Italy, 1920. She inherited a garden, a debt, and a man who had been promised neither. The Gardener's Daughter is a period musical romance set in 1920 Tuscany, following Sofia, 24, the daughter of a celebrated Italian gardener whose death leaves her both his extraordinary estate and his significant debts — including a promise to a neighboring family that their son Carlo would marry her. Sofia has plans of her own: she intends to turn the garden into a botanical research station and has been corresponding with a Florentine botanist named Emilio whose letters have become, without either of them naming it, the most important conversations of her life. The musical follows one extraordinary summer in the garden — Carlo's arrival, Emilio's arrival, the debt collectors, and the garden itself, which is treated as a character through the staging. Twelve original songs. Runtime: 2h 30min.
Act One Songs
'My Father's Garden' (Sofia opening number). 'The Letters' (Sofia reading Emilio's letters — a split-scene duet with both actors in different locations). 'Carlo's Introduction' (the musical's most committed comic number).
Act Two Songs
'What Grows Here' (Sofia and Emilio in the garden at night — the musical's romantic centerpiece). 'The Garden Decides' (the finale, in which the garden itself — through the staging — makes the choice Sofia has been unable to).
