Some shows quietly become legendary. Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's Victorian classic, "The Secret Garden," has such an aura. The show requires trained voices for its chorus and adult leads but depends on two younger singers for its impact. But it's hardly a children's show. As the final show of Turtle Lane's season, the piece makes a perfect bridge into spring with its themes of rebirth and redemption.
Director Michelle M. Aguillon has assembled an impressive set of voices for the run. The young heroine, Mary Lennox, is done by 7th grader Hannah Grace Forsley (seen) or Lexi Ryan. Mary was orphaned in India by a cholera epidemic. She's taken in by her uncle Archibald Craven, a semi-invalid sung by James A. Fitzpatrick, a TLP veteran. He's haunted by the memory of his wife, Lily, who died in childbirth, sung by NEC opera grad, Elizabeth Robinson (seen) or Diana Doyle, another NEC trained singer. Mary's deceased mother, Lily's sister Rose, is sung by Anne Velthouse, who alternated last fall as Audrey I in "Little Shop...". Lily's son, Colin, who's been raised as an invalid, is done by Benjamin Hirsh(seen) or Cameron VanderWerf. Colin's under the care of Archibald's brother, Dr. Neville Craven, who was secretly in love with Lily, sung by opera-trained Michael Goodwin. Mary's father, Capt. Lennox is done by Larry Seiler.
This being Victorian England, the servants play a major role. Tracy Nygard is Ayah, the memory of Mary's Indian nursemaid. In the present, there's Martha, the headstrong housemaid done by Michelle Mount, her fey brother, Dickon, done by Gary Ryan,, and Ben Weatherstaff, Lily's gardener, played by TLP's James Tallach, who also coached the cast in their Yorkshire accents. The chorus of ghostly Army officers and their wives, who also died in India, includes Evan Bernstein, Tim Mulcahey, Patrick Naughton, Lacy Upton, Melody Michaelson, and NEC grad Krystal Bly, who also does a cameo as a headmistress. Music director Wayne Ward gets the most out the vocal talents of this powerhouse cast.
The look of "The Secret Garden" is greatly enhanced by Michelle Boll's scene painting, both on the set and in various projected backdrops. John MacKenzie's efficient setting features rooms on either side of the stage, Mary and Colin's, hidden when not in use by movable proscenium pieces. A black scrim traveller masks the upstage scenes and the projection surface. His lighting controls the flow from scene to scene but would benefit from more instruments, TLP's perennial limitation. Still, the show is filled with magical moments. Costumer Robert Itczak has met all the challenges of period costuming with his usual flair. This is one of TLP's most effective recent offerings.
Turtle Lane has announced their next season, which will start Sept. 14th with the Victorian thriller, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," based on Dicken's unfinished novel. They'll once again do R&H's "The King and I" in Nov. and Dec., then tackle the Tim Rice/ABBA collaboration "Chess" in February. Things will wrap up in May with the campy "Dames at Sea." "Broadway in your Backyard" will be going strong next season.
ARCHIVE