The Secret Garden is a musical based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The musical's script and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon. It premiered on Broadway in 1991 and ran for 709 performances.
The story is set in the early years of the 20th century. Mary Lennox, an English girl born and raised in the British Raj, is orphaned by a cholera outbreak when she is ten years old. She is sent away from India to the moors of Yorkshire, England, to live in the manor of a brooding uncle she has never met. There, her personality blossoms among the other residents of the manor as they bring new life to a long-neglected garden.
An entirely different musical version of the novel, book and music written by the team of Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli, premiered at Canada's Shaw Festival in 2024.
Productions
The musical debuted as a staged reading at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the summer of 1989, produced by Capital Repertory Theatre. R.J. Cutler directed the summer workshop, and went on to direct the world premiere at the Wells Theatre, Norfolk, Virginia, in a Virginia Stage Company production, running from November 28 to December 17, 1989. The production included scenic design by Heidi Landesman, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and costumes by Martin Pakledinaz. It starred Victoria Clark as Martha, Michael McCormick as Neville, and William Youmans as Albert and Ben.
The Secret Garden premiered in New York City on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 25, 1991, and closed on January 3, 1993, after 709 performances. That production was directed by Susan H. Schulman, with choreography by Michael Lichtefeld. The cast featured Daisy Eagan as Mary Lennox, Mandy Patinkin, Rebecca Luker, Alison Fraser, Robert Westenberg and John Cameron Mitchell. It won the 1991 Tony Awards for: Best Book of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Daisy Eagan), and Best Scenic Design (Heidi Landesman). Costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Costume Design.
The wardrobe is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida.
The musical was produced in Australia in 1995 in Brisbane (opened on 27 July), Sydney (opened on 7 September), and Melbourne (opened on 20 December). Directed by Schulman and with sets by Landesman, the production included Philip Quast as Neville Craven and Anthony Warlow as Archibald Craven.
A heavily revised Royal Shakespeare Company version ran at Stratford-upon-Avon in England from November 13, 2000, until January 27, 2001, at the time breaking box office records. Philip Quast, Meredith Braun, Peter Polycarpou, and Craig Purnell (Best Supporting Performance in a Musical, WhatsOnStage Awards 2002) starred, Adrian Noble directed, and Gillian Lynne staged and choreographed the production. The RSC production transferred to London's West End Aldwych Theatre, where it ran from February to June 2001.
Over the years, The Secret Garden found favor with local and regional theaters.
Mirvish Productions staged the play at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada, from February 13 to March 19, 2011, as part of a tour that began at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Secret Garden returned to the West End for six weeks in July and August 2016 at the Ambassadors Theatre with a company of child actors, directed by Rupert Hands.
Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company, in collaboration with Seattle, Washington's 5th Avenue Theatre, presented the musical from November 15, 2016, to January 8, 2017, directed by David Armstrong. Michael Kahn (Artistic Director at the time) noted that this production is "an active reworking" of the musical. The production has revisions that include new songs, deletions (including the songs "Round-Shouldered Man", "Quartet", "Race You to the Top of the Morning") and re-arranging. Overall, it condenses and streamlines the story to a shorter running time, with Norman and Simon's involvement. The production was performed at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle from April 14 to May 6, 2017, and at the Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, Texas, October 10–22. That January, Playbill wrote about plans for this production to go to Broadway, but the production's timeline was canceled.
