The Secret Life of Bees

About the show

The Secret Life of Bees is a stage musical with a book by Lynn Nottage, music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 2019 to critical acclaim, winning the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, along with Best New Musical nominations from the Drama Desk Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, and the Drama League Awards. The musical is set in the 1960s in South Carolina, and tells the story of Lily Owens and Rosaleen, two young women who become friends in the face of adversity, and embark on an adventure of self discovery thanks to the Boatwright sisters, three women they meet who work as beekeepers on a honey farm. The story had previously been adapted as a film of the same name, released in 2008, directed and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood.