The secret garden still happening?

[imklepcyk]

Posted: 10/29/18 at 11:41pm

Anyone heard news on this? I hope we get more news because the regional production was great. I know a very unpopular opinion but personally I loved it.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 10/29/18 at 11:49pm

Doubt it. The lab cast have stuff going on this spring. Brooklyn Shuck is in The ferryman, Sierra boggess is in The age of innocence, Ali ewoldt is in phantom, Matt doyle is doing the heart of rock and roll

[Elegance101]

Posted: 10/29/18 at 11:56pm

Btw, the regional production(s) you mentioned was set to come to Broadway, but was dead as of a year ago. There was a lab (directed by Warren Carlyle) in May/June, but that appears to be dead, too. Maybe it’ll come back around for the 19/20 season, but I’m not sure.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 12:01am

This is a certain flop.

American audiences, as a whole, are not interested in this style of musical anymore.

Jesus Christ, for the last year of BOTH the last Les Miserables revivals it wasn't hard to find tickets that were barely more than a movie theatre ticket.  People just not are interested in them.  Dr. Z failed.  Tail of Two Cities failed.  Rebecca wasn't even given a chance to inevitably fail.  

It doesn't matter if the Queen of England and the re-animated body of Don Knotts performed in this, you couldn't sell enough tickets to make it turn a profit.  

Updated On: 10/30/18 at 12:01 AM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 10:54am

It really is a piece that I think will only return to Broadway in a not-for-profit situation.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 11:32am

If Jake Gyllenhaal, or Josh Groban, or Eddie Redmayne wanted to spend 10 months on Broadway in THE SECRET GARDEN, the revival would be announced tomorrow.

Alas, I think that's very unlikely.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 11:43am

SomethingPeculiar said: "If Jake Gyllenhaal, or Josh Groban, or Eddie Redmayne wanted to spend 10 months on Broadway in THE SECRET GARDEN, the revival would be announced tomorrow.

Alas, I think that's veryunlikely."

Jake, Josh, and Eddie are all three way too smart to attach themselves to this musical. 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 12:01pm

Sondheimite said: "Jake, Josh, and Eddie are all three way too smart to attach themselves to this musical."

I agree. That's why I said it's very unlikely.

[GreeneStreet]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 12:06pm

Audiences are not really screaming for a secret garden revival and the producers Probably reliazed that

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 1:12pm

There's also the matter of the somewhat schizophrenic take on the material, and a clear divide between what audiences responded to (the gothic melodrama and ghost story elements) versus what the creatives and producers insisted was the show's heart (the story of a troubled little girl coming back into her own).

Every time they've tinkered with the material, it's been in favor of the children's story, despite the fact that the iconic moments and legendary ghostly framing device all come from the adults' story. The British (or was it Australian) revival went so far as to cut the ghosts entirely and remove any reference to the manor being haunted, and it flopped.

[imklepcyk]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 5:47pm

Sad was really hoping for a revival.

[imklepcyk]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 5:55pm

I thought I saw that Sierra boggess was getting involved in a secret garden project from her Instagram? Not the concert

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 6:01pm

She was in the Lab

[billyelliotfan123]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 10:51pm

I don’t know the show. Why is this being compared to Les Mis? Is it the musical style? Is the show completely sung through?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/30/18 at 11:57pm

billyelliotfan123 said: "I don’t know the show. Why is this being compared to Les Mis? Is it the musical style? Is the show completely sung through?"

It’s not sung through, but it’s written in the same melodramatic style of Les Mis and other musicals that were adapted from sweeping novels. It’s a much better show, with a much better score, than Tale of Two Cities, Rebecca, The Woman in White, or Dr. Zhivago, however. 

Nevertheless, I doubt it’ll ever get revived unless a big star attaches themself to it. Outside of a couple of old war horses (Phantom is still grossing a million dollars most weeks and Les Mis on tour sells very, very, well), there doesn’t seem to be much interest in this style anymore.  

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 12:21am

adamgreer said: "It’s not sung through, but it’s written in the same melodramatic style of Les Mis and other musicals that were adapted from sweeping novels. It’s a much better show, with a much better score,than Tale of Two Cities, Rebecca, The Woman in White, or Dr. Zhivago, however."

Personally, I enjoy Simon's score for Doctor Zhivago a great deal more than Secret Garden, but that's probably just me.

 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 1:58am

The revival could still be alive...IF IT HAS WICK.

Seriously though, I’m currently prepping to direct this at the school I teach at, and it is a much better show than I remember. In my opinion, the ghosts are what make the show work. There are a lot of opportunities to use the ensemble to a very creepy effect. I’m going full Sarah Kane meets Shirley Jackson on this thing.

Previous productions I’ve seen - as well as the bootlegs of the Broadway production and tour that are on YouTube - don’t fully commit to the ghost story stuff because they don’t want it to be too scary for little kids, and they treat it like a “family show” like Beauty and the Beast or something. If it’s going to get a Broadway revival, it’ll need a dark, minimalist, John Doyle approach.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 2:10pm

If it means anything Ali Ewdot is leaving phantom in a few weeks and Sierra boggess just finished her last show about a week ago.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 2:17pm

Bwayfan292 said: "If it means anything Ali Ewdot is leaving phantom in a few weeks and Sierra boggess just finished her last show about a week ago. "

It seems a little late to announce, especially considering pretty much every theater is booked for the spring. Unless Girl From the North Country doesn’t have the Kerr and SG is slipping in there, I heavily doubt it’s coming this spring.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 2:35pm

anyone who invests in this show has to be looking for a tax write off.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 3:48pm

CATSNYrevival said: "adamgreer said: "It’s not sung through, but it’s written in the same melodramatic style of Les Mis and other musicals that were adapted from sweeping novels. It’s a much better show, with a much better score,than Tale of Two Cities, Rebecca, The Woman in White, or Dr. Zhivago, however."

Personally, I enjoy Simon's score for Doctor Zhivago a great deal more than Secret Garden, butthat's probably just me.

"

I too enjoy Dr. Zhivago. It's a lot better than people would like to give it credit for. Secret Garden is still a masterpiece though 

[imklepcyk]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 6:58pm

See the ghosts are the best part. If they cut that it's ruined. Nobody cares about the kids lol

[annang]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:21pm

I saw the production of this last year in DC. I had seen it as a kid, but what really registered with me this time were the weird colonialist, imperialist elements. Nearly a million people in India died of cholera, and the ghost characters who basically raised her don't even have names, they're just labeled by their job titles.  Then Mary saves the day basically using a magic spell she scored from her mystical servants. The exoticism of it actually made me pretty uncomfortable, and sort of ruined the ghost sequences for me. And that was really the best part...

Updated On: 11/3/18 at 08:21 PM

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:36pm

It's the same producer who is behind Be More Chill, so my guess is no movement on Secret Garden until that is up and running and past awards season.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/5/18 at 1:34pm

annang, that struck me too, and although Mary is sort of an early version of a Third-Culture Kid, there's not really a way to get away from that colonial/orientalist heaviness that comes with the source material. Come Spirit, Come Charm is... well, not nearly as charming as it was when I first saw this show in the early 90s.