In February 2018, Playbill wrote about plans for the first Broadway revival, with Warren Carlyle as director/choreographer and with a cast, theatre, and other details to come. A lab production prior to the Broadway revival, also directed by Carlyle, was planned to run from May 19 to June 8. Participants in the lab production included Sierra Boggess as Lily, Matt Doyle as Albert, Drew Gehling as Neville, Clifton Duncan as Archibald, Ali Ewoldt as Rose, and Brooklyn Shuck as Mary. The revival did not come to pass in the 2018–19 season and there has been no further word on the project. When Warren Carlyle was interviewed by Ken Davenport for The Producer's Perspective Podcast in May 2019, he said that the revival was still on the table. They had a cast lined up, they were just waiting for the right theatre to be available. The revival's workshop streamed from May 6 to 9, 2021. The production premiered at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and will run from February 19 through March 26, 2023. Sierra Boggess has been announced to star as Lily. Other cast members include Sadie Brickman Reynolds as Mary Lennox, Derrick Davis as Archibald Craven, Emily Jewel Hoder as Mary Lennox, Aaron Lazar as Dr. Neville Craven, Julia Lester as Martha, John-Michael Lyles as Dickon, Terron Brooks as Major Shelley, Mark Capri as Ben Weatherstaff, Peyton Crim as Major Holmes, Susan Denaker as Mrs. Medlock, Kelley Dorney as Mrs. Winthrop/Cholera, Ali Ewoldt as Rose Lennox, William Foon as Colin Craven alternate, Ava Madison Gray as Mary Lennox alternate, John Krause as Captain Albert Lennox, Reese Levine as Colin Craven, Yamuna Meleth as Ayah, Cassandra Marie Murphy as Mrs. Shelley, James Olivas as Lieutenant Wright, Kyla Jordan Stone as Alice, Vishal Vaidya as Fakir, and Ariel Neydavoud, with Randi De Marco and Sam Linkowski serving as swings.
Opera Australia and the Gordon Frost Organisation intended to stage the 25th-anniversary production, again directed by Susan H. Schulman, opening in Sydney in August 2020, with a Melbourne season to follow. Anthony Warlow was expected to reprise the role of Archibald Craven, the rest of the cast included Rowena Wallace as Mrs. Medlock, Rob McDougall as Neville, Georgina Hopson as Lily, Alinta Chidzey as Martha, Nigel Huckle as Dickon, and Rodney Dobson as Ben Weatherstaff. Opera Australia canceled the 25th-anniversary production in April 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2026, an actor-musician revival of the show was performed at York Theatre Royal in the UK directed by John Doyle, with musical supervision by Catherine Jayes.
Concerts
The Secret Garden was The Third Annual World AIDS Day Benefit Concert, held on December 5, 2005, at the Manhattan Center Studios Grand Ballroom, New York City. This was the first New York revisitation of the show since its original Broadway run. The concert was directed by Stafford Arima and produced by Jamie McGonnigal. The cast featured Laura Benanti as Lily, Steven Pasquale as Archie, Will Chase as Neville, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Martha, David Canary as Ben, Jaclyn Neidenthal as Mary, Struan Erlenborn as Colin, Max von Essen as Albert, Sara Gettelfinger as Rose, and Michael Arden as Dickon. The cast also included Matt Cavenaugh, Jenny Powers, Ben Magnuson, Shonn Wiley, Reshma Shetty, Deborah S. Craig, Nehal Joshi, and Kate Shindle, with Barbara Rosenblat returning to the role she created, Mrs. Medlock.
Manhattan Concert Productions presented a 25th anniversary concert production of The Secret Garden at Lincoln Center for two nights on February 21 and 22, 2016, with Sydney Lucas starring as Mary Lennox. She was joined by the original "Mary Lennox", Daisy Eagan, who now plays the role of Martha, and Barbara Rosenblat, returning to her original role of Mrs. Medlock. Also in the cast were Ramin Karimloo as Archibald Craven, Sierra Boggess as Lily, Cheyenne Jackson as Neville Craven, Ben Platt as Dickon, Jere Shea as Ben, Oscar Williams as Colin Craven, Nikki Renée Daniels as Rose, Josh Young as Captain Albert Lennox and Telly Leung as Fakir.
Rebecca Luker (the original Lily) appeared in a benefit concert for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York and Western New York at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 11, 2016. The concert was originally scheduled to be one night only, but a second performance was added for January 17. Daisy Eagan, the original "Mary Lennox" was the host for the concerts.
