Mary Poppins to Fly Out of New Amsterdam Theatre; Aladdin Headed to Broadway

Mary Poppins will close at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theater on March 3. At the time of closing, Poppins will have played 2,619 performances since opening on November 16, 2006.  According to The New York Times, Mary Poppins​ is closing to make way for Disney's next big, Broadway musical Aladdin. The New Amsterdam will reportedly be renovated before Aladdin takes residence in the spring of 2014. 

Based on the smash-hit 1992 animated film, Aladdin is the story of a street urchin who uses the help of a magic lamp Genie to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. The musical features music by Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice and the late Howard Ashman and a new book by Chad Beguelin (Elf, The Wedding Singer). Menken won an Academy Award for his score and shared a second Oscar with Rice for the song "A Whole New World," sung in the film by Brad Kane and Tony winner Lea Salonga. 

Aladdin premiered at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in July 2011. The musical was directed by The Book of Mormon director Casey Nicholaw, starred The Lion King’s Adam Jacobs as Aladdin and featured In the Heights' Courtney Reed as Jasmine and Newsies’ Andrew Keenan-Bolger. A recent St. Louis Muny production starred two-time Tony nominee Robin De Jesus in the title role and co-starred Avenue Q Tony nominee John Tartaglia as the Genie. Casting and creative team members have not been announced for the Broadway production.

Based on both P.L. Travers’ stories and the classic Disney film, Mary Poppins tells the story of the uptight and disconnected Banks family and the magical nanny who turns their lives upside down. Based on the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews, the stage musical premiered in September 2004 at the Bristol Hippodrome before transferring to the West End's Prince Edward Theatre. The Broadway production, produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, won a 2007 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical.

With attendance totaling nearly four million guests, Mary Poppins has been seen by more people in the last six years than any Broadway show except Wicked and The Lion King.The closing cast will star Steffanie Leigh as Mary Poppins and Nicolas Dromard as Bert.