Marcus Center’s “Mary Poppins” local connection

As a dad himself, Michael Dean Morgan’s has found the role of George Banks, the fatherly foil in the North American touring production of Mary Poppins, a little bittersweet. His children, a boy and girl, are staying home in New Jersey with his wife while he tours. Just now, the company is landing in Milwaukee for a run on the Marcus Center’s Broadway Series. As a Waukesha native, Morgan will feel a little more at home in Wisconsin.

“When I found out I’d be playing Mr. Banks, I took six months off to spend time with my kids before the tour,” Morgan said during a phone interview from Grand Rapids, the show’s stop prior to  Milwaukee and Appleton.

George Banks is a staid, traditional Edwardian Englishman. His interaction with his family makes him a pivotal character in Mary Poppins. Morgan says that George Banks is larger role on stage than it is in the film. His character changes more than any other in the show.

“I feel very lucky and blessed to be in this production” Morgan said. “It has the essence of what we love about Mary Poppins, in a surprisingly lavish and exciting show.”

The Broadway musical is based on P.L. Travers’ stories and the 1964 Walt Disney film and was created in collaboration with legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh (Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, to name a few of his shows). Mary Poppins differs from the film in that it includes material from the stories that the film omitted.

“There are three aspects of the music,” Morgan said. “There are the songs that you remember from the movie, there are some that are completely new and some are an amalgam, where the lyrics have been altered to push the plot.”

Morgan relished the week that Mackintosh sat in on rehearsals. “He’s amazingly hands-on when it comes to this production and that’s what keeps it so beautiful and fresh.”

Morgan has strong roots in Milwaukee’s theater community. After graduating from Carroll University he returned to his high school alma mater, Waukesha South, to run the theater department.

His “addiction to auditioning” led him to try out for a production of Mass Appeal at Mark Bucher’s Boulevard Ensemble in 2000. That was the “first domino” that fell and really started him on the path to professional theater, Morgan said.

“The Boulevard Ensemble led to roles at the Skylight, which led to the Utah Shakespeare Festival, which led to an MFA in acting at the University of California-Irvine,” he reflected. “I could have stayed in Milwaukee. It has a terrific theater community, but there are just so many roles …. I needed to continue with grad school to hone my craft and train like a ninja so that I could eventually move to New York.”

His experiences include creating the role of “the neurotic clown fish Marlin” in the Disney World production of Finding Nemo—The Musical and the touring production of Disney’s The Lion King as Zazu, the comic hornbill.

Morgan said he looks forward to returning to Uihlein Hall, where he last played in The Lion King. He and his wife, Shana Lindsey-Morgan, have family in the area and ties to Southminster Presbyterian Church in Waukesha. He said he expects the entire congregation to be in the audience at some point.

Mary Poppins runs Tuesday through Sunday, Mar. 4. Best ticket availability is for the Tuesday – Thursday evening performances. Tickets may be purchased at Marcus Center Box Office, 414/273-7206, all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.MarcusCenter.org .

Display image on the Arts & Culture page: The Original National Tour Company of MARY POPPINS performs “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”  ©Disney/CML.  Photo by Joan Marcus.