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How long does it take 400 actresses to sing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? About nine days, apparently. About 400 hopefuls are auditioning for the stage role of Mary Poppins this week in three New Zealand and five Australian cities before the Australian opening of Mary Poppins, the stage musical due to open at Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre in July.
Last month the British and American producers of the musical now showing in New York and Los Angeles said that despite seeing scores of potential Mary Poppins for the $16 million Australian production, none of them had the elusive qualities needed for the role. These are superlative acting, singing and dancing skills that people identify with the movie role made famous by Julie Andrews, but combined with a stage presence that communicates ''other worldliness''. Mary Poppins is, after all, an English nanny character who not only mends the hearts of an uptight Edwardian family but also flies over London rooftops and breaks into song.
