York Theatre Royal has unveiled a significant revival of “The Secret Backyard — The Musical,” with Tony Award-winning director John Doyle set to helm the manufacturing.
The musical, that includes music by Lucy Simon and guide and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman, marks a homecoming for Doyle, who served as creative director of York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997.
Based mostly on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved novel, “The Secret Backyard” premiered on Broadway on the St. James Theatre in 1991 to important acclaim, incomes three Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. The story follows newly orphaned Mary Lennox, who is distributed to dwell together with her widower uncle on the secluded Misselthwaite Manor in North Yorkshire in 1906. There, she discovers her Aunt Lily’s mysterious, uncared for backyard and learns the facility of connection and nature’s restorative magic.
The manufacturing will function a solid of actor-musicians. Doyle received Tony Awards for steering “Sweeney Todd” and “Firm,” and earned a Tony for greatest revival of a m usical for “The Coloration Purple.” His in depth credit span theater, movie and opera, with current work together with the world premiere of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” at Theatre Royal Bathtub.
Norman, who acquired the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play “‘night time, Mom,” received each Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her guide for “The Secret Backyard.” Composer Lucy Simon, a Grammy winner, earned Tony and Drama Desk nominations for the musical’s authentic rating.
“I’m thrilled to be returning to York Theatre Royal and equally thrilled to be directing this lovely, hopeful musical,” Doyle stated.
Paul Crewes, CEO of York Theatre Royal, added: “It’s fantastic to have John Doyle return to York Theatre Royal and direct this lovely Yorkshire story. We’re excited that this will probably be a recent tackle this critically acclaimed musical, and that our audiences would be the first to expertise it.”
The manufacturing follows York Theatre Royal’s upcoming world premiere of Debbie Isitt’s “Navy Wives — The Musical,” set to open this fall. “The Secret Backyard” will run March 17-April 4, 2026,
