With temperatures creeping upward, flowers blooming and spring generally springing wherever you look, it seems only logical that the fourth MainStage production this season by the university theatre department is a musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden.

In keeping with a long-standing university tradition, the final MainStage show every other spring is a musical. Two years ago the department produced the Gilbert and Sullivan classic H.M.S. Pinafore. Now some of the university's leading actors and musicians again have the chance to return to the forefront in The Secret Garden under the direction of Brook Davis, an assistant professor of theatre. Scheduled only 10 weeks after the tense drama and weighty moral issues of A Lie of the Mind, Sam Shepard's play about interpersonal dynamics and spousal abuse, the musical's lighter fare should provide theatergoers a welcome change of pace.

Although Burnett's book was first published in 1911 and multiple film adaptations have been made, the musical did not premiere until 1991, when it ran for 706 performances on Broadway. Marsha Norman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, adapted the book for the stage with music by Lucy Simon. Norman's efforts won her a Tony Award.

Since its initial success, The Secret Garden has been performed throughout the United States and Europe by both amateur and professional groups, including a stint on the 2001 calendar of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The action in the musical follows the plot of the children's classic and centers around Mary Lennox, an orphaned girl who moves to Yorkshire, England, to live in the mysterious home of her uncle and ailing cousin, Colin. The house is haunted by a variety of strange sounds and stranger characters. The Secret Garden features a large cast, including senior Amber Wiley as Mary, graduate student Brad Stephenson as Fakir, senior Ember Rigsby as Colin, sophomore Joey Hipps as Dickon and sophomore Kate Roberts as Rose. Frank Ludwig, an assistant professor of theatre, designed the set. Nina Lucas, director of the dance program, choreographed the production. Mark Cohen, a visiting assistant professor of theatre, is the dialect coach. Junior Susan Martin is stage-managing.

Davis is enthusiastic about her cast, describing them as hard-working and committed. "They've taken (the show) and run with it," she said.

Hipp, in his first university production, echoes her sentiments. "Everyone seems professional," he said. "We're expected to respect one another's time."

Any musical involves a strong collaboration between the university's music and theatre departments. During performances, the university orchestra will accompany the cast. According to Davis, student interest in the musical has been high, and she was attracted to this particular show because many students were already familiar with the music. In the last few years, several students have performed pieces from The Secret Garden in their senior recitals.