THE SECRET GARDEN to Get UK Concert in October

The three-time Tony Award-winning musical THE SECRET GARDEN will be brought to life in an intimate concert staging to tour the UK from October 2013, it was announced today. Full listings attached. Casting to be announced.

There's a door to a garden that has been locked for many years, the key buried and all but forgotten...

Based on the novel by Francis Hodgson Burnett, this enchanting classic of children's literature is reimagined in brilliant musical style by composer Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "Night Mother". Orphaned in India, 11 year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald. In escaping his 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 garden which beckons the children with its haunting melodies. But can they unlock the secrets that are held within?

THE SECRET GAREN premiered 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 Shakespeare Company subsequently opened in Stratford in 2000 before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in the West End in 2001. Following a successful run at the King's Head Theatre, Islington in February 2013, this special concert staging, from the producing 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.

The Secret Garden has music by Lucy Simon and a book and lyrics by Marsha Norman. It is directed by Matthew Gould with musical direction by David Keefe and casting by Benjamin Newsome. It is designed by Franciso Rodriguez-Weil with lighting by Tom Kitney and sound by Kirsty Gillmore. It is produced by Aria Entertainment and Knockhardy Productions.