THE HANGOVER REPORT – Manhattan Concert Productions’ glorious 25th anniversary staged concert of THE SECRET GARDEN was a night for the ages

secretIn the spring of 1991, a beauty of a musical opened at the St. James Theater, Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s lush adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret Garden. It marked my second Broadway show (after having been converted to the shrine of the Broadway musical by the original production of Les Misérables), and that experience remains vivid in my mind. Twenty-five years on and having seen and heard countless musical theater scores since, Ms. Simon’s work remains a wonder in the canon. There’s an authentic sweeping and romantic urgency to the score that many have tried to emulate but few have even come close to capturing – this includes Ms. Lucy herself with last season’s unfortunate musical version of Doctor Zhivago. The score is all things and yet completely it’s own animal. It’s got it all: tension and release, darkness and light, bitterness and joyous sweetness.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Broadway opening, the increasingly essential Manhattan Concert Productions has chosen the much-loved musical for its 2016 offering. And boy have they done the material justice. This concert, which was performed twice this past week, marks a new high point in the series’ five-year history. Sensitively directed by Stafford Arima, the concert looked (the tasteful set design was by Beowulf Boritt and moody lighting design was by Jason Lyons) and sounded (Michael Kosarin, backed by a huge chorus, led a magnificent account of the score using Bill Brohn’s glorious orginal orchestrations) like a dream, both literally and figuratively. It was the cast, however, that made this a night for the ages. As Mary Lennox, Sydney Lucas proved once again that she’s the real deal; she gave this Secret Garden a heroine that the audience could really cheer for. Ramin Karimloo and Cheyenne Jackson gave Archibald and Neville softer portrayals than I remember, adding needed depth to Ms. Norman’s book (perhaps the musical’s weakest component). Sierra Boggess did Rebecca Luker proud with her vocally sumptuous Lily. Tony-winner Daisy Eagan (Mary in the original production) gave a rightfully emotional performance as Martha and Ben Platt oozed charisma as her brother Dicken. The deluxe casting also included Telly Leung, Josh Young, Nikki Renée Daniels, Quentin Earl Darrington, Julie Halston, Jere Shea, and original cast member Barbara Rosenblat in various bit parts.

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THE SECRET GARDEN
Off-Broadway, Musical (staged concert)
Manhattan Concert Productions
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed

Categories: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Theater

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