Megan osterhaus biography

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Megan Osterhaus – Adjunct Professor (Musical Theatre – Applied Voice)

Megan Osterhaus (Adjunct Professor) relocated to Connecticut with her family to enjoy this wonderful community after living in Manhattan and working professionally for the last 20 years. She has performed on Broadway in shows such as Mamma Mia!, covering the role of Sophie, the original Broadway cast of Mary Poppins where she played the leading role of Winifred Banks, and the Broadway revival of Les Miserables, covering the role of Fantine. She has also toured nationally across the U.S. and Canada performing in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat playing the Narrator, Cameron Mackintosh’s American Premiere of Martin Guerre and Mamma Mia! where she met her husband, Chris Bolan. She also played the title role of Mary Poppins in the Mexico City premiere and Toronto productions.

Selected regional credits include The Guthrie Theater, Music Theater of Wichita, Papermill Playhouse, PCLO, and Lyric Theater. She’s a Native of Oklahoma and holds a BFA from the University of Central Oklahoma. She studied voice from her mother, Kay Creed, who was an Opera Singer for the New York City Opera and has taken that training in Opera and applied her own technique to be geared towards musical theater. She also studied with her father, Carveth Osterhaus, who directed all over the country and ran the theater program at Oklahoma City University and the University of Central Oklahoma. Her mother and father were both founding members of Lyric Theater. She teaches voice both at WCSU and privately in Westport, CT. She also choreographs various productions throughout Connecticut and Upstate New York.

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Fantasy media franchise created by P. L. Travers

Mary Poppins is a fantasy media franchise created by P. L. Travers, originating with the Mary Poppins series of children's books, featuring the character of the same name.

Books

Main article: Mary Poppins (book series)

• Mary Poppins (1934)
• Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)
• Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943)
• Mary Poppins in the Park (1952)
• Mary Poppins From A to Z (1962)
• Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (1975)
• Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (1982)
• Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1988)

Films

Mary Poppins (1964)

Main article: Mary Poppins (film)

Mary Poppins was made into a film based on the first four books in the series by Walt Disney Productions in 1964. According to the 40th anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Walt Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to Mary Poppins from P. L. Travers as early as 1938, but was rebuffed because Travers did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation and did not want an animated cartoon based on it. The books had been a favourite of Disney's daughters when they were children, and he finally succeeded in purchasing the rights in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights.

The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in Mary Poppins She Wrote, a biography of Travers, by Valerie Lawson, published by Aurum Press in the United Kingdom. The relationship is also the subject of the 2013 Disney film Saving Mr. Banks, starring Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.

The process of planning the film and composing the songs took about two years. Songs in the film are by the Sherman Brothers. Mary Poppins is played by British actress Julie Andrews. Disney cast Dick Van Dyke in the key supporting role of Bert, while Banks children were played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. George and Winifred Banks were play