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  • 1.  Secret Garden-musical

    Posted 05-20-2014 19:20

    Has anyone done the musical The Secret Garden?  We are considering it for next year.  Pros? Cons? Advice?

    Thanks,
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    Holly Thompson
    Columbus,OH
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  • 2.  RE: Secret Garden-musical

    Posted 05-21-2014 08:27
    Brilliant show.  Great music that can show off several strong singer/actors as opposed to just two or three leads as most shows do.  The drawback, as is true with any show featuring pre-adolescent characters ("Annie," "Oliver" etc.), is to get high schoolers that look young enough to play the children and others to play the adult characters.

    It provides a wonderful challenge for your actors due to the accents and period in which it is set.  If you are, or have, a good musical director/chorus teacher, that is a huge bonus.  

    I love putting tech crew in costume and making them characters in the show.  This show allows for that by having the serving staff move the set.  I even had the "non-singers" in the crew join in for the finale and they loved it!  If you can get the costumes, this allows for the cast/crew to be as large as necessary.

    Beyond that, the technical requirements are very flexible; I've done it with a BEAUTIFUL full-blown mansion on stage, and I've done it, very successfully, with a minimal set featuring only the furniture required for the various interiors.  The garden scenes were mostly "implied" with simple changes in lighting, sound effects (birds, water fountains, etc.), and garden tools.

    I have found it to be what I call a "foundation" show.  Students with a very limited scope of knowledge of musicals are at first reluctant to do (or even see) a show they've never heard of, yet it wins them over such that it helps establish a foundation of understanding about what else is out there.

    Break a leg with it!

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    Josh Ruben
    Fine Arts Head
    Chattanooga TN
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  • 3.  RE: Secret Garden-musical

    Posted 05-22-2014 06:58
    We did it this fall and it was stunning! We used our steam kids to design and build a two level set that removed for the Garden reveal at the end. It is true you need two great men and Lily has to sound beautiful and effortless but we did the Faqir as a woman and had a very female heavy ghost chorus and it was lovely. Costumer.com provided 33 beautiful gowns for the chorus as well as the uniforms and period specific men's wear. I think it is a challenging show vocally but the rewards are certainly worth it! ------------------------------------------- Maggie Ward Columbia MD -------------------------------------------
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  • 4.  RE: Secret Garden-musical

    Posted 05-23-2014 08:53
    Hello,

    I have directed the show twice. I had a two level set that did not move. The garden moved in in front of the mansion. I had light weight garden walls that were moved by the ghost men on It's a Maze. We had two cut out barren trees to the side of the mansion where the key was hidden. I even created a puppet bird that I cast as a young boy (to maneuver it) who started in India with Mary then became a ghost like the others. The Robin dropped the key for Mary to find since I did not have topiary.  

    The costumes for the girls are easily made from wedding dresses. We found tons of high collar wedding dresses (late 80s early 90s). The uniforms were easily created with khaki pants and short sleeve khaki shirts, white ascots and straw helmets that we ordered. For the full grown garden, the ghost girls carried large baskets and bouquets of flowers with picture hats covered in flowers. The boys carried leafed branches and ivy. It worked so well and was a quick way to have the garden "grow."

    I did use younger children for Collin and Mary. They were in junior high so it was a great feeder for our program.

    I say do it! The kids will love it.

    Susan



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    Susan Cortesi
    Director of Theatre
    District 87
    Bloomington IL
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  • 5.  RE: Secret Garden-musical

    Posted 05-21-2014 09:55
    I did the show a number of years ago as he feature show of the Indiana State Theatre Festival and it was well received. It is quite beautiful, both vocally and visually.

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    Craig Munk
    Director of Theatre
    Kendallville IN
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