Review Roundup: Broadway-Aimed THE SECRET GARDEN Opens In Los Angeles

The reviews are starting to roll in for The Secret Garden, currently playing at Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre through March 26, 2023!

The Secret Garden follows the young, orphaned Mary Lennox as she's sent from her home in India to live with her reclusive uncle on his haunted English country estate. Guided by an exceptionally beautiful score, audiences will be swept away with Mary's unapologetic curiosity as she is joined with the help of unlikely companions transporting her on a thrilling quest to untangle the pieces of her family's past and - most importantly - discover herself.

This complete cast of The Secret Garden includes Emily Jewel Hoder (Mary Lennox), Sierra Boggess (Lily Craven), Terron Brooks (Major Shelley), Mark Capri (Ben Weatherstaff), Peyton Crim (Major Holmes), Derrick Davis (Archibald Craven), Randi De Marco (swing), Susan Denaker (Mrs. Medlock), Kelley Dorney (Mrs. Winthrop/Cholera), Ali Ewoldt (Rose Lennox), William Foon (Colin Craven alternate), Ava Madison Gray (Mary Lennox alternate), John Krause (Captain Albert Lennox), Aaron Lazar (Dr. Neville Craven), Julia Lester (Martha), Reese Levine (Colin Craven), Sam Linkowski (swing), John-Michael Lyles (Dickon), Yamuna Meleth (Ayah), Cassandra Marie Murphy (Mrs. Shelley), Ariel Neydavoud (ensemble), James Olivas (Lieutenant Wright), Sadie Brickman Reynolds (Mary Lennox), Kyla Jordan Stone (Alice), and Vishal Vaidya (Fakir).

This revival production based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett of the same name will include book and lyrics by Marsha Norman, music by Lucy Simon, and direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle. The creative team includes Rob Berman (Music Supervision and Additional Orchestrations), Danny Troob (Orchestrator), Dan Redfeld (Music Director), Jason Sherwood (Set Designer), Ann Hould-Ward (Costume Designer), Ken Billington (Co-Lighting Designer), Brian Monahan (Co-Lighting Designer), Dan Moses Schreier (Sound Designer), Victoria Tinsman (Wig and Makeup Designer), Michael Donovan, CSA and Richie Ferris, CSA (Casting), as well as David Franklin (Production Stage Manager).

Nominated for seven Tony Awards and winner of Best Book of a Musical as well as two Drama Desk Awards, this enchanting musical is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's turn-of-the-century tale about understanding and compassion.

The Secret Garden had its world premiere in 1989 as a Virginia Stage Company production at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk, Virginia. It then premiered on Broadway in 1991, earning three Tony Awards including a win for Daisy Eagan, who is the youngest female recipient of a Tony Award to date for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The Secret Garden went on to be produced all over the world, including Australia and in the U.K. by The Royal Shakespeare Company, breaking box office records before a West End run. The production is a favorite among many local and regional theatres.

Tickets for The Secret Garden are on sale now and start at $40. They will be available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre) at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012. Performances run Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Watch our red carpet coverage of The Secret Garden's opening night here.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Charles McNulty, LA Times: Yet it's not the dialects so much that deracinate the production as the nowhere scenic design. [...] Jason Sherwood's sets, devoid of any sense of place, appear to have been designed with only logistical efficiency in mind. [...]The core set of problems that held the show back hasn't been addressed. A beloved children's story is still incongruously masquerading on stage as an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Andrew Child, BroadwayWorld: There is a quaint, childlike magic to the piece that Carlyle tries to coerce into a broad musical comedy more in line with his recent Broadway credits like The Music Man or Hello, Dolly!. The result is a staging that seems to be constantly at odds with, and worse, apologizing for the source material. [...] If you already have tickets to The Secret Garden, there's no need to despair. The musical itself is a gem and you are sure to enjoy your evening. Just don't get your hopes up for an inventive reimagining or updated interpretation.

Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA: Working in tandem with scenic designer Jason Sherwood and lighting designers Ken Billington and Brian Monahan (who eschew the realism of the show's original Broadway designs for something considerably more dreamlike look), Carlyle isn't afraid to embrace the darkness of Burnett's classic tale of the wuthering Yorkshire moors, and never before have the sprits of the departed been so ever-present. (There's a moment in the second act involving them and Colin that is a bona fide stunner.)

Matthew Wexler, Queerty: The family-friendly musical, due in large part to its foreboding and gloomy physical presence, fails to break through with the optimism it promises. The production features outstanding vocal performances from a roster of Broadway veterans, including its young lead. Still, director-choreographer Carlyle, known for his bigger-than-life productions, has yet to harness the musical's emotional complexity. And that is a secret worth discovering.

Kevin Taft, We Live Entertainment: The best part of this new staging is the set itself. With a large twisty paper ribbon that winds across the stage like a paper house spiral staircase, the effect gives the play an ethereal quality. The ribbon changes color and appears sometimes to change texture as the characters move from the downtrodden estate to the garden outside. A Hobbit-style garden door appears to bring Mary to where she will spend most of her time, and when the garden is in full bloom, another set piece frames the cast fancifully.

Elaine Mura, Splash Magazines: Director Carlyle helms the production with attention to fantasy but also earthly compassion, and the talented cast keep the audience constantly involved in this charming fable. At one point, when the villain of the piece receives his come-uppance, the audience actually cheered. And let's not forget about Sadie Brickman Reynolds' Mary, who holds her own in a very talented ensemble.

Imaan Jalali, LA Excites: The headliner is, of course, Sierra Boggess who is beautifully poetic as Lily Craven, a chiffon-dressed ghost whose seeming silhouette drifts and echoes to and fro her husband Archibald's home. Boggess' delineation is as simultaneously detached from reality as a specter would be, yet it is paradoxically lifted by a forceful passion that emotionally rocks the observer. A select few have as much coloratura and volume to their voice as Boggess does, whose operatic splendor spellbinds and imbues the musical with much sincerity.

Chloe Conaway, Theatrely: Warren Carlyle's revival isn't revelatory. But not all theater needs to be. Noticing the little girl behind me sitting on her grandmother's lap, spellbound, I couldn't help but remember seeing The Secret Garden with my grandmother at a cozy community theater. Though the musical meanders, there's something for children and adults to connect to here, and arguably more importantly, something for them to connect over. If you're going to see the musical, this is the cast to see. The production's spark may still be asleep, but this outstanding cast is trying its hardest to clear away the dead parts.

Check back for more reviews as they come in!

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