A musical version of The Secret Garden is to tour the UK but for six dates only.
Opening at Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Friday 11 October, Area Entertainment and Knockhardy Productions present a concert staging of Broadway musical The Secret Garden.
This three-time Tony Award-winning musical will be brought to life in an intimate concert staging to tour the UK. Casting has yet to be announced.
Based on the novel by Francis Hodgson Burnett, this classic of children's literature is reimagined in musical style by composer Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Night Mother.
"Ophaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald. In escaping hs insufferable company a friendship soon blossoms with a local boy named Dickson, and together they begin to take an interest in the mysterious house Mary now lives in. The estate's many wonders include an entrancing grden which beckons the children with it's haunting melodies, but can they unlock the secrets that are held within?"
The Secret Garden premièred on Broadway in 1991 where it ran for 709 performances and received three Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards. A new production by the Royal Shakespare Company subsequently opened in Stratford in 2000 before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in the West End in 2001.
Following a sucessful run at the King's Head Theatre, Islington in February 2013, this special concert staging, from the production team behind The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Arts Theatre and The Children of Eden Gala Concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre, will now embark on a limited 6-date UK Tour.
Music is by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman. It is directed by Matthew Gould with musical direction by David Keefe and casting by Benjamin Newcome. It is designed by Franciso Rodriguez-Weil with lighting by Tom Kitney and sound by Kirsty Gillmore.