The Secret Garden is in Las Vegas.
No - we're not talking about Seigfried and Roy.
Tony Award-winning musical "The Secret Garden" is running at the Summerlin Library now through November 21.
We at KNPR have an interest in this because one of our staff members, Scot Brown, is part of the cast.
But that's not why we're doing this story.
We're doing this story because "The Secret Garden" is a truly fun musical, fit for both kids and adults.
Director Leslie Fotheringham says that's no accident.
The production group presenting the shows, Signature Productions, was founded in 1989 by Dr. Karl M. Larsen as a provider of family entertainment.
Fotheringham says the wide appeal of "The Secret Garden" can be attributed to the sophisticated music and the expanded world it offers from the original story by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
The play opens in India, where a cholera epidemic leaves young Mary Lennox an orphan. Mary is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, in Yorkshire, England.
The musical's universe also incorporates the Dreamers, who are the ghosts of Mary's parents, friends and aunt Lily, who was Archibald's wife.
Fotheringham says the Dreamers present the spirits of the deceased characters in a haunting way, but adds,"It's a good thing. [Death is] not something to be afraid of. [The Dreamers represent] a lot of love and caring... and [are] haunting in a good way."
Among the others Mary meets are Dickon, played by Jordan Mazzocato, Martha, played by Cherity Harchis and Dr. Neville Craven, played by Cody Sims.
Dickon befriends Mary and helps her tend to her aunt Lily's abandoned garden.
"He's really youthful and he's life-bringing," Mazzocato says of the character. With his unflappable positivity, he pulls Mary out of her depression and isolation.
Martha is a housemaid who becomes a mother figure to the young protagonists. Harchis says she has a lot in common with the role.
"My husband calls me the Pied Piper," Harchis said with a laugh. "[Kids] follow me in the grocery store. I don't know why."
Dr. Craven moves into Archibald's home to care for his ailing son, Colin. He also was secretly in love with Lily.
Sims says a combination of jealousy, heartbreak and mental exhaustion make Neville the closest thing the play has to a villain. But he's not sure what would have happened if things had gone the doctor's way.
Archibald is a humble character, while Neville is fixated on status, which Sims doesn't think Lily would have been attracted to.
"Lily wouldn't have been happy [with Neville], and in turn, that would have made him unhappy," Sims said.
Ultimately, the musical ends with a renewal of life in the garden and rebirth of love and understanding in the Craven house.
"This story is about choices people make," Fotheringham says. "[Dickon, Martha and Lily show Mary] she has a power within her that she didn't know she had... her heart begins to heal and she begins to heal other hearts. She helps them choose to be happy."
Leslie Fotheringham, director; Cherity Harchis, actress; Cody Sims, actor; Jordan Mazzocato, actor