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Mary Poppins the stage show boasts five new songs given the blessing of the original's composers, writes Julia May in London.
As small boys in 1960s Britain, Anthony Drewe and George Stiles were enthralled by the film version of The Jungle Book.
Its music, composed by renowned US songwriting duo the Sherman brothers, triggered in them a passion for musical theatre that would set the course of their lives.
Stiles, now a composer, and Drewe, a lyricist, could not guess that nearly 40 years after sitting in that cinema they would stand in front of Richard Sherman and perform songs they had composed and adapted for a stage version of the brothers' other favourite, Mary Poppins.
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Their next collaboration with Mackintosh, Betty Blue Eyes, is set in postwar Britain and is based on the film A Private Function, by Alan Bennett. It will have its debut in London's West End next month. The Australian version of Mary Poppins, which stars Verity Hunt-Ballard as Mary, Philip Quast as George Banks and Marina Prior as Winifred Banks, sold 500,000 tickets during its run in Melbourne and will open in Sydney on May 1. Stiles and Drewe say that the Australian cast is the best that the show has had, and led to the live cast recording of the show being released in February.
Stiles says they will travel to Sydney for its launch on May 1. "All of our ensemble are just stellar. Every single performer is contributing in a unique way."
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