Two Broadway megahits are coming to town this month. One is traveling first-class, while the other takes the bus.
Disney and producer Cameron Mackintosh launch the professional North American tour of Mary Poppins ( Photo by Joan Marcus ) at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre ( previews begin March 11 ) , while Hairspray returns in a non-Equity bus-and-truck tour for three performances at Governors State University in University Park ( March 13-14 ) and a one-night stand at Waukegan's Genesee Theatre ( March 19 ) .
With Mary Poppins, we have an example of one show that is grandly starting its touring life, while Hairspray is scampering around on a prolonged conclusion. There's quite a contrast for the conditions of the touring stars in both companies.
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The multimillion-dollar Mary Poppins tour arrives just in time for those in Chicago still mourning the loss of Wicked. ( They can take solace in the fact that the leading lady of Mary Poppins not only flies on stage, but over the audience as well. )
And Disney can legitimately add the tagline "Direct from Broadway!" to promote Mary Poppins in the case of its stars. Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee both originated their respective roles of Mary and Bert on Broadway and recreate them on tour.
A "Direct from London!" tagline could also be used for Lee, since he also originated the role of Bert in Great Britain back in 2004. Lee gives an actual cockney accent to the cheery chimney sweep instead of Dick Van Dyke's much-mocked cockney in Disney's Academy Award-winning 1964 film.
Having Brown and Lee on board to tour Mary Poppins is quite a coup, since many Broadway stars shun touring in favor of trying to get cast in new productions. But both Brown and Lee wanted to hold on to their roles and take them on the road.
"I wasn't ready to give the role up—I have such a great time playing the role and it's the role of a lifetime. As an actress, these roles don't come every day." said Brown, who played Mary on Broadway for two years. "I was excited to travel around the country and perform for people who haven't been able to come to New York and really bring Broadway to the rest of the country."
"This is by far the biggest and most satisfying role I've ever had," said Lee following a rehearsal in Chicago. That's why after more than four years, I'm still playing it."
But the adventure of touring the United States with his wife, Emily Harvey ( who is also in the ensemble ) , is also attractive to Lee. He's really excited to see America's heartland since he says most Brits just travel to U.S. cities on the East and West coasts.
Lee and Brown will also see more of the cities they tour to, since Mary Poppins' tour stops in its first year last at least three weeks and go on for a few months in big markets like Chicago and Los Angeles.
I know where I've been
Don't ask Jerry O'Boyle what the touring schedule is for Hairspray.
Since June 2006, the former Chicagoan has been playing the agoraphobic hausfrau Edna Turnblad on the non-Equity tour of Hairspray. Sometimes the show plays a week in some towns—other times it's just one day.
"I barely remember what my hotel room number is from night to night," said O'Boyle over the phone from Abilene, Texas.
But O'Boyle has stuck with the tour ( his first ) because he loves the role and the show's message of desegregation and tolerance.
"The one-nighters are more challenging, but for me it's almost more rewarding because we're in these small towns that might really need the lessons that Hairspray teaches," O'Boyle said.
"You find a way to make it feel like home," O'Boyle said, even though that means it's sometimes just a bus seat.
Although non-Equity tours are often seen a cheap knock-off of a big Broadway hit, they often keep the memory of the original production alive long after it has closed on Broadway. If you want to see Hairspray professionally, you would need to go overseas to see it in London or the Philippines.
Many tours like Hairspray purchase sets and costume from professional productions. O'Boyle thinks this tour's Hairspray sets and costumes come from the Toronto production.
And non-Equity tours don't just play small towns. O'Boyle is looking forward to a wee-long engagement in Montreal, while O'Boyle got to travel to China and Japan for the first time with Hairspray. ( The show was actually a part of the 2008 Beijing Cultural Olympiad. )
Touring with Hairspray has been quite an adventure for Boyle, who had actually quit acting back in 2000. O'Boyle's current Hairspray contract expired in December, but he's heard rumors that the tour will run into 2010.
"It's still very popular and we're still selling out everywhere we go," O'Boyle said. "There's no reason for it to go away."
