It has recently been revealed that musical theatre stars Zizi Strallen and Matt Lee are set to lead the way in the Mary Poppins UK tour. Playing Mary Poppins and Bert respectively, the announcement was made by The Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye, often relied on for theatrical scoops.
The new Mary Poppins UK tour will open at the Leicester Curve on 13 October 2015, directed by Anthony Lyn and with choreography by Geoffrey Garratt. The show has a score by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman, with additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe; musical supervision is by Stephen Brooker.
The classic musical Mary Poppins originally opened in the West End in 2004 where it ran for three years at the Prince Edward theatre, whilst the Broadway production ran for over six years. The show has subsequently toured the world, visiting Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK and has been seen by over 11 million people. The iconic tale is a favourite for many, so a UK tour will be extremely welcome for both old and new audiences.
Zizi Strallen follows in the footsteps of her elder sister Scarlett who famously starred as Mary in the West End, on Broadway and in Australia, keeping the role firmly in the family. Zizi is currently starring as Lana in Matthew Bourne’s production of The Car Man: coincidentally choreographer Matthew Bourne has also danced in the musical of Mary Poppins.
Zizi’s extensive theatre credits include: Demeter in Cats (Palladium/UK tour), Penny Pingleton in Hairspray (Leicester Curve), Kathy Cratchitt in Scrooge (Palladium), Zaneeta in The Music Man (Chichester), understudy Lisa in Dirty Dancing (Aldwych), understudy Regina in Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury/Garrick), Meg in Merrily We Roll Along (Menier/Harold Pinter) and Mona Lipschitz in Chicago (Leicester Curve).