Supercalifragilistic

Laura Kelly, 23, who was brought up in Totton, was the toast of the musical world after her spectacular first performance in the £9m show at the Prince Edward Theatre

As the all-singing, all-dancing, no-nonsense nanny, Laura has stepped into one of her biggest roles in the very first stage musical to be based on the original 1934 book.

In one of the show's most spectacular scenes she soars above the heads of the audience clutching Mary's famous umbrella.

Technical problems had previously prevented Mary taking off in rehearsals but yesterday's performance went without a hitch and she flew through the auditorium to gasps of delight.

A ten-minute standing ovation at the end of the performance showed that the star-studded audience, including Barbara Windsor, Graham Norton and Tamzin Outhwaite, were dazzled by the spectacle.

During rehearsals Laura, whose family live on the Isle of Wight, said she was delighted to have landed the lead role.

"I am absolutely thrilled at the opportunity I have been given," she said. "This is truly the role of a lifetime."

Andrew Lloyd Webber had wanted her to star in his rival production The Woman In White, but Laura chose Mary Poppins instead.

In the 70th anniversary year of the creation of the magical nanny, Sir Cameron Mackintosh has based his musical on Pamela Travers' story rather than the 1964 film which starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

Miss Travers had intended the story to be a dark tale and was said to have burst into tears when she first saw the saccharine Disney film.

However, just three years before her death in 1997, aged 93, she allowed Sir Cameron to bring the story to the stage, complete with the popular Disney songs such as A Spoonful Of Sugar and Chim-Chim-Cheree.

Ten children will share the role of the two Banks' children over the course of the musical's West End run.

It has taken £12m in advance sales, although earlier this week ran into controversy when director Richard Eyre banned young children from coming to see it.

The under-threes are barred and parents are being warned that the show may be too scary for children under seven.

YOUNG STAR WITH A STRING OF HITS:

LES Miserables, Whistle Down The Wind, Mamma Mia, Beauty And The Beast and My Fair Lady - gifted Laura Kelly has starred in them all.

Already in her short career the 23-year-old actress has taken the musical world by storm both in the West End and on Broadway.

She developed her love of entertaining audiences as a child singing in church and acting in amateur shows.

Laura, whose family moved from Totton when she was nine, attended Sandown High School before moving to London aged 16 to pursue a stage career.

She went on to take her first lead role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady in the West End for six months last year, following in the footsteps of Martine McCutcheon

Earlier this year she made her Broadway debut in the revival of Fiddler On The Roof.

Her father Martin made the transatlantic trip from the family home on the Isle of Wight to see his daughter take to the stage on the opening night two months after Laura's mother Allyson died from breast cancer, aged 43.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was so impressed with Laura's stage talent that he wanted her to perform in his new show Woman in White but the rehearsals clashed with Mary Poppins.