Nazareth College Theatre and Dance Department presents THE SECRET GARDEN April 10-19

ROCHESTER, NY (03/17/2015)(readMedia)-- The Nazareth College Theatre and Dance Department and Theatre League are pleased to present The Secret Garden, the fourth and final show in the department's 2014-2015 production season. The show will run April 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 8 p.m.; and April 12 and 19 at 2 p.m., in the Callahan Theater at Nazareth College Arts Center.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Pulitzer winner Marsha Norman was the Tony Award-winning librettist and the lyricist for this adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel. With music by Lucy Simon, the original production of The Secret Garden is perhaps most well known for the performance of then 11-year-old Daisy Eagan as central character Mary Lennox. Eagan became the youngest female to win a Tony Award for her performance.

The Secret Garden is set in the early 20th century. Mary, a young girl, is orphaned at age 11 by a cholera outbreak. She is relocated to England where she resides with relatives she has never met, and dives into caring for a neglected garden, where she finds herself and becomes a young woman.

Featuring such songs as "How Could I Ever Know" and "There's a Girl," The Secret Garden is a haunting and poignant piece that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

The Secret Garden is by far the most sophisticated musical I have ever staged. The music is as challenging if not more challenging than anything we have yet produced in our department and, as such, is a celebration of our musical theatre B.F.A. program, which will graduate its first class this May.

What is relevant about the story? Well, it's a classic for a reason. The story begins with an unpleasant, spoiled and neglected girl named Mary who is orphaned and deposited in the enormous manor home of her emotionally distant hunchbacked uncle on the moors of Yorkshire, England. And she prevails. She's a fighter and in embracing the outside world around her-which at first is also unpleasant and foreign-she uncovers a secret garden. In working in the garden and celebrating the wisdom of nature, Mary heals and transforms into someone who loves and is beloved. In the process she heals all those around her. Here is a little girl heroine. Here are lessons derived from the natural world. Here is healing-deep healing from the psychological trauma of neglect and hypochondria and mourning and loss of those who we will love forever but are gone. These are lessons for all decades and cultures, which is why it is such an enduring classic. The musical adds tremendous musical depth as well as rich thematic complications turning the children's novel into a far more complicated experience suited for an adult audience.

We've been in rehearsal for just two weeks as I write-but I find myself as excited at the end of each rehearsal as I was at its start. The music is so inspiring that acting and movement and design are inspired to reach for new heights as well.

-Lindsay Reading Korth

CAST AND CREW

The cast of The Secret Garden consists of Nazareth College students (with the exception of Colin, who is played by a local child): Matt Allen (Dr. Craven), Amanda Blake (Martha), Joseph Cantatore (Fakir), John Connors (Ben), Tess DeFlyer (Claire), Alden Duserick (Colin), Joshua Feldman (Albert), Erin Griffin (Mrs. Shelly), Michaela Groth (Ayah), Seth Hatch (Dickon), Shane Heidecker (Archibald), Hannah Karpenko (Lily), Adam Marino (Shaw), Bella McGrath (Mrs. Medlock), Emily Mullin (Mrs. Winthrop/Alice), Christopher Peterkin (Shelly), Kit Prelewitz (Rose), Grant Richards (Wright), Michael Shuetz (Holmes), and Katie Sweeney (Mary).

The student crew is Allie Tabor (stage manager), Rachel Vicacaro (props master), Katlyn Feder and Meghan Palmer (assistant stage managers), and Meghan Palmer (dance captain).

TICKETS

Tickets to The Secret Garden are $18-$20. For tickets, call – or visit – the Box Office: 585-389-2170 or order online: artscenter.naz.edu.

The Nazareth College Arts Center Box Office is located on campus, at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, New York, 14618. Regular box office hours are Monday- Friday, 11am – 5pm, and for one hour prior to curtain time for Theatre Arts and Dance Department performances.

ABOUT THE NAZARETH COLLEGE THEATRE AND DANCE DEPARTMENT

The Nazareth College Theatre and Dance Department provides professional training in theatre and musical theatre performance and production, drama education, dance, and technical theatre and design, and prepares students for graduate work and specialized advanced studies in the entertainment industry. In classrooms, rehearsal halls, and studio settings, students are trained to use their talents to move audiences.

The Theatre Arts and Dance Department presents four productions each year, with scenery, costumes, and lighting designed and created by faculty and students. For more information, visit naz.edu/theatre-arts.

ABOUT NAZARETH COLLEGE

Nazareth College's academic strengths cross an unusually broad spectrum of 60 majors, including education, health and human services, management, the fine arts, music, theater, math and science, foreign languages, and the liberal arts. The coeducational, religiously independent, classic campus in a charming suburb of Rochester, N.Y. challenges and supports 2,000 undergrads and 800 graduate students. Nazareth is recognized nationally for its Fulbright global student scholars and commitment to civic engagement. Rigorous programs, an uncommon core, experiential learning, career skills, and a global focus prepare graduates for not just one job, but for their life's work. For more information, visit naz.edu.

# # #