The year is 1911. Young Mary Lennox awakes one morning in India,
to discover that her parents, and in fact, everyone she knows
in the English compound in Bombay, have died of cholera. (OPENING).
Having nowhere else to go, she is sent to live with her brooding
Uncle Archibald, in his 100-room mansion in Yorkshire.
Accompanying this girl from the train station, Mrs. Medlock,
her uncle’s housekeeper, tells Mary she shouldn’t expect ever
to see her uncle, that he is still mourning the death of his beautiful
wife, Lily, the sister of Mary’s mother. Further, she tells Mary
she will have no one to play with, and she will not be allowed
to wander the halls. In short, Mary will find her life there to
be as glomy and miserable as the house itself (THE HOUSE UPON
THE HILL).
Mary receives tis news with stony silence. But she is willfull
and determined, qualities which will change not only her life,
but that of everyone in the house before she is finished. With
the help of the spirits who are watching over her, Mary will upset
every one of Mrs. Medlocks expectations.
On her first evening at Misselthwaite, Mary hears an eerie
wailing (I HEARD SOMEONE CRYING), but sees only the shadows
cast by her uncle as he wanders the halls hearing what he thinks
is the ghost of his dead wife.
The next morning, Mary meets the impressible maid, Martha,
who hints ther emight be something interesting to do outside (IF
I HAD A FINE WHITE HORSE). Mary is not convinced, but anything
seems better than staying in. Proving this point, on her way out
she encounters her Uncle Archibald, who seems completely lost,
singing and dancing with Lily’s ghost, in an empty ballroom (A
GIRL IN THE VALLEY).
Once she begins to spend her days outside, however, Mary’s
sourness gradually diminishes. She learns from the cantakerous
head gardener, Ben Weatherstaff (IT’S A MAZE), of a mysterious
walled garden which has been kept locked since LIly’s death. And
she meets Marth’as brother, Dickon, a young forest wizard who
calls forth the spring in a rock anthem (WINTER’S ON THE WING).
Then, accompanied by the pan pipe and dulcimer, Dickon teaches
Mary to speak to the ever-chirping Robin in Yorkshire, and the
bird, in turn, shows Mary where to find the key to the garden.
But unable to find the door to Lily’s garden, Mary decides
she will plant the seeds Dickon gave her, and goes to her uncle
to ask if she might have “A BIT OF EARTH.” That
simple request trigger’s powerful memories for Archibald, and
as the “STORM” rages outside, Archibald sinks
further into the past. Archibald and his brother, Dr. Neville
Craven, sing of how Mary reminds them of LIly (LILY’S EYES),
and Neville reveals that he was also in love with his brother’s
beautiful wife.
Later, still disturbed by the persistent wailing at night,
Mary enters the forbidden west wing, where she discovers her cousin
Colin, a sickly but imperious boy who is confined to his bed and
only visited by his father when he is asleep (ROUND-SHOULDERED
MAN). Their budding friendship is interrupted by Dr. Craven
and Mrs. Medlock, and Mary is banished from Colin’s room. At the
height of the storm, Mary rushes out of the house, suddenly reliving
the cholera epidemic, and feeling more lost than ever. But as
ACT I ends, the watchful spirits lead her through the nightmare
bringing her finally to the ive-cloaked door of The Secret Garden.
ACT II begins as Mary dreams of the perfection the garden promises
(THE GIRL I MEAN TO BE). Everyone she has known and loved
is alive and well, and all the gathered in the garden to celebrate
her birthday.
But the perfection is not to be. Inside the house, Dr. Craven
discovers Archibald packing to leave for Paris, and accuses him
of shirking his responsibilities. He insists that Mary is disturbing
Colin, and must be sent away to school. The brothers quarrel,
triggering the appearance of Lily and Mary’s Mother, Rose (QUARTET).
But Archibald is not detterred. He says good-bye to the sleeping
Colin (RACE YOU TO THE TOP OF THE MORNING), and leaves.
On the next clear morning, mary tells Dickon that she has found
the garden, but it is dead. It is the most “forgotten place”
she has ever seen. Dickon sings the melodic “WICK,”
the Yorkshire word for “alive,” and encourages her to
take a closer look. Together, they resolve, they will bring the
garden back to life.
And not long after that, Mary tells Colin she has found his
other’s garden, and wants him to see it. When he confesses he
is afraid to go outside, Lily’s spirit comes to help him (COME
TO MY GARDEN/LIFE ME UP). Colin and Mary visit the garden
together for the first time at night, and through its magical
power, her faith in him, and a Hindu chant she learned from her
Fakir and her Ayah in India, Colin overcomes his fear and stands
(COME SPIRIT, COME CHARM).
Then, poassionately needing to remain at Misselthwaite to see
the garden bloom and Colin regain his strength, Mary refuses to
go to the boarding school Dr. Craven has found for her. Martha
encourages her to “HOLD ON,” and helps Mary write
a letter to her uncle in Paris, asking him o come home (LETTER
SONG).
Mary’s letter finds Archibald in a very dark moment (WHERE
IN THE WORLD). But the ghost of Lily appears to comfort him,
to ask his forgiveness (HOW COULD I EVER KNOW), and lead
him back home. There, amid the starting blooms and splendid gragrances
of the no longer secret garden, Colin walks into his father’s
arms and proclaims that he is well.
In the final scene, Uncle Archibald welcomes Mary as his own
child, and assures her that Misselthwaite Manor is her home now.
And then, to thank her for restoring their health and happiness,
he gives her the beautiful garden for he rown. Then, as the living
family comes together, the ghosts, no longer needed, depart one
by one (FINALE).