ODT celebrating 40th anniversary with Mary Poppins performance this weekend

March 17, 2022 | 12:06 am

Updated March 17, 2022 | 9:57 am

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In celebration of Owensboro Dance Theatre’s 40th anniversary season, their spring show In Concert featuring Mary Poppins: Homecoming will be presented this weekend at the RiverPark Center. 

Friday night, ODT will be hosting a “Practically Perfect” party at 6 p.m. in the RiverPark lobby. Attendees are asked to come as their favorite Mary Poppins character or in their favorite “practically perfect” outfit and participate in carnival games, obstacle courses, desserts and drinks. There will be costume contests as well. 

Tickets are available at Johnson’s Dance Studio, ODT’s home school.

The dancing hits the stage with a 7 p.m. show on Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Act One will feature Owensboro Dance Theatre’s company dancers performing ODT dances from the past 40 years. Act Two will bring Mary Poppins’s magical world to the stage with over 140 local dancers performing, along with nine guest choreographers and dancers. Also included in Act Two will be ZFX Flying Effects out of Louisville. Many scenes remembered from the book and the movie will come to life through the magic of special effects, video backdrops and flying characters.

ODT senior Reese DeHaven will perform as Mary Poppins and said that she is ecstatic to perform her senior show without a mask.

“Being able to fully express yourselves takes our dance to another level,” she said.

DeHaven will also perform in four pieces in Act One, and she is excited to show the different styles of dance.

“Some of the pieces may have you roaring with laughter, while others may cause you to shed a tear or two,” she said, adding that the seniors will be performing their senior solos, which each dancer choreographed.

Kayla Thomson, a high school junior and member of ODT, said that while she is excited to be performing in Act One in three numbers, she is excited to fly in Act Two. 

“In this show, I have the opportunity to work with the tech crew on a new level. I will work with them to coordinate a harness, multiple quick changes and many other behind the scene processes,” she said, adding that she changes from a lamplighter into the flying Mary Poppins.

Thomson said that audience members can expect to be transported to a child-like state of wonder.

“Everyone who has seen the Mary Poppins films knows how her whimsical magic can make the ordinary extraordinary.  Our cast, tech, volunteers, and faculty have worked diligently to put our own spin on this classic,” she said.

Premier concert sponsors of In Concert featuring Mary Poppins: Homecoming are US Bank and the Michael E. Horn Family Foundation.

For more information or to purchase tickets to the events, call 270-684-9580. Information is also available on ODT’s Facebook and Instagram page along with their website owensborodancetheatre.org

March 17, 2022 | 12:06 am

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