This is a rather unusual show, since musicals rarely contain melodrama. This magnificent and gripping story is enriched with a musical score that spans between opera and the modern musical style. So it is truly a real classic!
We follow Mary Lennox who wakes up one morning in India only to find her whole family deceased from Cholera. She is consequently sent to Yorkshire, England to live with her uncle Archibald, who is mourning his beautiful late wife Lily. Therefore Mary is told to behave quietly and not to venture around the house or the garden. Clearly Mary feels rather lonely but then she meets the jolly servant Martha, who takes her along into the garden where she meets the pleasant Dickon. He tells her about a secret garden hidden away behind a tall wall. It is a magical garden he says, that has been locked ever since Lily died but together they manage to find the key. Also one night, ignoring her uncle’s strict order, she enters the west wing of the house where the sick boy Collin lies. He cannot walk but Mary is so determined and eager to bring back joy into the house that she takes Collin to the magical garden where its power and her faith miraculously cure him so he can walk. In his gratitude the uncle not only gives the house to Mary but also Lily’s garden.
In 1992, THE SECRET GARDEN won three Tony Awards for the original staging on Broadway.
ORCHESTRATION:
Piano Conductor
Chorus-Vocal book
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Cello
Bass
Reed I –III: Trumpet and Trombone
Horn I & II
Keyboard I
Keyboard II
Percussion
