‘Mary Poppins’ lands Thursday at Gallo Center

Faster than you can say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” stage productions of the beloved Disney musical “Mary Poppins” have been, well, poppin’ up in Modesto and the foothills. That’s because licensing for the show for schools and community theaters became available just last fall.

The Modesto Christian Performing Arts production of “Mary Poppins” begins Thursday at the Gallo Center for the Arts and runs through Saturday. It’s the second of three productions of the Broadway musical – based on the 1964 movie starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke – to be staged in the area this year. The first was by Sierra Repertory Theatre in Sonora, which began in February and runs through May 3. The third will be by the Youth Entertainment Stage Company, July 17-26, also at the Gallo Center for the Arts.

Modesto Christian hired Louisville, Ky.-based ZFX Flying Effects to help Mary Poppins fly and help chimney sweep Bert do the proscenium walk up the side of the theater stage and upside down across the top.

For those who don’t know the books by P.L. Travers, the Disney film or the musical stage production, “Mary Poppins” is the story of the Banks family and how it changes when a magical nanny arrives at the family home at 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London. The musical includes such songs as “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and “Step in Time.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 8:09 PM with the headline "‘Mary Poppins’ lands Thursday at Gallo Center."