Experience the magic. Unlock the mystery. Come fall in love with “The Secret Garden,” the third show in our spectacular 2018/2019 season. 3-D Theatricals brings the emotional, Tony Award®-winning musical adaptation of the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, to a whole new audience for a strictly limited engagement starting May 3rd. After the sudden death of her parents, ten-year-old Mary Lennox is sent to live with an uncle whom she’s never met. Mourning the loss of his own true love, Uncle Archibald is distant and strange – leaving Mary to explore a lonely mansion shrouded in mystery and haunted by spirits and lost souls. Strong-willed and brave-hearted, Mary finds solace in a locked-up, hidden garden, and with it, discovers the true meaning of hope; proving that love and magic can bloom from the darkest of places. This heartwarming story of forgiveness and renewal is filled with beautiful music, magical illusions and a talented cast that makes this a must-see theatrical treat for families of all ages.
THE SECRET GARDEN
Critics
LemonMeter
Reviews: 6
Reviews
Finding and restoring the titular secret garden is what heals Mary’s soul, but Mary and her garden cannot help but affect some of the other brokenhearted members of her family. Chief among them is Archibald Craven (Dino Nicandros), a bitter and tortured hunchback haunted by the ghost of his wife, Lily (Jeanette Dawson). Nicandros was born to play this role. His dark, brooding looks and the agony he tries to hide with a veneer of harshness make the character’s kinship with Heathcliff more apparent than in any previous production I’ve seen. Nicandros is always an expressive singer, but Archibald is a challenge he pours his heart into. He soars effortlessly to every vocal climax but always manages to keep a delicate thrum of the character’s vulnerability alive in the sound.
If you have the patience to wait through a dragging mystery for some nice chuckles and three or four great moments, you should attend.
While the opening remains problematic, Dawson's staging of The Secret Garden, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's novel of 1911, is universally lush, spirited, and dark. With rich musical direction by Allen Everman, ghostly lighting by Paul Black, fanciful costumes by Alexandra Johnson (perhaps a bit too sparkly for spooks), a resplendent set by Stephen Gifford, and 24 incredibly strong singers, this production is most impressive.
Rich in big voices, this production is especially powerful whenever Nicandros, as Uncle Archibald, lets his soaring baritone go husky with emotion or Jeanette Dawson, as Archibald's ghostly wife, calls out to the living in her glittering soprano.
Parts of this production really blossom; too bad so much else gets lost in the weeds.
Simon's sophisticated score is the star, with its haunting melodies and choral depth, though it is not always handled with finesse by an ensemble that has difficulty with pitch, clarity, and restraint. Still, nothing could dim the overall effect of this lush gothic musical romance steeped in the ache of loss but rich in lessons of rebirth and the cyclical nature of life.
3-D Theatricals' gives this one the treatment such a monumental, near-epic tale of this caliber fully deserves. Even if you've seen the show done before, you've NEVER seen it like this—and 3-D Theatricals' version is categorically THE version to see! So ‘Come to this Garden–nestled in' Cerritos Ca.!
Finding and restoring the titular secret garden is what heals Mary’s soul, but Mary and her garden cannot help but affect some of the other brokenhearted members of her family. Chief among them is Archibald Craven (Dino Nicandros), a bitter and tortured hunchback haunted by the ghost of his wife, Lily (Jeanette Dawson). Nicandros was born to play this role. His dark, brooding looks and the agony he tries to hide with a veneer of harshness make the character’s kinship with Heathcliff more apparent than in any previous production I’ve seen. Nicandros is always an expressive singer, but Archibald is a challenge he pours his heart into. He soars effortlessly to every vocal climax but always manages to keep a delicate thrum of the character’s vulnerability alive in the sound.
If you have the patience to wait through a dragging mystery for some nice chuckles and three or four great moments, you should attend.
While the opening remains problematic, Dawson's staging of The Secret Garden, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's novel of 1911, is universally lush, spirited, and dark. With rich musical direction by Allen Everman, ghostly lighting by Paul Black, fanciful costumes by Alexandra Johnson (perhaps a bit too sparkly for spooks), a resplendent set by Stephen Gifford, and 24 incredibly strong singers, this production is most impressive.
Rich in big voices, this production is especially powerful whenever Nicandros, as Uncle Archibald, lets his soaring baritone go husky with emotion or Jeanette Dawson, as Archibald's ghostly wife, calls out to the living in her glittering soprano.
Parts of this production really blossom; too bad so much else gets lost in the weeds.
Simon's sophisticated score is the star, with its haunting melodies and choral depth, though it is not always handled with finesse by an ensemble that has difficulty with pitch, clarity, and restraint. Still, nothing could dim the overall effect of this lush gothic musical romance steeped in the ache of loss but rich in lessons of rebirth and the cyclical nature of life.
3-D Theatricals' gives this one the treatment such a monumental, near-epic tale of this caliber fully deserves. Even if you've seen the show done before, you've NEVER seen it like this—and 3-D Theatricals' version is categorically THE version to see! So ‘Come to this Garden–nestled in' Cerritos Ca.!