The Secret Garden (in concert) was presented in Toronto, Canada, in January 2017 as the inaugural show of a newly formed theatre company Podium Concert Productions, headed by Producer Peter da Costa and Conductor Mark Camilleri.
In February 2019, The Secret Garden was presented by the Virginia Stage Company in the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in a concert to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary. This is the first time that The Secret Garden has been staged there since the World Premiere in 1989.
A one night concert version of the musical played at the London Palladium on August 28, 2022. This has been postponed twice due to COVID-19. The cast has Westlife's Mark Feehily and acclaimed West End actor Hadley Fraser as the two brothers, joined by rising star Darcy Jacobs as Mary. The concert follows the original Broadway version, which has never been performed in the U.K until now.
Synopsis
This synopsis describes the original Broadway production; the reworked London production altered this sequence by moving or omitting several scenes and songs.
Act I
Mary Lennox, a sickly 10-year-old English girl who has lived mostly in isolation in India since birth, dreams of English nursery rhymes and Hindi chants ("Opening"). Survivors of a cholera outbreak discover Mary and inform her that her parents and nearly everyone she knew, including her Ayah, have died during the epidemic ("There's a Girl").
Mary is sent to live in England with her mysterious uncle Archibald Craven, a reclusive hunchback who has spent years grieving the death of his wife, Lily. Due to Archibald's introversion, the management of his manor house, Misselthwaite, is largely left to his manipulative brother, Dr. Neville Craven.
!West End
!Off-Broadway Revival
!25th Anniversary Concert
!Washington D.C.
!Seattle
!West End Concert
!Los Angeles
!UK Revival
|-
!<small>1991</small>
!<small>1992</small>
!<small>1995</small>
!<small>2001</small>
! colspan="3" |<small>2016</small>
!<small>2017</small>
!<small>2022</small>
!<small>2023</small>
!2026
|-
! Mary Lennox
| colspan="1" align="center" | Daisy Eagan
| colspan="1" align="center" | Melody Kay<hr />Kimberly Mahon
| colspan="1" align="center" | Samantha Fiddes<hr />Sarah Ogden
| colspan="1" align="center" | Natalie Morgan<hr>Eliza Caird<hr>Tasmin Egerton Dick
| colspan="1" align="center" | Gabriella Pizzolo
| colspan="1" align="center" | Sydney Lucas
| colspan="1" align="center" | Anya Rothman
| colspan="1" align="center" | Bea Corley
| colspan="1" align="center" |Darcy Jacobs
| colspan="1" align="center" | Emily Jewel Hoder
|Estella Evans<hr />Poppy Jason
|-
! Lord Archibald Craven
| colspan="1" align="center" | Mandy Patinkin
| colspan="1" align="center" | Kevin McGuire
| colspan="1" align="center" | Anthony Warlow
| colspan="1" align="center" | Philip Quast
| colspan="1" align="center" | Bradley Dean
| colspan="1" align="center" | Ramin Karimloo
| colspan="1" align="center" | Michael Xavier
| colspan="1" align="center" | Tam Mutu
| colspan="1" align="center" |Hadley Fraser
| colspan="1" align="center" | Derrick Davis
|Henry Jenkinson
|-
! Lily Craven
| colspan="1" align="center" | Rebecca Luker
| colspan="1" align="center" | Anne Runolfsson
| colspan="1" align="center" | Marina Prior
| colspan="1" align="center" | Meredith Braun
| colspan="1" align="center" | Rebecca Luker
| colspan="1" align="center" | Sierra Boggess
| colspan="2" align="center" | Lizzie Klemperer
| colspan="1" align="center" | Emma Williams
| colspan="1" align="center" | Sierra Boggess
