Adult casting is complete for the 25th anniversary Australian production of the Broadway musical The Secret Garden, which will begin at the Sydney Lyric Theatre August 2. A Melbourne engagement at Her Majesty’s Theatre will follow starting November 13.
As previously announced, Australian musical theatre performer Anthony Warlow, who made his Broadway debut in the most recent revival of Annie, will revisit one of his most acclaimed roles, Archibald Craven, in the upcoming production. He will be joined by Georgina Hopson (Ragtime, West Side Story) as Lily and Rob McDougall (Assassins, Les Misérables) as Dr. Neville Craven.
Alinta Chidzey (Chicago, A Little Night Music) will play Martha, with Nigel Huckle (West Side Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie) as Dickon, Rodney Dobson (Wicked, Chicago) as Ben Weatherstaff, and Rowena Wallace as Mrs. Medlock.
The company will also feature Jordan Angelides, Andy Conaghan, Grace Driscoll, Des Flanagan, Matt Heyward, Glenn Hill, Zoe Ioannou, Genevieve Kingsford, Matilda Moran, Bronwyn Mulcahy, Adam Noviello, Danielle O'Malley, David Ouch, James Shaw, Alec Steedman, and Erica Wild. The child actors who will play Mary Lennox and Colin Craven will be announced at a later date.
The Secret Garden’s return to Australia reunites the original Broadway creative team: director Susan H. Schulman, choreographer Michael Lichtefeld, and designer Heidi Ettinger. The musical will continue at the Sydney Lyric Theatre through September 6, 2020. The creative team also includes music supervisor Guy Simpson, costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer Trudy Dalgleish, and sound designer Michael Waters.
The Secret Garden, based on the literary classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett—with a book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, last played in Australia in 1995 with Warlow, Philip Quast, and Marina Prior.
Warlow's stage credits include Dr. Yurii Zhivago in the Australian premiere of Doctor Zhivago (2011), the Australian tours of Annie (2000 and 2012), the title role in The Phantom of the Opera (1990 and 2007–2008), Enjolras in the Australian production of Les Misérables (1988), and his musical theatre debut in 1985, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at London's National Theatre. On Broadway, he also played Captain Hook in Finding Neverland.
