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 “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Mary Poppins” will begin Thursday, June 1, and run through Sunday, June 11, 2017.
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 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The playhouse is located at 8215 Black Oak Road, in rural Mount Carroll, IL.
Have “Tea with Mary Poppins” on Saturday, June 3, before the matinee performance. Enjoy a High Tea of sandwiches and pastries. Take time to talk to Mary, while you get your picture taken with your favorite nanny.
Based on P. L. Travers’s cherished books with elements of the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, the production 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 (from Downton Abbey and “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 to play the lead role. 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,” “Crazy for You,” and “Wonderful Town.”
Joining Stephan will be Grant Alexander Brown (Bert); Ken Singleton (Mr. Banks); Kiersten Frumkin (Mrs. Banks); Samantha Bonzi (Mrs. Brill); Kieran McCabe (Robertson Ay); Elya Faye Bottiger (Bird Woman.) Lily Leding of Clinton, IA, will play the role of Jane Banks. Gabriel Pauley of Milledgeville, IL, 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, with choreography by Jeff Award winner and longtime TLP favorite, Sawyer Smith. The production 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.
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.