|Joanna Hickman
|-
! Dr. Neville Craven
| colspan="1" align="center" | Robert Westenberg
| colspan="1" align="center" | Douglas Sills
| colspan="1" align="center" | Philip Quast
| colspan="1" align="center" | Peter Polycarpou*
| colspan="1" align="center" | Max von Essen
| colspan="1" align="center" | Cheyenne Jackson
| colspan="2" align="center" | Josh Young
| colspan="1" align="center" | Mark Feehily
| colspan="1" align="center" | Aaron Lazar
|André Refig
|-
! Martha Sowerby
| colspan="1" align="center" | Alison Fraser
| colspan="1" align="center" | Tracey Moore
| colspan="1" align="center" | Susan-Ann Walker
| colspan="1" align="center" | Linzi Hateley
| colspan="1" align="center" | Cortney Wolfson
| colspan="3" align="center" | Daisy Eagan
| colspan="1" align="center" | Maiya Quansah-Breed
| colspan="1" align="center" | Julia Lester
|Catrin Mai Edwards
|-
! Dickon Sowerby
| colspan="1" align="center" | John Cameron Mitchell
| colspan="1" align="center" | Roger Bart
| colspan="1" align="center" | Tom Blair
| colspan="1" align="center" | Craig Purnell
| colspan="1" align="center" | Tom Deckman
| colspan="1" align="center" | Ben Platt
| colspan="2" align="center" | Charlie Franklin
| colspan="1" align="center" |Alex Thomas-Smith
| colspan="1" align="center" | John-Michael Lyles
|Elliot Mackenzie
|-
! Colin Craven
| colspan="1" align="center" | John Babcock
| colspan="1" align="center" | Sean Considine<hr />Luke Hogan
| colspan="1" align="center" | Bart Ritchie<hr />Ross Hannaford
| colspan="1" align="center" | Luke Newberry<hr>Eddie Brown<hr>Adam Clarke
| colspan="1" align="center" | Eli Tokash
| colspan="1" align="center" | Oscar Williams
| colspan="1" align="center" | Henry Baratz
| colspan="1" align="center" | Guthrie Greenwood Bettinger
| colspan="1" align="center" |Isaac Lancel-Watkinson
| colspan="1" align="center" | Reese Levine
|Cristian Buttaci<hr />Dexter Pulling
|-
! Rose Lennox
| colspan="1" align="center" |Kay Walbye
| colspan="1" align="center" |Jacquelyn Piro Donovan
| colspan="1" align="center" |Carolyn Ferrie
| colspan="1" align="center" |Carmen Cusack
| colspan="1" align="center" |Ali Ewoldt
| colspan="1" align="center" |Nikki Renée Daniels
| colspan="2" align="center" |Brittany Baratz
| colspan="1" align="center" |Glain Rhys
| colspan="1" align="center" |Ali Ewoldt
|
|-
! Captain Albert Lennox
| colspan="1" align="center" | Michael DeVries
| colspan="1" align="center" | Kevin Dearinger
| colspan="1" align="center" | Shaun Murphy
| colspan="1" align="center" | Alistair Robins
| colspan="1" align="center" | Unknown
| colspan="1" align="center" | Josh Young
| colspan="2" align="center" | Jason Forbach
| colspan="1" align="center" |Michael Riseley
| colspan="1" align="center" | John Krause
|
|-
! Ben Weatherstaff
| colspan="1" align="center" | Thomas Toner
| colspan="1" align="center" | Jay Garner
| colspan="1" align="center" | Raymond Duprac
| colspan="1" align="center" | Freddie Davies
| colspan="1" align="center" | Bill Nolte
| colspan="1" align="center" | Jere Shea
| colspan="2" align="center" | Seán G. Griffin
| colspan="1" align="center" |Howard Scott Walker
| colspan="1" align="center" | Mark Capri
|Steve Simmonds
|-
! Mrs. Medlock
| colspan="1" align="center" |Barbara Rosenblat
| colspan="1" align="center" | Mary Fogarty
| colspan="1" align="center" |June Salter
| colspan="1" align="center" |Dilys Laye
| colspan="1" align="center" |Frances Mercanti-Anthony
| colspan="1" align="center" |Barbara Rosenblat
| colspan="1" align="center" |Catherine Flye
