Photo Coverage: First Look at THE SECRET GARDEN, Back in the West End

The Tony award-winning musical The Secret Garden, based on the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett with script and lyrics by Pulitzer prize and Tony award-winner MarSha Norman and music by Grammy award-winner Lucy Simon, is coming back to the West End for a summer season. The Secret Garden, directed by Rupert Hands, will run 6 weeks at the Ambassadors Theatre now through Wednesday 31 August. Press Night is Wednesday 3 August at 8.00pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

This specially "Spring" version of the show has been adapted to 75 minutes by its creators to be performed by young people. The Secret Garden is from the same production team as Annie Jr, which smashed box office records last summer at the Arts Theatre, at the same time giving 350 youngsters the chance to act for the first time in the West End. More than 2,000 children have auditioned for The Secret Garden and 300 youngsters will be cast in the show.

Orphaned while living in India, 10 year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire, England to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald, whom she has never met. There, the ill-tempered and lonely Mary meets Martha, a chambermaid, who tells her of a secret garden which belonged to her aunt Lily before she died. Mary's search for the garden introduces her to a slew of other characters including Dickon (Martha's brother), Ben (the head gardener), Neville (her other uncle), and a spirited robin that seems to be trying to talk to her. This compelling tale of forgiveness and hope reveals that even the cruelest of environments can blossom with new life.

For tickets and more information, visit www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk.

Photo Credit: Roy Tan

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