Growing up with a mom who loved “Mary Poppins” and all things Julie Andrews, Ivy Ward watched the “practically perfect” nanny multiple times. Despite her familiarity with the character, bringing her to life for an upcoming stage production presented the Augusta Prep senior with a challenge.
“It took me a little time to find my Mary Poppins’ attitude. I’ve never played a role like this before,” said Ward, who steps into the title role in the Musical Theatre Workshops production May 1-3 at Grovetown High School.
Ward sees Mary Poppins as a nonchalant person who “does everything in a positive manner to influence other people’s lives,” she said.
While she’s played many roles, they’ve had more of a comedic flair including Flounder in “The Little Mermaid” and Sally Brown in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”.
Her favorite scene in the movie is “Jolly Holiday” when the characters step into the chalk drawing and into the magical animated world.
The stage version has its differences of course with numbers such as the missing “Votes for Women” song and a revamped “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.
But what she does like in “Mary Poppins” is something she doesn’t find in other Disney shows.
“This Disney show is one of the best produced because it has more of a real-life situation than just magic or princesses,” she said.
She credits director Mickey Lubeck in bringing some emotional depth to the characters in the show.
“There’s a large emphasis on the development of the family,” she said. “It can be hard to get the emotional part of the play to really set into the audience. Those moments come across really well.”
“Mary Poppins” will be performed at 6:30 p.m. May 1-2 and at 3 p.m. May 3.
For ticket information, go here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named Augusta Magazine’s best local writer in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
