SYNOPSISBased on P.L. Travers’ beloved book series of the same name, Mary Poppins became an immediate hit when it premiered as a movie musical in 1964. Years later, the same magic was brought to the stage! In the musical, Bert, a jack-of-all-trades, invites us into the world of London, England in 1910 — and, specifically, into the dysfunctional home of the Banks family. Jane and Michael, the young Banks children, have sent yet another nanny packing, dismissing these children as hopelessly and irrevocably spoiled and misbehaved. With a father who works constantly and mother who is always distracted, Jane and Michael have suffered without strong caretaking forces in their lives. Then the magical Mary Poppins flies in on the wind with her parrot umbrella, bringing with her a combination of whimsy, magic, and disciplined common sense to the children’s lives. Together, they go on memorable and magical adventures — and also learn the importance of a tidy nursery and of taking the medicine they need (with a spoonful of sugar, of course). Mary Poppins’ transformational influence does not stop with the children — eventually, she teaches the grown-ups, as well, to open up and realize that “anything can happen if you let it.”
CHARACTERS TO CAST
Bert
The narrator of the story, is a good friend to Mary Poppins. An everyman, Bert is a chimney sweep and a sidewalk artist, among many other occupations. With a twinkle in his eye and a skip in his step, Bert watches over the children and the goings-on around Cherry Tree Lane. He is a song-and-dance man with oodles of charm who is wise beyond his years.
George Banks
Husband to Winifred and father to Jane and Michael, is a banker to the very fiber of his being. Demanding "precision and order" in his household, he is a pipe-and-slippers man who doesn't have much to do with his children and believes that Miss Andrew, his cruel, strict childhood nanny, gave him the perfect upbringing. George's emotional armor, however off-putting, conceals a sensitive soul.
Winifred Banks
George's wife and Jane and Michael's mother. She is a loving homemaker who is busy trying to live up to her husband's social aspirations while striving to be a model wife and mother. Must portray a great warmth and depth of feeling.
Jane Banks
The high-spirited daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, bright and precocious but can be willful and inclined to snobbishness.
Michael Banks
The cheeky son of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Excitable and naughty, he adores his father and longs desperately for his attention. Both he and Jane misbehave in order to get the attention of their parents.
Mrs. Brill
The housekeeper and cook for the Banks family. Overworked, she’s always complaining that the house is understaffed. Her intimidating exterior is a cover for the warmth underneath.
Robertson Ay
The houseboy to the Banks family. Forgetful and clumsy, he often bungles simple tasks. Note: his last name is pronounced like “eye.”
Mary Poppins
Jane and Michael Banks’s new nanny. She is extraordinary and strange, neat and tidy, delightfully vain yet very particular, and sometimes a little frightening, but she is always exciting. She is practically perfect in every way and always means what she says. The role calls for an excellent singer and actor who should be able to move well. Since she carries a majority of the show, precision and diction are key.
Ensemble Groups & Featured Roles
All ensembles require group singing; featured roles require either solo singing or solo acting, or both. For each featured role, the pages showcasing the character's lines or vocals are listed.
Ensemble & Featured Characters include:
Katie Nanna
Katie Nanna is Jane and Michael’s nanny at the beginning of the show. Overwhelmed and upset, she has absolutely had her fill of the Banks children.
Park Strollers
The Park Strollers are citizens of London who go from drab and dreary to bright and colorful as they get swept up in Mary Poppins’s adventures in the park.
Statues
The Statues are stone sculptures. Thanks to Mary Poppins, these works of art come alive and dance with Bert and the Park Strollers.
Neleus
Neleus is a statue who, once brought to life by Mary Poppins, is very happy to befriend Jane and Michael.
Bird Woman
The Bird Woman is covered in a patchwork of old shawls, her pockets stuffed with bags of crumbs for the birds. She tries to sell the crumbs to Passersby, who ignore her as if she doesn’t exist.
Honeybees
The Honeybees are conjured by Mary Poppins to help teach the children the benefits of “A Spoonful of Sugar.”
Clerks
The Clerks, like George, are employees at the bank.
Miss Smythe
Miss Smythe is the bank Chairman’s humorless secretary.
Chairman
Chairman, the head of the bank where Mr. Banks is employed, is an Edwardian stuffed shirt.
Von Hussler
Von Hussler is a businessman seeking a loan from the bank for a shady business deal.
