Mary Poppins musical promises to be fun experience

Southeast Missouri State University's theater and dance students will sing, dance and act next weekend in what's sure to be an uplifting and familiar performance of "Mary Poppins," a Disney classic.

Nearly 200 performers will play roles in the musical that has been in the works for about a year.

"It's a great story, has a great message, and it has familiar songs that everybody knows," Abigail Alsmeyer, a Southeast senior and the actress who plays Mary Poppins, told reporter Josh Hartwig in a recent interview. "It's just so joyful and magical. 'Joyful' I think is just the word to describe the show. It's so heart warming! No matter who you are you can relate to a character in the show."

Alsmeyer, originally from St. Charles, Missouri, has been performing since she was 7 years old and has wanted to do musical theater her entire life. Mary Poppins was also her favorite movie growing up, according to Hartwig's report.

Originally from Costa Rica, senior Jose Alpizar plays Bert.

"There's still so much magic to it," Alpizar said. "One of the things I love about doing theater is showing people, like my parents or family who have never seen a musical before."

These performances should be loads of fun, and an opportunity to see some of the awesome talent that is cultivating on campus at Southeast. Performances at the River Campus begin Thursday Feb. 21 and run through Feb. 25. For show times, see semoevents.com. You can purchase tickets by visiting the River Campus Box Office, by calling (573) 651-2265 or by going online at rivercampus.org.