Regional NewsRevised Secret Garden Blooms in Houston With Eye Toward BroadwayDavid Armstrong directs a cast including Jeremy Kushnier, Josh Young, and Charlotte Maltby in the Broadway-aimed revival of the Marsha Norman-Lucy Simon musical.
By
Adam Hetrick
October 10, 2017
Cast
Melissa Taylor
A new production of the 1991 Broadway musical The Secret Garden begins performances October 10 at Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, Texas. This new production, which is aiming to return to Broadway, is directed and choreographed by David Armstrong.
Armstrong has been working alongside book writer and lyricist Marsha Norman and composer Lucy Simon to incorporate revisions to the material since the musical premiered on Broadway in 1991.
“There’s been some reordering of the material and quite a bit of cutting as well. Both acts are coming in at under an hour now,” Armstrong told Playbill. Cut from the score are “Round-Shouldered Man,” “Race You to the Top of the Morning,” and the operatic second act sequence “Quartet,” while a new song has been added for Neville Craven, Archibald’s jealous brother.
Gerald Goehring and Michael F. Mitri of Patriot Productions picked up a Broadway option on the production.
The Secret Garden is based on the children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which tells the story of Mary Lennox, an orphan girl being raised by her strangely cold and distant uncle. Librettist Marsha Norman won the 1991 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Lucy Simon was nominated for Best Score, and the entire show was nominated for Best Musical that year.
This new staging of The Secret Garden premiered at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., and played Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre earlier this year.
Performances will continue through October 22.
The TUTS production stars Jeremy Kushnier as Archibald Craven, Tony Award nominee Josh Young as Neville Craven, Charlotte Maltby as Martha, and newcomer Bea Corley as Mary Lennox.
The cast also includes Lizzie Klemperer as Lily, Charlie Franklin as Dickon, Sean G. Griffin as Ben Weatherstaff, Jason Forbach as Albert Lennox, Johann George as Fakir, Julian Lammey as Colin, and Anisha Nagarajan as Aya.
Completing the company are Alex Alferov, Brittany Baratz, Jared Michael Brown, Candice Donehoo, Mary Jo DuGaw, Catherine Flye, Aaron Shanks, Hayley Travers, Ethan Watermeier, and Rachel Zatcoff. Caroline Basu is the understudy for the part of Mary Lennox.
The production features scenic design by Anna Louizos, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting design by Mike Baldassari, and sound design by Justin Stasiw. Rick Fox is music director/supervisor.
Lupita Nyong'o, Katrina Lenk, Jelani Alladin, and more were on hand to celebrate the October 31 opening night of Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs' new musical.