John Northbrook
John Northbrook is an honest businessman seeking a loan to build a factory for his community.
Vagrants, Buskers, and Passerby
Vagrants, Buskers, and Passerby are citizens of London passing by the cathedral during “Feed the Birds.” They can also be play the Park Strollers earlier in the show.
Mrs. Corry
Mrs. Corry owns a magical Talking Shop. She is a mysterious woman of indeterminate age, but has plenty of spirit and is sharp as a tack.
Customers
The Customers are bright, colorful British citizens visiting Mrs. Corry’s Talking Shop. This group can be the same Park Strollers and Passersby from before.
Miss Andrew
Miss Andrew is George’s overbearing and scary childhood nanny. With her bottle of nasty- tasting brimstone and treacle to keep naughty children in line, she is a bully who only knows one way of doing things: her way.
Kite Flyers
Kite Flyers consist of families flying kites in the park. They can also be comprised of the same ensemble members as the Park Strollers, the Passersby, and Mrs. Corry’s Customers.
Chimney Sweeps
Chimney Sweeps (including Sweep 1, Sweep 2, Sweep 3, and Sweep 4) are Bert’s cheerful, friendly, and agile friends who keep London’s chimneys in working order.
Policeman and the Messenger
The Policeman, a neighborhood patrol officer, and the Messenger, who delivers a summons to George from the bank.
Bert
The narrator of the story, is a good friend to Mary Poppins. An everyman, Bert is a chimney sweep and a sidewalk artist, among many other occupations. With a twinkle in his eye and a skip in his step, Bert watches over the children and the goings-on around Cherry Tree Lane. He is a song-and-dance man with oodles of charm who is wise beyond his years.
George Banks
Husband to Winifred and father to Jane and Michael, is a banker to the very fiber of his being. Demanding "precision and order" in his household, he is a pipe-and-slippers man who doesn't have much to do with his children and believes that Miss Andrew, his cruel, strict childhood nanny, gave him the perfect upbringing. George's emotional armor, however off-putting, conceals a sensitive soul.
Winifred Banks
George's wife and Jane and Michael's mother. She is a loving homemaker who is busy trying to live up to her husband's social aspirations while striving to be a model wife and mother. Must portray a great warmth and depth of feeling.
Jane Banks
The high-spirited daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, bright and precocious but can be willful and inclined to snobbishness.
Michael Banks
The cheeky son of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Excitable and naughty, he adores his father and longs desperately for his attention. Both he and Jane misbehave in order to get the attention of their parents.
Mrs. Brill
The housekeeper and cook for the Banks family. Overworked, she’s always complaining that the house is understaffed. Her intimidating exterior is a cover for the warmth underneath.
Robertson Ay
The houseboy to the Banks family. Forgetful and clumsy, he often bungles simple tasks. Note: his last name is pronounced like “eye.”
Mary Poppins
Jane and Michael Banks’s new nanny. She is extraordinary and strange, neat and tidy, delightfully vain yet very particular, and sometimes a little frightening, but she is always exciting. She is practically perfect in every way and always means what she says. The role calls for an excellent singer and actor who should be able to move well. Since she carries a majority of the show, precision and diction are key.
Ensemble Groups & Featured Roles
All ensembles require group singing; featured roles require either solo singing or solo acting, or both. For each featured role, the pages showcasing the character's lines or vocals are listed.
Ensemble & Featured Characters include:
Katie Nanna
Katie Nanna is Jane and Michael’s nanny at the beginning of the show. Overwhelmed and upset, she has absolutely had her fill of the Banks children.
Park Strollers
The Park Strollers are citizens of London who go from drab and dreary to bright and colorful as they get swept up in Mary Poppins’s adventures in the park.
Statues
The Statues are stone sculptures. Thanks to Mary Poppins, these works of art come alive and dance with Bert and the Park Strollers.
Neleus
Neleus is a statue who, once brought to life by Mary Poppins, is very happy to befriend Jane and Michael.
Bird Woman
The Bird Woman is covered in a patchwork of old shawls, her pockets stuffed with bags of crumbs for the birds. She tries to sell the crumbs to Passersby, who ignore her as if she doesn’t exist.
Honeybees
The Honeybees are conjured by Mary Poppins to help teach the children the benefits of “A Spoonful of Sugar.”
