mainstage theatre

the secret garden

Book & Lyrics by Marsha Norman |
Music by Lucy Simon |
Directed by Teresa Thuman |
Set designs inspired by Island artists Little and Lewis |

Elegant, entrancing....The best American musical of the Broadway season. – Time

May 9-11, 16-18, 23-25
Fridays - Saturdays @ 7:30 p.m. + Sundays @ 3:00 p.m.

Pay-What-You-Can-Preview:
Thursday, May 8 @ 7:30 p.m.

Opening Night Reception:
Friday, May 9 @ 6:30 p.m.

Tickets:
$20 for adults, and $15 for seniors, military, students and youth

Beyond the Script:
Sunday, May 18 @ 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

2006-2007 Media Sponsor: Bainbridge Island Review
Mainstage Season Presenting Sponsor: U. S. Bank
Corporate Sponsor: Ace Hardware
Production Sponsor: Town & Country Markets, Inc.
Opening Night Catering Sponsor: Seasons of Thyme

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The Secret Garden, based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, follows Mary Lennox as she brings to life not only a garden but also those who surround her. Orphaned following a tragic cholera epidemic, Mary is swiftly placed in the custody of her Uncle Archibald Craven, who, still grieving the loss of his wife Lily, relinquishes Mary to the care of his envious brother and his strict housekeeper. Mary faces loneliness and heartache, but dejection soon gives way to hope with her discovery of Lily’s beloved garden. The “secret garden” is both a literal garden, forsaken by Archibald on the death of his wife, and a metaphoric garden, i.e., an “inner” garden housing fear, longing, and loss, but which also gives birth to love, hope, and dreams. Discovery of the literal garden awakens Mary’s inner garden, making her an agent of healing change for all those who touch her life.

Director Teresa Thuman expects BPA’s production to offer a more sophisticated portrayal of events than the children’s story as conveyed by Burnett, saying “the musical is reminiscent of the romantic novels of the Bronte sisters (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre).” While complex music dominates the production, the innovative set design enlists film projections to evoke a dream-like world that helps move the action of the play seamlessly through the many scenes, while simultaneously keeping viewers rooted in the subconscious yearnings of the characters. Thuman, who last directed BPA’s riveting production of Urinetown…, is thrilled to be working with an inspiring and talented cast of young performers, saying “all four principle young characters, some of which are often played by adult actors, were cast locally from a tremendous pool of young talent.”

An Opening Night Reception kicks off The Secret Garden on May 9 and will be held at 6:30 p.m. in BPA’s C. Keith Birkenfeld lobby. The public is invited to meet the production’s directors and share in the festivities. Winner of three Tony awards, this beloved musical contains some of the most beautiful music ever written for Broadway. It is a sure hit for the entire family! The production has one 15 minute intermission and is suitable for all ages.

The Secret Garden opened at the St. James Theater in 1991. Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Norman won a Tony Award for “Best Book of a Musical” and Daisy Eagan became the youngest actress ever to win a Tony for her portrayal of Mary.

Beyond the Script: The Artist as Gardener
Terry Moyemont from Mesogeo Gardens leads BPA’s Beyond the Script ~ “The Artist as Gardener,” on May 18, from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., immediately preceding the 3:00 p.m. performance. In The Secret Garden, as the previously neglected garden begins to flourish and thrive, so do Mary Lennox and those who surround her. In real life, Terry says, “Gardens are what come to be when the inner lives of people spill out onto the landscape in which they live. We venture out in spirit into the nature that made us, and there we encounter the genius loci, the spirit of the place in which we reside. The ensuing dialog is what creates a garden, what renews the bonds with the world around us, and what frees us to dream.”

Terry likens gardening to what we do with sounds in music or colors and form in painting. As a photographer, he has gained appreciation for the ways that gardening and the other arts have intertwined, particularly in the last five centuries in Europe. In “The Artist as Gardener,” Terry recounts his experiences visiting and photographing gardens in five countries as a personal introduction. He then reviews three outstanding gardens here on Bainbridge Island those of Linda Cochran, Carol Johanson, and of David Lewis and George Little. He reveals how these gardens were created using techniques “borrowed from other arts such as architecture, painting, and sculpture, and used in ways that fit the genius of the particular place, while allowing the gardeners to give free and glowing rein to their own spirits.”

BPA’s Beyond the Script discussion is funded in part with a grant from Humanities Washington.