The musical “The Secret Garden” is based on the novel by Frances
Hodgson Barnett, a prolific writer of the mid-1800s to early-1900s.
Likened to the J.K. Rowling of today, she wrote more than 50 books
for adults and children.
The musical “The Secret Garden” is based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Barnett, a prolific writer of the mid-1800s to early-1900s. Likened to the J.K. Rowling of today, she wrote more than 50 books for adults and children.
Acclaimed playwright and lyricist Marsha Norman, with composer Lucy Simon, raised the beautiful children’s novel to an award-winning Broadway musical in 1991.
“The Secret Garden” touches the heart and reaches the mind in a grand and gentle manner. The plot shows what obsessions can create and destroy if not curbed.
The story begins in India where Mary (approximately 10 years old) is the only survivor if a cholera epidemic that wipes out her mother, father and all those around her. She is sent to live with her kind uncle – her only living relative – in Yorkshire, England. He is affluent, but grieving for his beautiful wife who died in childbirth years before. His manor is a huge, gloomy and depressing place.
Mary discovers his bedridden, sickly son and an uncared for secret garden that her uncle’s departed wife loved and nurtured. It is a sweet, delicately woven story that Simon’s beautiful music wraps up into a semi operetta. Supported by a solid, veteran cast with fine voices, “The Secret Garden” is a splendid experience.
Angelina Wahler, who plays young Mary Lennox, and 10-year-old Andrew Apy, as her cousin Colin, bring in strong performances with the confidence and presentation of any of their adult counterparts.
Robert Kelley moves his people with a deft hand and gets the most from them. Directing children can be a difficult task, but Kelley’s soothing guidance and sharp sense of what is needed at the moment comes through with smooth performances.
Musical director/conductor William Liberatore raises the production to levels that would not be there without him.
Set design has become such an amazing art form and Joe Ragey shows off his inventiveness and imagination with remarkably stunning sets that effortlessly change before your eyes with a shift of a tree or a chirp of an elusive robin. Costumes by Fumiko Bielefeldt, lighting by Pamila Z. Gray and sound by Jeff Mockus are the usual high caliber we have grown to expect from TheatreWorks productions.
This production of “The Secret Garden” is an impressive piece of theater to be enjoyed and savored. Your ticket is one of the better investments you can make today.
– Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, PaloAlto
– Tickets: $19 – $72
– Details: (650) 463-1960 or www.theatreworks.org
