Arizona State University Lyric Opera Theatre's The Secret Garden at The ASU Music Theatre
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 4/24/98
(out of )Arizona State University's successful and normally impressive Lyric Opera Theatre has planted a production of the 1991 Broadway version of The Secret Garden on The Music Theatre stage. Unfortunately, director Dale Dreyfoos has allowed this enjoyable musical to develop into an uncontrollable field of overreaching technical demands, overwhelming orchestration and overblown performances. The result is an evening that does have some dramatic and touching moments, but those are balanced by technical and stylistic choices that threaten to cause the entire construction to collapse onto itself.
The musical, possibly the best adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's tale of a dour orphan's self-discovery in the ghost-filled halls of her uncle's Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire, England, can either be a grand production for those who can handle the requirements, or it's settings can be implied and indicated, for those companies who can't. While Lyric Opera Theatre has been up to the task of creating a grand technical production, this time the designers have gone too far, nearly ruining the show with its massive set changes, disruptive sound system, and odd lighting choices.
John Autore's Scenic Design was over-the-top, and worked against the show on many levels. While the set admittedly looked great, and had many clever ideas and spaces to work with, the use of multiple scrims, which made it damned near impossible to understand the chorus behind it, and the two awkward, non-fixed revolves looked genuinely dangerous for those trying to move them. Michael Eddy's Lighting Design was generally better, though the use of upward pointing "Fosse-lights" for the singers in the balcony area was unnecessarily creepy and distracting. The worst technical problems of the evening came from Robin Coates' wretched Sound Design, which had singers going unmiked through half their songs, and had the annoying tendency to pop in and out during the most inconvenient of moments.
Whether opening night jitters, or having to deal with technical problems, the performances generally did not fare much better. The most consistent performance came from Jeanine Pacheco, who did a very realistic job of playing the dour young orphan, Mary Lennox. Her solid voice and believability were the highlights of the evening. Also solid was Alissa James as Martha, Mary's chambermaid and first friend in Misselthwaite Manor. Ms. James' performance was good, though her big song, "Hold On," was not the showstopper it was meant to be. Not-so-solid in their roles were Jason Paul as Martha's nature-loving brother, Dickon, and Robby Sharpe as the young master of the house, Colin. Mr. Paul spent more time playing at being off-kilter than just being off-kilter. Mr. Sharpe was sufficiently snobby, but bordered on caricature.
Mr. Dreyfoos seemingly made a stylistic choice that worked against the show. He had the children perform in a realistic style, but then had the adults perform in an oddly melodramatic style, which made for several unbearable performances. The worst of the lot was Chad Millar as Archibald Craven, the hunchbacked, forelorn uncle to Mary. He spent so much time wringing his hands and posing tormentedly, I became convinced that a dose of Prozac would have ended the evening much quicker. Ironically, though, the most dramatic moment occurred when Mr. Millar and Bradford York, playing his self-serving brother, Dr. Neville Craven, sang the beautiful duet, "Lily's Eyes." Mr. York's performance was acceptable, as were those of Ben Slavin as Ben, the crusty gardener, and Jennifer Long as the housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock. The oddest performance of the evening came from Melanie Jardine, who played the long-dead Lily Craven in an appropriately ethereal way, yet never managing to bring across the warmth and lovingness that is supposed to make her so central to this show.
Musical Director William Reber did a solid job, though there were several moments when the orchestra overwhelmed the voices onstage. Other lonely bright spots to the evening were JoAnn Yeoman's fluid movement, and Esther Turner's impressive period costumes.
There is something to be learned from this production of The
Secret Garden. While it's nice to bring in as much spectacle
and grandeur as possible, there are times when less is more. With
this production, a prodigious amount of pruning would have made
all the difference.
Production Details:
The Secret Garden Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman, Music
by Lucy Simon
ASU Lyric Opera Theatre; The ASU Music Theatre, Tempe
965-6447
April 24th-May 3rd, 1998