Audition Instructions: Mary Poppins
Thank you for your interest in being a part of the Jerry Gibson Memorial Summer Youth Theatre’s production of Mary Poppins! Here are the audition instructions for the June 1st and June 2nd open auditions. Callbacks will occur on June 3rd.
Actors interested in the ENSEMBLE: Please prepare the following vocal selection: “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” beginning with the phrase “When you send it flying up there, all at once you’re lighter than air” through to the end of the chorus “Oh let’s go fly a kite!”
Male actors interested in PRINCIPAL MALE CHARACTERS: Please prepare the following vocal selection: Bert’s solo from “The Prologue,” beginning with the phrase “Wind’s in the east, there’s a mist rollin’ in” through to the phrase “Chim chiminey chim chim cheree chim che roo.”
Female actors interested in PRINCIPAL FEMALE CHARACTERS: Please prepare the following vocal selection: “Practically Perfect,” beginning with the phrase “Both prim and proper and never too stern” through the phrase “Practically perfect in every way.”
Young Performers interested in the characters JANE AND MICHAEL BANKS: Please prepare the following vocal selection: “The Perfect Nanny,” beginning with the phrase “If you want this choice position” through the phrase “And never smell of barley water.”
There will also be short acting sides (scenes with dialogue) available at the audition. You must choose scene to perform with our reader.
CALLBACKS: There will be a dance audition at the callback for characters called back for roles with more challenging dancing. Actors will also be called back for specific characters and will be asked to sing additional songs for specific roles, and read additional acting scenes. You will be notified of your callback information by late evening on June 2nd.
Character List & Song BreakDown Mary Poppins
Female Characters Male Characters
Mary Poppins (20s) is Jane and Michael Bert (30s) the narrator of the story, and Banks’ new nanny. She is extraordinary is a good friend to Mary Poppins. An and strange, neat and tidy, delightfully everyman, Bert has many occupations, vain yet very particular, and sometimes a currently a chimney sweep. Bert watches little frightening, but always exciting. A over the children as well as the goings mezzo soprano with strong top notes and on of Cherry Tree Lane. He speaks with a should be able to move well. Songs: cockney accent, and is a strong Practically Perfect, Jolly Holiday, A Spoonful songanddance man. Baritone. Songs: of Sugar, Feed the Birds, Prologue, All Me Own Work, Jolly Holiday, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Chim Winds Do Change, Chim Cheree, Let’s Go Fly a Kite, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Twists and Brimstone and Treacle (Part 2), Step in Turns, Chim Chim Cheree, Let’s Go Fly a Time, Anything Can Happen, A Spoonful of Kite, Step in Time, Down the Chimney, A Sugar (Reprise) Spoonful of Sugar (Reprise), Anything Can Happen (Part 2) Winifred Banks (30s) is George’s wife and Jane and Michael’s mother. A former George Banks (early 40s) father to Jane actress, she is a loving and distracted and Michael Banks, is a banker to the homemaker who is busy with living up to very fiber of his being. He demands her husband’s expectations. She has precision and order in his household and warmth and simplicity to her tone. Mezzo doesn’t have much to do with his Soprano. Songs: Cherry Tree Lane (Parts children. His emotional armor, however, 1 & 2), Let’s Hope She’ll Stay, A Spoonful of conceals a sensitive soul. A baritone. Sugar, Cherry Tree Lane (Reprise), Being Songs: Cherry Tree Lane (Parts 1 & 2), Mrs. Banks, Anything Can Happen Let’s Hope She’ll Stay, Precision and Order, A Man Has Dreams, Cherry Tree Lane Jane Banks (11), the highspirited (Reprise), Good for Nothing, A Man Has daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, is bright Dreams (Reprise), Give Us the Word and precocious but can be willful and inclined to snobbishness. Child soprano. Michael Banks (9) is the cute and cheeky Songs: Cherry Tree Lane (Parts 1 & 2), son of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Excitable and The Perfect Nanny, Practically Perfect, Jolly naughty, he adores his father and tries to Holiday, Let’s Hope She’ll Stay, A Spoonful be like him. Both he and Jane misbehave of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, in order to get the attention of their Cherry Tree Lane (Reprise), Let’s Go Fly a parents. Male child voice, unbroken. Kite, Practically Perfect (Reprise), Step in Songs: Cherry Tree Lane (Parts 1 & 2), The Time, Anything Can Happen (Parts 1 & 2) Perfect Nanny, Practically Perfect, Jolly Holiday, Let’s Hope She’ll Stay, A Spoonful Katie Nanna is Jane and Michael’s of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, nanny at the beginning of the show. Cherry Tree Lane (Reprise), Let’s Go Fly a Overwhelmed and upset, she has Kite, Practically Perfect (Reprise), Step in absolutely had her fill of the Banks Time, Anything Can Happen (Parts 1 & 2) children. Acting audition only. Policeman is a neighborhood fixture Miss Lark is the haughty nextdoor who is respected by and observant of the neighbor of the Banks family who treats households on his beat. Acting audition her dog, Willoughby, as if he were her only. child. Mezzo Soprano. Acting audition only. Admiral Bloom is a retired Royal Navy Mrs. Brill is the housekeeper and cook man and neighbor of the Banks family. A for the Banks family. Overworked and physically large man with a loud and harassed, she’s always complaining that booming voice, and has a soft spot for the house is understaffed. Her his neighbor, Miss Lark. Can double as intimidating exterior is a cover for her another character. Spoken audition only. warmth underneath. Alto. Cherry Tree Lane (Parts 1 & 2), Cherry Tree Lane Robertson Ay is the houseboy to the (Reprise) Banks family. Lazy, sleepy and grumbling, he never gets things right and Queen Victoria a statue in the park. small believes himself to be useless. He movementbased role in Jolly Holiday doesn’t do a lot of singing but his “Spoonful” solo can be a fun surprise. Miss Smythe the bank Chairman’s Tenor. Cherry Tree Lane (Parts 1 & 2), A humorless secretary. Acting audition only. Spoonful of Sugar, Cherry Tree Lane (Reprise) Bird Woman is covered in a patchwork of old shawls, and her pockets are Neleus a statue of a young boy posed stuffed with bags of crumbs for the birds. with a dolphin in the park. Neleus was She tries to sell her crumbs to passerby, separated from his father, Poseidon, and who ignore her as if she doesn’t exist. misses him. Must be a strong dancer. Alto. Feed the Birds, Anything Can Happen small movement role in Jolly Holiday (Part 1) Bank Chairman is the head of the bank Mrs. Corry owns a magical gingerbread where Mr. Banks is employed. He is an shop. She is a mysterious woman of Edwardian stuffed shirt. Baritone. great age who speaks with a Caribbean Precision and Order accent (or any accent that would make her seem exotic). Soprano. Von Hussler is a businessman seeking a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious loan from the bank for a shady business deal. He speaks with a German accent. Fannie daughter of Mrs. Corry. Songs: A Man Has Dreams. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious John Northbrookis an honest Annie daughter of Mrs. Corry businessman seeking a loan to build a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious factory for his community. He speaks with an accent from Northern Ireland. Miss Andrew is George’s overbearing Songs: Precision and Order. and scary nanny. With her bottle of nastytasting brimstone and treacle to Park Keeper Uniformed and officious, he keep naughty children in line, she is a makes sure no one breaks park bully who only knows one way of doing regulations. His life is defined by rules, things her way. A soprano with an alto but he secretly hankers after his belt. Brimstone and Treacle (Parts 1 & 2) childhood. Tenor. Let’s Go Fly a Kite