Two veteran writers collaborate on this fascinating behind‎-the‎-scenes account of the journey that took the “practically perfect” nanny from the pages of P‎.‎ L‎.‎ Travers’s beloved novels to the stage‎.‎ Well‎-known British writer and radio personality Brian Sibley tells Mary Poppins’s story‎,‎ from her obscure origins in Travers’s Australian childhood and her progress through the series of books Travers began to write in 1934‎,‎ to her incarnation by Julie Andrews in one of the most successful Disney films of all time‎,‎ to her long‎-awaited landing onstage in London’s West End‎.‎ A long‎-time friend of Travers and co‎-writer with her of an unproduced sequel to the film‎,‎ Sibley offers unique insights into the idiosyncratic author’s complex relationship to her heroine‎,‎ and the decades‎-long series of proposals and negotiations that finally resulted in Disney Theatrical Productions joining forces with the Cameron Mackintosh Theatrical Group to realize Travers’s stories as a spectacular work of musical theater‎.‎ Sibley’s details the entire development process of the show’s script‎,‎ music‎,‎ choreography‎,‎ and design‎,‎ culminating in a glorious opening night on December 15‎,‎ 2004 in London’s Prince Edward’s Theatre‎,‎ as Mary Poppins is met by cheering sold‎-out houses and critical raves‎.‎ In the book’s second half‎,‎ Michael Lassell gives a fascinating backstage account of the show’s transfer to Broadway‎,‎ including the show’s American casting and important changes to its book‎,‎ lyrics‎,‎ and designs‎,‎ as the creative team strives to “plus” Poppins to perfection‎.‎