Linda Walker-Morgan, Director, Samantha Morgan, and Rusty Martin.

“Anything can happen if you let it.”

That’s the sentence Linda Walker Morgan said she’d use to sum up the Warren Players’ new show Mary Poppins, which opens on Oct. 19 at the Struthers Library Theatre. Morgan’s second show as director, this version of Mary Poppins is based more on the book than the Disney movie and delves deeper into the characters. But aside from some new songs worked into the musical, Morgan and her crew have woven some Easter eggs into the set.

Morgan said that when she got the word that Poppins had been accepted and that she’d be putting it on, almost a year ago, she began working with daughter Samantha on ways to honor the patients and families she’s met on their cancer journeys. After 20 years of being a “chemo angel.” The Chemo Angels program matches volunteers with cancer patients and volunteers send cards, gifts, and uplifting messages to their patients throughout their treatment. After having interacted with hundreds of patients through the program, Morgan said, “the people have inspired me by their courage in battling this monster called cancer. We’ve impacted each others’ lives through this program, often me feeling like they’ve blessed me as much or more than I have them.”

Among the Easter eggs hidden throughout the set, Morgan said, are two framed silhouettes displayed on the mantle, both the silhouettes of cancer patients that Morgan has written to and both survivors. A sepia photo in the house set is of another patient that Morgan wrote to. Colors for specific set elements have been chosen specifically for their association with different cancer types, and initials have been integrated into set pieces of those who lost battles with cancer. The kites flown in one part of the musical have been colored like cancer ribbons, birds on the bird lady costume have been chosen because of cancer patients’ favorite birds, “They’ll literally become stars in the heavens,” Morgan said. Not all of the Easter eggs are cancer related, said Morgan. A Mary Poppins doll has been added to the collection of children’s toys, and Mary Poppins books on on the children’s bookshelves, and even family trinkets have been tucked in here and there.

The set took over 300 hours to build, said set designer Rusty Martin. Many of the pieces were crafted specifically for the musical to fit with the time period in which it’s set. Some of Morgan and Martin’s favorite things about the past year working on this play have been nights in the annex building and being silly, and seeing the development of the diverse cast of characters. Samantha Morgan, who plays Mary Poppins, has enjoyed working with Logan Beard, who plays Bert the chimney sweep.

Morgan said that the play will expose Mary Poppins fans to both some new characters and some new songs, and it also will delve deeper into the characters to explore why they are the way that they are. The cast contains people of all ages, from five to 80 years old, said Morgan, so the play is fun for people of any age.

And having wanted to direct Mary Poppins for years, said Morgan, she really feels that the message “anything can happen if you let it” is true. “It really is true,” she said.

Mary Poppins will run Thursday, Oct. 19 through Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Struthers Library Theatre. Tickets are $14 for adults and $12 for seniors and students. Children under five are free. Tickets can be ordered by phone at (814) 723-7231, online at strutherslibrarytheatre.com, or at the box office.