “Mary Poppins” officially opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, recouping its initial Broadway investment within 52 weeks of its premiere. “Mary Poppins” is the only show from the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance. “Mary Poppins” can also be seen in Sydney, Australia (at the Capitol Theatre), and is slated to open in October at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. Productions of “Mary Poppins” have also been mounted in Finland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Tickets, scheduling and more information, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org/Poppins.

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