Mackintosh Makes Mary Poppins with Disney???

Impresario Cameron Mackintosh is forging ahead with his plans to revive Mary Poppins, but he's not joining forces to do so with his old friend and foe Andrew Lloyd Webber, as previously mooted (See The Goss, 24 Jun 2002). According to the New York Times, Mackintosh is working with Disney Theatrical Productions instead. Though it's the first collaboration between the two, it's an inevitable pairing as Mackintosh holds the rights to PL Travers' original book while Disney retains rights to the Sherman Brothers' classic songs (including "A Spoonful of Sugar" and, let's see if we can spell this right, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius") from its ever-popular 1964 film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The production is expected to open in 2004, first in the West End before transferring to Broadway. Pop and soap star Martine McCutcheon's name has been linked with the title role. McCutcheon was the original Eliza Doolittle in the National's revival of My Fair Lady, which Mackintosh took into the West End's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Controversially, she won this year's Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, even though her understudy performed the role more frequently due to McCutcheon's health problems.

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