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СКАЧАТЬ Cameron Mackintosh

      Cameron Mackintosh has been producing shows for more than 40 years during which time he has put on hundreds of productions around the world including Cats, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera – the three longest running musicals of all time – and Miss Saigon. His other productions include the stage musicals Mary Poppins with Disney, Little Shop of Horrors, Side by Side by Sondheim, Follies, Martin Guerre, The Witches of Eastwick and acclaimed international revivals of My Fair Lady, Oliver! and Oklahoma!. Cameron owns seven theatres in London’s West End – the Prince of Wales, Gielgud, Queen’s, Wyndham’s, Noël Coward, Novello and Prince Edward, nearly all of which have undergone spectacular refurbishment. In 1995 his company received The Queen’s Award for Export Achievement and he was knighted in the 1996 New Year’s Honours for his services to British theatre. He is President of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and in 1990 he endowed the Chair of Contemporary Theatre for a visiting professor at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, where he is also an Honorary Fellow and Member of the Court of Benefactors. In 2006 he received the national Enjoy England Award for Excellence for his Outstanding Contribution to Tourism.

       Contents

       Title Page

       Why You’ll Love This Book

       Mary Poppins Opens the Door

       Mary Poppins in the Park

       Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane

       Mary Poppins and the House Next Door

       Postscript

       About the Author

       About the Publisher

       To my

       MOTHER

       1875 – 1928

       Contents

       EAST WIND

      IF YOU WANT to find Cherry Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the Policeman at the crossroads. He will push his helmet slightly to one side, scratch his head thoughtfully, and then he will point his huge white-gloved finger and say: “First to your right, second to your left, sharp right again, and you’re there. Good morning.”

      And sure enough, if you follow his directions exactly, you will be there – right in the middle of Cherry Tree Lane, where the houses run down one side and the Park runs down the other and the cherry-trees go dancing right down the middle.

      If you are looking for Number Seventeen – and it is more than likely that you will be, for this book is all about that particular house – you will very soon find it. To begin with, it is the smallest house in the Lane. And besides that, it is the only one that is rather dilapidated and needs a coat of paint. But Mr Banks, who owns it, said to Mrs Banks that she could have either a nice, clean, comfortable house or four children. But not both, for he couldn’t afford it.

      And after Mrs Banks had given the matter some consideration she came to the conclusion that she would rather have Jane, who was the eldest, and Michael, who came next, and John and Barbara, who were Twins and came last of all. So it was settled, and that was how the Banks family came to live at Number Seventeen, with Mrs Brill to cook for them, and Ellen to lay the tables, and Robertson Ay to cut the lawn and clean the knives and polish the shoes and, as Mr Banks always said, “to waste his time and my money.”

      And, of course, besides these there was Katie Nanna, who doesn’t really deserve to come into the book at all because, at the time I am speaking of, she had just left Number Seventeen.

      “Without a by your leave or a word of warning. And what am I to do?” said Mrs Banks.

      “Advertise, my dear,” said Mr Banks, putting on his shoes. “And I wish Robertson Ay would go without a word of warning, СКАЧАТЬ