Libertyville's Gerhart goes on the road with 'Poppins'

For the next year or so, Michael Gerhart of Libertyville is going to be on the road and living in London - the one created on stage eight shows a week in Disney and producer Cameron Mackintosh's North American tour of "Mary Poppins."

Gerhart plays the prospective loan client Von Hussler in "Mary Poppins," along with multiple ensemble roles ranging from a Cockney chimney sweep in the number "Step in Time" to a magical park stroller in the song "Jolly Holiday." Gerhart also understudies the roles of troubled patriarch Mr. Banks and the retired seaman Admiral Boom.

For Gerhart, a Glenview native and Northwestern University alum, the timing couldn't be more perfect.

"Any opportunity that any actor gets to be a part of something that's such a hit, you really look forward to it," said Gerhart, who has made a career as a professional actor in New York, on tour and around Chicago. "Especially in this economy, there's nothing like being involved in a production that you know is selling out."

An added bonus is the higher paycheck that comes with a national tour production contract, which typically pays more than Chicago-area Equity productions.

Though Gerhart and his family relocated to Libertyville from New York five years ago, he's kept busy with lots of work locally.

At Drury Lane Oak Brook, Gerhart's most recent work includes a slightly clueless patriarch in "Meet Me in St. Louis" and the unscrupulous agent in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story." At the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Gerhart was in "Beauty and the Beast" and "Les Miserables" and recently played the deceptive husband Harold who later takes it all off in "The Full Monty."

Gerhart's most recent national touring gig lasted a year and a half in "Mamma Mia!" two years ago. But Gerhart is savoring the comparative luxury of launching "Mary Poppins" on tour.

"It would be so easy for them to come to Chicago with a hit show and just do a cookie-cutter version where you basically plug people into tracks that already exist," Gerhart said. "I've been in tours where they've done that and where you're literally told that, 'This is the way it works in New York and so you're going to say this line like this.' You really start to feel more like a robot than an actor."

Instead, Gerhart said the "Mary Poppins" production team has been revisiting every single moment in the show and welcoming input from the cast. He's also amazed to be working with such seasoned "Mary Poppins" pros as Gavin Lee and Ashley Brown.

"It's truly remarkable. They are the backbone - almost like the trunk - of this production and we're just branching off of them," Gerhart said, lauding their expertise as an inspiration for the rest of the touring company to rise to their already proven excellent standards.

Gerhart also relishes the long stays in each city that will greet "Mary Poppins" in its first year on tour (the shortest stint is three weeks). It's a luxury when compared to the different-city-each-week schedule Gerhart was on in "Mamma Mia!"

"Touring is a double-edged sword. It's amazing to be in a wonderful production, but at the same time you do miss your family," Gerhart said. "Luckily we're in these cities for such an extended period of time that it's easier for family members to come and visit for extended periods of time without having them tour themselves."

Gerhart's happy to report that his wife, Becky (a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette-turned-school teacher), and his kids, Maddie and Collin, will be able to spend their summer off from school with him on tour.

Though some of Gerhart's neighbors have raised eyebrows at the time his touring gigs take away from his family, he says his wife and kids are used to it.

"I've been touring in this business for 25 years, so they haven't known anything other than the lifestyle that I lead. So because of that, it's completely normal to them," Gerhart said. "As an actor, it is feast and famine. Sometimes when I'm on the road, they don't see me very much, but when I'm between jobs, they get a whole feast of me."