The cast of The Mistress Cycle (left to right): Kelsey Marksteiner, Bonnie Marchesani, Pat Lawrence, Kathleen Dalton, and Martha Brooks.

Once a drama geek, always a drama geek. I should know. Back in the 1980s, I was a proud member of the Bromfield Drama Society and participated in as many of Michael McGarty’s productions as he’d allow. Now, decades later, I still follow the fortunes of Bromfield’s drama festival entries with avid anticipation.

McGarty has cast a long shadow over the years. There are, arguably, hundreds of Bromfield alums like me out there in the world who still count McGarty’s productions as pivotal experiences in their lives and who still get all fluttery when Festival time rolls around.

McGarty’s expertise in making drama a vibrant and meaningful experience for students has even led some to pursue it as their life’s calling. Los Angeles and New York are lousy with Bromfield alumni who are pursuing professions in the performing arts.

Jenny Giering is one of those—and a true success story. A member of Bromfield’s graduating class of 1988, Giering early on distinguished herself as a gifted actress, musician, and composer. She had pivotal roles in numerous Bromfield productions and composed the music for Bromfield’s 1987 entry in the drama festival, Through My Eyes.

Today, Giering is a successful performer and composer with myriad writing credits and awards to her name. She has been the recipient of the Dramatists’ Guild Jonathan Larson Fellowship, the Constance Klinsky Prize from 2econd Stage Theatre Company, a Meet the Composer grant, and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. She was the composer in residence at Sundance’s Ucross Residency, and the Clifton Artist in Residence at Harvard University.

Giering wrote the score for Theaterworks/USA’s Island of the Blue Dolphins, which toured for two sold-out seasons, and incidental music for Theatreworks’ Arthurian drama Arthur’s War by Catherine Filloux. She also wrote the score for The Hotel Carter, which received a Frederick Loewe Award, and a Cameron Mackintosh Development Award from New Dramatists.

One of her many current projects is Princess Caraboo, a new musical with book and lyrics by Marsha Norman, which was developed at the National Musical Theatre Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and at Theatreworks Palo Alto’s Writers’ Retreat and New Works Festival. It was subsequently presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s 2005 Festival of New Musicals, and received a workshop production at the Goodspeed Opera House in May 2006, directed by Gary Griffin.

This Friday and Saturday, Harvard theatergoers have the opportunity to see another of Giering’s productions. The Harvard Community Theatre will present The Mistress Cycle with music by Giering and lyrics by Beth Blatt.

A musical tale of sacrifice, destruction, and renewal, The Mistress Cycle explores the lives and loves of five women who, through one set of circumstances or another, have come between a husband and wife: Tess Walker, a contemporary Manhattan photographer (played by Pat Lawrence of Groton); Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henri II of 16th-century France (Kathleen Dalton of Andover); Lulu White, a turn-of-the-century bordello madame (Bonnie Marchesani of Groton); Ching, a 14-year-old concubine in 12th century China (Kelsey Marksteiner of Harvard); and Anais Nin, the famed sexual adventurer of the early 20th century (Martha Brooks of Bolton).

The production is directed by McGarty, with music direction by Bromfield teacher Talia Mercadante and sets designed by Doug Cooper of Acton.

The Mistress Cycle marks the third collaboration on a musical written by Giering for the HCT, and it will be the company’s entry to the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres Festival in June.

McGarty has enjoyed working on the production, which is, in his words, “the most difficult musical I’ve ever done.”

He has had a long history with the piece, having been to see early versions when it was still in “workshop” form in New York as well as later productions when it had evolved into a more finished piece. For McGarty, the greatest challenge of this show has been to focus on the through-line of the plot so that the audience can understand the story and how the characters are interconnected.

Giering, for her part, is excited about the Harvard production. The Mistress Cycle has been performed to rave reviews both at the New York Theater Festival and in Chicago, and a London production is currently underway. She is interested to see how the local production will turn out, and how it will be received.

Giering is quick to credit McGarty not only with her initial inspiration to pursue performing arts, but also with continued encouragement over the years.

“He’s come to see everything I’ve done in New York,” she says, expressing her gratitude for his interest and support.

Performances of The Mistress Cycle begin at 8 p.m. at the Cronin Auditorium. Tickets will be available at the door at $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens.