Advertisement

Secret Garden' Sprouts With Young Talent

By Judith Cookis Rubens

"The Secret Garden" at Farmers Alley Theatre continues through Sept. 12. Photo: Farmers Alley


Without frequent watering, light and love, a lush garden will wither and go dormant – not yet dead, but not quite alive either.
This can happen to people, too, we learn, if exposed to great depths of loss and loneliness. In the musical, "The Secret Garden," now at Farmers Alley Theatre, widower Archibald Craven has gone dormant after losing his lovely wife, Lily, shortly after birthing their invalid son. Archibald, a hunchback pacing an empty mansion, is haunted by Lily's ghost and mourns his ill son, Colin, hidden away upstairs, waiting to die.
It's not exactly the upbeat stuff of today's family-friendly musicals. But this revival of a 1991 Broadway musical (Tony winner for its book), has enough lighter, happier moments to keep it from becoming too bloated and maudlin.
Based on the 1911 Frances Hodgson Burnett children's novel, "The Secret Garden" focuses on Mary Lennox, Archibald's niece, a sullen, 11-year-old orphan who's lost both her parents to a cholera outbreak in India. She's sent to live on the Yorkshire Moors of England with her distant uncle in his rattling, seemingly haunted mansion. At first she thinks she's all alone, but soon after befriending a young gardener, Dickon, and meeting her young cousin, Colin, Mary and her "new family" unite to revive a secret garden.
Marsha Norman's rich book stays true to the popular children's story, though we get more glimpses into the adults' backstories and more of a spiritual message about death. The deceased characters appear as ghosts, pacing the halls as observers, and sometimes mixing with the living – an interesting, but sometimes chaotic staging choice.
Archibald's wife/Mary's aunt, Lily, restlessly wanders the halls as a sparkling white image. Mary's parents – Rose and Albert – are there, too. Rose and Lily even converse as they watch and remember the action.
Director Kathy Mulay (directing several members of her real-life family in this show) has the great task of mixing the living and dead without entering campy territory. Certain scenes work better than others. The hovering ghostly figures in the Prologue's "House on the Hill," for example, seem to crowd one another irritatingly on the small stage. Yet the one-on-one interactions between Lily and grieving Archibald, or Lily and bedridden Colin are more powerful.
Better yet, when the division between the ghosts and the living disappears, such as the charming Act II number, "Come Spirit, Come Charm," it's not so distracting.
Considering Lucy Simon's and Marsha Norman's music – a mix of gloomy operatic ballads and more uptempo English folk tunes – you'll want to keep your Kleenex handy, as the melodrama is never subtle. Especially laid-on-thick is the torn-apart romance between Archibald and Lily and the early death of Mary's parents.
However, one might argue the most tender and wrenching scenes are those in which the children confront their fears and losses, yet manage to go on. They believe in living, and, therefore, encourage the adults around them to do the same.
The young stars are superbly cast here. As orphan Mary, 13-year-old Traverse City actress Madison Hertel has a delightful stage presence and impressive singing voice that showcases Mary's complexities. She's one to watch, for sure.
Equally impressive is 11-year-old Jason Koch (Mulay's grandson, full disclosure), who more than holds his own as the sometimes-bratty Colin. Colin's and Mary's evolving relationship is one of the sweetest parts of the show, and young Koch brings humor and solid vocals to the part. Considering his real-life mother and father play Archibald and Lily, the scenes with this decidedly talented theater family are quite touching.
Other excellent highlights are U of M graduate Jane Bruce as Mary's plucky chamber maid, Martha, and NYC's DJ Bucciarelli playing the energetic Dickon. It's cheerful Dickon who helps Mary realize there's hidden life in the home's secret garden. Both actors breathe humor and fun into this show, which at times, can start to veer into gloomy depths. Bruce has fun with Martha's strong Yorkshire accent, while Bucciarelli's Dickon just exudes good cheer and optimism.
Mary's and Dickon's duets, including "Show Me the Key" and Act Two's "Wick," are delightful, and one can't help but wish for a few more of those scenes.
Other standouts include Zachary Joel Smits as Archibald's doctor brother, Neville, who has ulterior motives; and John Mulay (director Kathy Mulay's husband), as Ben, the home's longtime gardener.
Truly keeping it all in the family, husband-and-wife theater couple Jeremy Koch and Denene Mulay Koch (also two of Farmers Alley's co-founders) play Archibald and Lily, respectively. Their chemistry translates on stage, mostly in the end number, "How Could I Ever Know," when there's a recognition that Archibald might have to let Lily go to move on.
Trying out a new stage configuration, Farmers Alley pins most of its set design around an expansive video screen, which projects images of the mansion, the Moors, the garden. It allows audiences to follow the story from Colonial India to the ever-evolving garden.
It works technically, aided by luminous lighting by Lanford J. Potts, but, for a story so built around the transformative nature of greenery, it would have been fun to have a more colorful, 3D transformation in real blooms.
Music director Marie McColley Kerstetter and a hidden seven-piece orchestra do justice to the demanding musical score in all its somber and joyful parts.

REVIEW:
'The Secret Garden'
Farmers Alley Theatre
221 Farmers Alley, Kalamazoo
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, Oct. 2, 9
8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, Oct. 3, 10
8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, 27, Oct. 4, 11
2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, 28, Oct. 5, 12
2 hours, 25 minutes
$32-34
269-343-2727
http://www.farmersalleytheatre.com

Advertisement
Advertisement

From the Pride Source Marketplace

Go to the Marketplace
Directory default
Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce MemberWork with highly effective attorneys on your…
Learn More
Directory default
Personalized care in a private setting. We offer all aspects of reproductive medicine, including:…
Learn More
Advertisement