MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College Lyric Theatre will present the Broadway musical “The Secret Garden,” a story about overcoming life’s adversities, on Friday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Jan. 28.
Performances in Armstrong Theatre are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. General admission is $8 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, non-Cornell students and youths ages 7-18. Tickets are available at the door or can be reserved by calling 895-4293.
Based on the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, “The Secret Garden” is the story of Mary Lennox, a lonely young girl orphaned by a cholera epidemic in India. She is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, in Yorkshire, England. Archibald is still grieving the loss of his wife, Lily, who died 10 years earlier during childbirth, and is distraught over the condition of his bedridden son. The mood in the manor is dark until young Mary discovers a secret garden that once belonged to Lily. By nursing this garden back to life, Mary restores life to her grieving uncle and his sick son.
“The Secret Garden” opened on Broadway in 1991, starring Mandy Patinkin as Archibald and Daisy Eagan as Mary, with music by Lucy Simon and lyrics by Marsha Norman. Tony Awards went to Norman for “Best Book of a Musical” and to Eagan, who became the youngest actress to win a Tony. The production ran for 706 performances.
Cornell’s music and theater departments are collaborating on the production, which is co-directed by voice instructor Jonathon Thull and Gail Bransteitter, a senior from Denver, Colo., with set and costume design by Scott Olinger, assistant professor of theater and communications studies, and light design by Jonathon Reed.