| colspan="1" align="center" |Marianne Owen
| colspan="1" align="center" |Linda John-Pierre
| colspan="1" align="center" |Susan Denaker
|Elizabeth Marsh
|-
!Mrs. Winthrop
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|Ann Marcuson
|-
!Ensemble
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|Stephanie Cremona, Matthew James Hinchliffe, Lara Lewis, and Melinda Orengo
|}
(*On the London cast recording, this role was sung by Christian Patterson)
Notable Broadway replacements (1991-93)
- Mary Lennox: Melody Kay
- Archibald Craven: Howard McGillin
- Ben Weatherstaff: Bill Nolte (u/s)
Additional notable performers
- Archibald Craven: Brent Barrett, Earl Carpenter, Robert Cuccioli, Kevin Earley, Max von Essen, Jeremy Kushnier, Peter Lockyer, Sean Palmer, Steven Pasquale, Douglas Sills
- Lily Craven: Laura Benanti, Patti Cohenour, Mari Hanafusa
- Dr. Neville Craven: James Barbour, Will Chase, Darren Dunstan, Michael McCormick
- Martha Sowerby: Victoria Clark, Celia Keenan-Bolger
- Dickon Sowerby: Michael Arden, Colton Ryan
- Rose Lennox: Sara Gettelfinger
- Captain Albert Lennox: James Barbour, Max von Essen, William Youmans
- Ben Weatherstaff: David Canary, William Youmans
Cast recordings
A full recording was made with the original Broadway cast, including all of the songs listed above as well as some interstitial material, and released on CD by Columbia Records in 1991 (catalog number CK 48817). Colin's part in the second act duet "Come to My Garden / Lift Me Up" was recorded by Joel E. Chaiken because, by the time the album was recorded, Babcock's voice had changed, and he could no longer the boy soprano range required in the song.
An eight-song "highlights" album with Fiddes, Ritchie, and the rest of the Australian cast was released on CD by Polydor Records Australia in 1995 (catalog number 579 997-2).
The original London production was partially reworked for production by the Royal Shakespeare Company, reducing the emphasis on the adult characters to return the plot closer to the original book. A full recording of this version was released on CD by First Night Records in 2001.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="20%"| Award
! width="45%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
| rowspan="22" align="center"| 1991
| rowspan="7"| Tony Award
| colspan="2"| Best Musical
|
|-
| Best Book of a Musical
| Marsha Norman
|
|-
| Best Original Score
| Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Featured Actress in a Musical
| Daisy Eagan
|
|-
| Alison Fraser
|
|-
| Best Scenic Design
| Heidi Landesman
|
|-
| Best Costume Design
| Theoni V. Aldredge
|
|-
| rowspan="14"| Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2"| Outstanding Musical
|
|-
| Outstanding Book of a Musical
| Marsha Norman
|
|-
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical
| Mandy Patinkin
|
|-
| Outstanding Actress in a Musical
| Daisy Eagan
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
| John Cameron Mitchell
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
| Alison Fraser
|
|-
| Rebecca Luker
|
|-
| Outstanding Director of a Musical
| Susan H. Schulman
|
|-
| Outstanding Choreography
| Michael Lichtefeld
|
|-
| Outstanding Orchestrations
| William David Brohn
|
|-
| Outstanding Lyrics
| Marsha Norman
|
|-
| Outstanding Music
| Lucy Simon
|
|-
| Outstanding Set Design
| Heidi Landesman
|
|-
| Outstanding Lighting Design
| Tharon Musser
|
|-
| New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
| Best Musical
| Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman
|
|}