[Laura]

well, this show is new to me. of course, i have read the book and seen the music but have only vaguely heard of the show. how close is it to the book? what are the songs? are there any good ones? or ones that would be worth learning? are they hard/easy? sorry for the interrogation

[Cake_in_Song]

It's a great show! I just picked up a copy of the OBC a few weeks ago, and I'm already in love. The music itself is great, but there are a few standout songs: "Lily's Eyes," "Winter on the Wing," "Come to My Garden," and "I Heard Someone Crying." At least, those are my favourites, so far. If you're wanting to learn one, I would go with either "Come to My Garden," if you're a legit soprano, or "If I Had a Fine White Horse," if you're more of a belter. As far as closeness to the book, I have to confess that I've never read it. If you want a good gyst of the story, get the full OBC, which is pretty darn cheap on Amazon, and has ALL the songs.

[Quique]

I love this show. I had the pleasure of seeing the touring production way back in 1993 and was blown away. The music is gorgeous. Favorites include, "Hold On," "Winter's On the Wing," and "The House Upon the Hill."

I posted a behind the scenes documentary of the touring production's stop in L.A. back in the early 90's over at YouTube. Pretty cool. My screen name there is "La Misere" - look it up and you should find the doc there. It's titled "The Secret Garden - E! Behind the Scenes," or something like that.

[Sweeney Hyde]

The show was one of my favorites that I've been in. What is different about this show is that EVERY PART IN THE SHOW IS WORTH WHILE INCLUDING THE CHORUS. Personally, I think the show should have won the tony over Beauty and the Beast. Anyways you should buy the original cast recording, it is not hard to find and should be at any CD store like FYE.

My favorite songs are:
Lily's Eyes
Quartet
The House Upon the Hill
Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up
Come Spirit, Come Charm

I don't like Dickon's songs because our guy who played him did it horribly and ruined the songs for most of us in the cast...he was just about tone deaf...

There are some major differences between the show and the book. I would suggest buying the script at www.samuelfrench.com and reading for yourself as the changes are sopmewhat hard to explain particullay the relations of the family that were changed...

[(PrimaDonna)]

I was in this show with Mr. Sweeney Hyde, and I have to agree that it's one of my favorites. The moment I heard the music I fell completely in love. Some of my favorites are, "Lily's Eyes," "Come to My Garden," "How Could I Ever Know," "Hold On," and "Winter's On the Wing" (even though our Dicken left a little something to be desired...).

Other songs include:
Quartet
House Upon the Hill
Come Spirit, Come Charm
Wick
Where in the World
A Girl in the Valley
I Heard Someone Crying

(All of it is grrrreat.)

As far as learning songs goes......if you're a soprano, I'd definitely go with "Come to My Garden" or "How Could I Ever Know" (I adore that song). If you're more of an alto, I'd go with "Hold On" or "If I Had a Fine White Horse" (another great song). They're all relatively easy to learn.

The story is fairly close to the book (although my recollections might be failing me; I read it in fifth grade.). There are some changes in the relationships, but i can't quite remember what they are....sorry!

Have fun with it!

[ConverseSneaker]

Differances between the book and show:

Basically, they just added on the story they already had, making it deeper and darker. We understand Archie's depression more, Dr. Craven is given motives and more of a role in the story. Lily and Rose are given names(Lily's name in the book was only mentioned once, and she was Lilias.) The Dreamers are added and they help Mary during the show. We learn that Rose didn't want Lily to marry Archie, and she vowed to never see her sister again, which is why Colin and Mary are ignorant about each other. They took out some minor characters(Martha's mother, ect.) and added more(Mrs. Winthrop, some party guests, ect.)

All in all, it's amazingly truthful to the book, but it's so much better too.