Gavin Lee Settles In Again at Mary Poppins

After a year and half on the road touring with Mary Poppins, Tony nominee Gavin Lee, the show’s original Bert, is back home at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Lee, who’s readying to become a father next month, may get covered in soot onstage thanks to the show’s lively “Step in Time” chimney sweep number, but backstage the British actor likes to keep things nice and tidy. Lee invited Broadway.com to step in to his dressing room, and here’s what we found.

Photo by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com

"The thing I can't do without in this show, especially after six years, is my TV. When I’m not onstage, the last thing I want to listen to is Mary Poppins on the speaker [laughs]. So I have one ear on the speaker listening for my next cue, but I try to drift away watching anything that’s on TV."

"This is my Murray’s Superior Hair Dressing Pomade. It’s fabulous, and my hair cannot do anything without this thick, nasty, waxy stuff that you can’t ever shampoo out!"

"This star that stays on my mirror is from the fabulous, wonderful [director/choreographer] Susan Stroman. She gave it to me back in '93 when I did Crazy for You with her in London. I’ve been lucky enough to work with her two other times in Oklahoma and Contact. I love her work, and I want to work with her forever and ever."

"I’ve received more than 20 chimney sweeps during my six years in Mary Poppins, so I limit it to just these two in the dressing room. This is a little Smurf chimney sweep and this is Roger Varley, the chimney sweep on Camberwick Green, a kids' TV program that was on when I was about five years old."

"This special item is my Limoges pottery box, which serves as a little ring holder. I put my wedding ring in there. It's from South Dakota, which is where my wife comes from, so it's Mount Rushmore, of course."