New mary popps

Lisa O’Hare is the new nanny in town as she takes over the title role of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward from 6 November. She succeeds Scarlett Strallen, who has been in the production since 31 October 2005 and is leaving to star in Merry Wives – The Musical as part of the RSC Complete Works season in Stratford.

O’Hare was in the original cast of Mary Poppins, when she was understudy for the lead role which she performed on several occasions. Other theatre credits include Acorn Antiques, Anything Goes and the part of Eliza Doolittle in the UK national tour of My Fair Lady, a role she shared with Amy Nuttall who joined the cast of Guys And Dolls this weekend. 

There is a further cast reshuffle with Rebecca Thornhill taking over as Winifred Banks, Zee Asha as Mrs Brill, Romy Baskerville as Birdwoman and Howard Jones as Robertson Ay. 

Thornhill was nominated for a 2001 Laurence Olivier Award for Singin’ In The Rain and has also starred in Chicago, The Witches Of Eastwick and Les Misérables. Asha played Mama Morton in Chicago; Baskerville appeared in Naked at the Almeida and in The Tempest and Bingo for the RSC; and Jones is currently playing Northbrook and understudying the part of Bert in Mary Poppins.

The Broadway production of Mary Poppins is now previewing and moving closer to the opening date of 16 November. It stars Ashley Brown in the title role and London’s original Bert, Gavin Lee.

Posted by David Kennedy on the 18/10/2006 09:47:00
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