Chris Sizemore Returns as Bert in "Mary Poppins"

   Chris Sizemore is an amazingly talented performer who grew up on local stages - and now he has returned to Huntington for the summer to take part in the HART summer theatre production Mary Poppins: the Musical, which wraps up this weekend at the Ritter Park Amphitheatre.

   The Herald-Dispatch ran an excellent story about Chris and his work as a professional actor in Washington, DC - you can read it right here. Here's an excerpt:

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   On the opening night of "Mary Poppins," fun-loving chimney sweep Bert, played by Chris Sizemore, stands on a stage-built rooftop at Ritter Park Amphitheater as the Big Dipper emerges directly overhead in a hazy night sky slowly fading to black.

   As if on cue Sizemore delivers his line - "If you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in too."

   That has definitely been the case for the 1997 Cabell Midland High School grad and 2001 Marshall University grad who has been plying the stages of the Washington, D.C., as a professional actor the past dozen years, playing its best theaters from the Kennedy Center to the historic Ford's Theatre where he regularly does shows and working national tours such as "Willy Wonka," which came to the Marshall Artists Series several years ago.

   Sizemore, who just released his first CD "Only Imagine," has also kept a strong connection with home as he's rolled back to join such fellow actors/singers as Tamara Meadows, Lara Donahoe, Lee Dean, Debbie Wolfe and Jane Modlin in Mary Poppins The Musical, being presented by Huntington Area Regional Theater (HART in the Park) in conjunction with The Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District at the Ritter Park Amphitheater.

   The delightful, family-fueled musical opened last weekend and rolls for one more weekend with showtimes at 8:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, June 26-28.

   Gates open at 7 p.m., "Wonderland," the children's pre-show, begins at 7:30 p.m., there's an adult or community pre-show at 8 p.m., and the main show begins at 8:30 p.m.

   Tickets are $10 for children, $15 adults, $20 for reserved seating. Group rates available. Call 304-696-5954 for tickets or more info, or visit www.GHPRD.org.