Behind the Musical Adaptation

How's this for an interesting coincidence? The musical version of The Secret Garden made its Broadway debut on April 25, 1991, at the St. James Theatre. Yes, you read that correctly. Of course it was in New York, not rural Minnesota, but I choose to think it was serendipitous. Based on the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden musical was a collaboration between writer and lyricist, Marsha Norman, and songwriter Lucy Simon (Carly Simon's older sister, for those of you with memories of the sixties). The production ran on Broadway for a total of 709 performances and closed January 3, 1993. The show won several Tony awards in 1991--"Best Book of a Musical," "Best Scenic Design," and "Best Featured Actress in a Musical," which went to Daisy Eagan for her portrayal of Mary Lennox. Eagan was the youngest female recipient of a Tony Award, as she was only 11 years old at the time. Also rounding out the original Broadway cast were actors Rebecca Luker (Lily), Robert Westenberg (Neville), John Babcock (Colin), Alison Fraser (Martha), John Cameron Mitchell (Dickon), and Mandy Patinkin (Archibald). The award-winning set was designed to resemble an enormous Victorian toy dollhouse:

While the Broadway production is mostly faithful to Burnett's original story, there are a few notable differences between the novel and the musical it inspired. The book focused much of its attention on Mary and her relationship to Dickon, Martha, and Colin. This continues to be an essential part of the musical adaptation, but Norman chose to develop the adult characters further by exploring the complex emotional themes and creating more of a backstory for them. This effort led the playwright to change some of the familial connections--choosing to make Mary's mother, rather than Mary's father, the sibling to Archibald's wife Lily (who is actually named Lilias in the book). In the book, Colin's doctor is portrayed as a distant cousin of Archibald who's mostly a tertiary character, whereas the musical casts Dr. Craven as Archibald's jealous brother in order to add a greater sense of conflict and tension to the story. 

The musical production of The Secret Garden is licensed by Samuel French and has a cast of approximately 24 named characters. In addition to its nine lead and supporting roles, the play makes use of a cast of nine or so "Dreamers," described by the playwright as "people from Mary's life in India, who haunt her until she finds her new life in the course of this story. They are free to sing directly to us, appearing and disappearing at will." These are Mary's family, friends, and servants who died during the cholera epidemic in India, and they act as ghosts of a Greek chorus, narrating the action and moving the story along. 

The original Broadway production boasts 28 songs, as well as a number of short, transitional numbers performed by various "Dreamers" between scenes. For a full list of the songs, including which characters perform them and where in the storyline they occur, you can check out the Wikipedia page. The music ranges from gothic ("The House Upon the Hill," "I Heard Someone Crying") to tender ("A Girl in the Valley," "Race You to the Top of the Morning") to heart-wrenching ("Where In the World," "How Could I Ever Know") to playful ("Show Me the Key," "Wick") to healing ("Hold On," "Come to My Garden"). Though it's hard to pick a favorite, the duet between Archibald and Neville, "Lily's Eyes,"  is largely considered to be the most memorable and moving piece from the show. If you'd like to purchase a copy of The Secret Garden Original Broadway Cast Recording, you can download the album here or order a copy of the CD here. Then stock up on tissues--you're going to need them...