Tickets for the Melbourne season will be on sale later this year.

Australia is just one of many Poppins productions planned internationally. The musical will open in Holland next year, and upcoming productions also include those in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Prague, Stockholm and Budapest with plans in development for Korea, Japan and Mexico.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh said in a statement, "For years we have been looking forward to bringing Mary Poppins home to Australia and I am delighted to be opening in Melbourne where I have enjoyed so many successes, from Cats, to Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera and most recently, Miss Saigon.

"I’m also very proud that my productions have spawned the regeneration of several great theatres in Australia.  The inspired creator of 'Mary Poppins,' the celebrated Australian writer P.L. Travers, grew up near Brisbane and Sydney, and spent her early life performing in theatres across Australia. Many of the people she knew there became inspirations for the classic and enduring characters that the world has grown to love."

Producer Thomas Schumacher added, "Walt Disney first fell in love with Pamela Travers’ stories when he discovered his own children reading her magical books.  It took him another 25 years to convince her to allow him to make his Academy Award winning film and perhaps the greatest triumph of his filmmaking career. "In Cameron Mackintosh, we have been blessed with a producing partner who has proven to be both a theatrical visionary and a steward of Pamela’s legacy. I would hope she would have been proud of what the stage musical has become and taken great pleasure in its enormous success around the world.

"We’ve enjoyed tremendously our previous Melbourne engagements with both The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but nothing pleases us more than finally bringing Mary Poppins home to the audiences of Australia.”

Richard Eyre directs Mary Poppins, which features choreography and co-direction by Matthew Bourne and boasts original songs from the film — with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman — as well as new songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Julian Fellowes wrote the book.

The musical also features set and costume design by Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design Steve Canyon Kennedy, orchestrations by William David Brohn, musical direction by Annbritt duChateau and musical supervision by David Caddick.

For more information visit www.marypoppins.com.