how can Poppins tour?!

[musicalkid]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:36pm

London's Mary Poppins is launching a UK tour after closing.

anyone know how? (scenery-wise?)

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:43pm

They were able to tour Titanic here in the US. I'm sure it won't be that difficult.

[turquoisefish]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:47pm

They put the set and stuff in trucks and drive it to a different theatre.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang toured and that had a flying car.

Mary Poppins had a tryout in Bristol and moved to London, it can move again.

[musicalkid]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:48pm

I really enjoyed the tidbit of the Miss Saigon Red Car.

in london it was a real car. and on tour it was modeled to look from the audience pointview like a real-size car, and it wasn't.

anyone know of nay such adjustments in Mary Poppins or other big-scale lavish shows?

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 3:11pm

Playbill.com had an article regarding a Poppins tour and how they'd move the set around. It was rather vague as I remember.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 3:43pm

All the set of MARY POPPINS needs is a large theatre with lots of space. Lots of theatres have elevator stages which can accomodate the rising and lowering house set and those with extra large wing space can keep the set onstage and just have it slide in and out from upstage, etc.

The 1st US National Tour of SUNSET BLVD. was a carbon-copy of the Broadway production -- yes, with the levitating 17-ton Norma Desmond mansion set. Yes, the tour could only play a limited amount of theatres since it could only play a venue with the hydraulics (and strong enough stage) required to handle the requirements of the production, but it WAS possible.

MARY POPPINS really only requires an elevator stage.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 4:00pm

They were out the theatre i work at (manchester palace) measuring up and said they are using the whole set on tour but can only take it to the theatres which have huge stages (Manchester Palace has the biggest stage outside of the west end and is bigger than most west end stages)

[henrybutler]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 4:22pm

if i remember correctly, though, brodyfosse, the 1st nat. tour of sunset boulevard was a complete financial disaster, presumably from the extreme costs of having to move and reassemble such a huge show so frequently. the second national tour was completely re-designed, set wise, with a new set designer (derek mclane), completely scaled-down. i'm guessing (based on what the playbill.com article said) that a mary poppins tour (at least in the U.S.)would re-imagine a few scenes or scenic elements to more-easily travel. the banks' house could easily be re-designed as another, more compact piece.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 5:40pm

they will probly have two different size set pieces for different theatres or reduce some set pices and subsitute them with drops.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 5:42pm

Yup. The 1st US National Tour of SUNSET BLVD. was an enormous financial fiasco, but I was answering the original poster's question -- is it possible to tour MARY POPPINS...scenic-wise? My response? Yes, it is. Will it be colossally expensive? Yes, it will be. Again, will it be possible to tour this show? Yes, it will be.

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 6:50pm

Bob Crowley is redesigning the sets in order to properly work for touring shows. It's a modified version of the very elaborate, current one.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 7:24pm

The only enormous set in Poppins is the house. That is an easy problem to solve:

Cut it into pieces and have it asemble together on stage. The London production moved from Bristol. The house in London (second and first floors) splits into three pieces, unlike the Broadway house, which is one.

Everything else in the show is flown in as back drops and furniture. I think a lot of people assume everything in the show is gigantic, but it's really only the house. The only thing that's really going to need a big adjustment is the nursery, which can be done differently in very creative ways. Oh, and the kitchen, too. On Broadway, it comes from beneath the stage....on tour it can easily come from the wings.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 9:32pm

like i said earlier

The London set is 100 percent going around the UK and playing most venues for 3 months.That is straight from their mouths

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 9:37pm

At the manchester palace they were measuring up for her flight and were looking to have her go right up to the huge dome at the top of the theatre

[iusedtobetheking]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:00pm

I really doubt that the show would be re-designed (even slightly) as Cameron Mackintosh doesn't like touring a second rate show, he wants it to be a West End show that is touring.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:10pm

Redesigning in terms of changing the way sets move on. The candelabras look the same, but they certainly do not come on stage the same way.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:34pm

Mary's flight at the end really depends on the theatre, especially if there is a catwalk in the theatre. It doesn't have to be done, it's just a nice finishing touch. I'm sure Bert's tap dance around the proscenium will be cut, though.