Clerks
The Clerks, like George, are employees at the bank.
Miss Smythe
Miss Smythe is the bank Chairman’s humorless secretary.
Chairman
Chairman, the head of the bank where Mr. Banks is employed, is an Edwardian stuffed shirt.
Von Hussler
Von Hussler is a businessman seeking a loan from the bank for a shady business deal.
John Northbrook
John Northbrook is an honest businessman seeking a loan to build a factory for his community.
Vagrants, Buskers, and Passerby
Vagrants, Buskers, and Passerby are citizens of London passing by the cathedral during “Feed the Birds.” They can also be play the Park Strollers earlier in the show.
Mrs. Corry
Mrs. Corry owns a magical Talking Shop. She is a mysterious woman of indeterminate age, but has plenty of spirit and is sharp as a tack.
Customers
The Customers are bright, colorful British citizens visiting Mrs. Corry’s Talking Shop. This group can be the same Park Strollers and Passersby from before.
Miss Andrew
Miss Andrew is George’s overbearing and scary childhood nanny. With her bottle of nasty- tasting brimstone and treacle to keep naughty children in line, she is a bully who only knows one way of doing things: her way.
Kite Flyers
Kite Flyers consist of families flying kites in the park. They can also be comprised of the same ensemble members as the Park Strollers, the Passersby, and Mrs. Corry’s Customers.
Chimney Sweeps
Chimney Sweeps (including Sweep 1, Sweep 2, Sweep 3, and Sweep 4) are Bert’s cheerful, friendly, and agile friends who keep London’s chimneys in working order.
Policeman and the Messenger
The Policeman, a neighborhood patrol officer, and the Messenger, who delivers a summons to George from the bank.
Auditons
Vocals:
Please prepare a song with accompaniment tracks for your auditions. You may use any song you like, or pick one of the songs from the show below.
The tracks with Vocals are provided to help you learn and practice the song.
Make the song your own with your own character – don’t just try to mimic the singer on the vocal track! You are, however, encouraged to try to use British accents.
Don’t worry about who is supposed to be singing the various lines in the show. You, as the same person, can sing all of the lines in the audition selections below.
Of course, if you are trying to audition for a particular character, you may want to use that character in your singing.
Feel free to use any of the songs for your singing audition without regard to the character that sings them in the show (e.g., even if you don’t want to be Bert, you can still sing Jolly Holiday). That said, if you want to be a certain character, it might be helpful to sing one of his or her songs. For this:
The Perfect Nanny = Jane or Michael Banks
Practically Perfect = Mary Poppins
Jolly Holiday = Bert
A Spoonful of Sugar = Mary Poppins Supercaliffragilisticexpialidocious = Anyone
Let’s Go Fly A Kite = Bert
Anything Can Happen Finale = George or Winifred Banks or Anyone
Note that there are spoken lines in some songs below. Feel free to include or omit them.
*Each auditioner will learn a short dance routine that will be performed with a group during their audition
.
*Each auditioner will read selections from the script during their audition.
Please prepare a song with accompaniment tracks for your auditions. You may use any song you like, or pick one of the songs from the show below.
The tracks with Vocals are provided to help you learn and practice the song.
Make the song your own with your own character – don’t just try to mimic the singer on the vocal track! You are, however, encouraged to try to use British accents.
Don’t worry about who is supposed to be singing the various lines in the show. You, as the same person, can sing all of the lines in the audition selections below.
Of course, if you are trying to audition for a particular character, you may want to use that character in your singing.
Feel free to use any of the songs for your singing audition without regard to the character that sings them in the show (e.g., even if you don’t want to be Bert, you can still sing Jolly Holiday). That said, if you want to be a certain character, it might be helpful to sing one of his or her songs. For this:
The Perfect Nanny = Jane or Michael Banks
Practically Perfect = Mary Poppins
Jolly Holiday = Bert
A Spoonful of Sugar = Mary Poppins Supercaliffragilisticexpialidocious = Anyone
Let’s Go Fly A Kite = Bert
Anything Can Happen Finale = George or Winifred Banks or Anyone
Note that there are spoken lines in some songs below. Feel free to include or omit them.
*Each auditioner will learn a short dance routine that will be performed with a group during their audition
.
*Each auditioner will read selections from the script during their audition.
Vocal Tracks
Accompaniment Tracks
Script
| mary_poppins_script.pdf |