TODD LOGAN, Playwright and Co-Lyricist
When I wrote Botanic Garden in 2006, I wanted to write a play about love, loss, and the challenge to go on. A close friend of mine died after a 20 year illness. She was the most courageous, vibrant, dynamic person I had ever known. Just before she passed, she shared her greatest fear: She was afraid as years passed her memory would recede for those closest to her. Especially her husband and children. I thought deeply about what she said. I lost my father when I was 13 years-old. I knew that when you lose someone so close, you never forget them. They are inextricably part of you. Including the pain. It’s a fools errand to engage otherwise. Yet…yet to be fully realized I think we all need to love and to be loved.
The play Botanic Garden is the story of Kate, a widow, who after several years, finally says, ‘yes,’ to a date to take a walk in the Botanic Garden. Panic and regret immediately overcome her. She turns to the one person who knows her down to her core, Jake, her dead husband. The play alternates from scenes from their marriage to the present. The plot point is whether or not Kate will walk thru the door after the doorbell rings. Her journey forward is both universal and excruciatingly personal.
Lindsay Jones created both the score and the sound design for the first production of Botanic Garden directed by Olympia Dukakis in 2008. Ann Filmer directed the 2016 revival of Botanic Garden at the Citadel Theater. Ann and Lindsay are rare birds. Brilliant at what they do and two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I think ‘yes,’ is the greatest three letter word. I was and am so honored, when they both said ‘Yes,’ when I asked if they wanted to collaborate on a musical version of Botanic Garden. A few months later Lindsay took our breath away when he played and sang the opening song, ‘I’m Not Here.’