The Rep closes Mainstage season with a 'Secret'

The Rep's production of 'The Secret Garden features Drew Longmore as Mary, Wesley Parker as Colin, and Pat Miller as Dickon. PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN MCCANN Enlarge

The Toledo Repertoire Theatre finishes its 2010-11 Mainstage season with The Secret Garden, a musical by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, based on a century-old novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The tale begins in 1906 in colonial India, where 10-year-old Mary Lennox awakens to learn that she is the only survivor in a household hit by cholera. Mary is an unsympathetic, self-centered child, thoroughly spoiled by her indifferent parents, a British army officer and his social-butterfly wife, and servants, who had catered to her every whim.

The army sends Mary to her only living relative, an uncle by marriage, who lives in an isolated manor in Yorkshire, England. There she discovers a very different life. Her uncle, Archibald Craven, is a widower who has withdrawn from the world and left his affairs in the hands of his brother, Dr. Neville Craven. The housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock, sees Mary as little more than an irritant who interferes in the efficient running of the manor.

But Mary does find a few friends. There's Martha, a young servant who laughs when Mary complains there's nothing to do. There's a great wide world outside; go discover it, she tells the spoiled child. Mary takes Martha's advice, and exploring the grounds she comes upon Ben Weatherstaff, an old gardener, and Dickon, Martha's younger brother. Both encourage Mary's new-found interest in gardening.

Later, Mary discovers she's not the only child in the house when she finds her cousin, Colin. The son of Archibald, Colin is an apparent invalid under the care of Dr. Craven and Mrs. Medlock, and despite the adults' orders that she leave Colin alone, Mary keeps visiting him and soon figures out that he isn't as frail as the adults want him to be.

With the encouragement of Mary and Dickon, Colin takes clandestine control of his life, using a wheelchair to visit them in a neglected walled garden that Mary discovered and is encouraging back to life. His health and Mary's emotional well-being soon begin to take a turn for the better.

Director Matthew Bowland says that fans of Burnett's novel will see some major changes between it and the musical.

"Dickon, in the book, is the same age as Mary, but they made him a little older in the musical to make him more of a mentor," he said.

Neville, too, has gotten a makeover. Originally a distant cousin, he's been transformed into Archibald's brother to play up the sibling rivalry angle and become more of a villain, according to Bowland.

The book focused on the children, with the adults as background characters. The musical brings the adults, living and dead, to the foreground as it presents the Lennox and Craven families' shared history and liberally uses ghosts, especially Colin's mother, to urge the living characters into certain courses of action.

Key members of the large cast include Drew Longmore as Mary, Scott O'Brien as Archibald, Jarrod Alexander as Dr. Craven, Carol Ann Erford as Mrs. Medlock, Kristin Kukic as Martha, Pat Miller as Dickon, and Max Lay and Wesley Parker sharing roles as Colin Craven. Musical direction is by Josh Glover and choreography by Deb Calabrese.

The Secret Garden opened on Broadway in 1991 and ran for two years. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning three of them. Bowland said he has a strong connection to the original show.

"When I was 12, I auditioned to replace the actor who played Colin on Broadway. I was one of two actors being considered, and they ultimately rejected me because they were afraid my voice would change. But I've loved the show ever since, and I knew I could help translate it from a lavish, expansive Broadway musical to the smaller stage."

The show is extremely family-friendly, he said, but it does border on being a drama, so it may not hold the attention of those younger than 6 or 7.

Toledo Repertoire Theatre opens "The Secret Garden" at 8 p.m. Friday at 16 10th St. Additional evening performances are Saturday and June 10, 11, and 16-18. Matinees are at 2:30 p.m. June 12 and 19. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors, $10 for youngsters 13 and older, and $5 for those 12 and younger. Information: 419-243-9277.

Contact Nanciann Cherry at: ncherry@theblade.com or 419-724-6130.