Review: THE SECRET GARDEN at Theo Ubique

It may be the grayest, gloomiest and darkest time of the year, but something musically magical is in bloom at Theo Ubique. And with a little luck, their production of the Tony award-winning  THE SECRET GARDEN won’t stay a secret for long.

In keeping with the British holiday tradition of sharing ghost stories, this timeless and enchanting, show with more than a few ghosts is a holiday treat.

Based on the beloved 1911 children’s book of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the musical begins as Mary Lennox (Joryhebel Ginorio) suddenly finds herself orphaned when her parents Albert (Nicholas Ian) and Rose (Rachel Guth) as well as Mary’s beloved nursemaid Ayah (Maliha Sayed) die from a Cholera outbreak in India.

Mary is sparred, in part, because he unaffectionate mother Rose preferred that children be neither seen nor heard and Mary was pretty much left alone for hours at a time while her parents socialized.  She is shipped back off to England to live with her Uncle Archibald (Will Koski), unaware that the spirits of her parents and Ayah have followed her to her new home.

It seems she has traded one lonely, isolated existence for another as Mrs. Medlock (Kathleen Puls Andrade) explains matter-of-factly that her uncle’s estate, Misselthwaite, is located on the Yorkshire Moors, consisting of “miles and miles of wild land that nothing grows on but heather, gorse and broom.”

Mary soon finds that she is not the only one grieving as her uncle is still mourning the death of his wife (and Rose’s sister) Lily (Brennan Martinez). Lily, who died during childbirth, also haunts the halls. Archibald was so bereft by his loss, he threw the key to Lily’s beloved walled in garden on the grounds somewhere and allowed weeds to grow over the once lush garden.

Meanwhile, Archibald’s brother Neville (Jeffrey Charles) may have less than the best intentions regarding the health of Archibald’s son Colin (Kailey Azure Green), whom he insists is near death and therefore must be kept locked away within the top floors of the manor.

Mary soon finds purpose (and, more importantly, the key to the garden) with the help and support of the plucky chambermaid Martha (Dakota Hughes) , her somewhat mystical brother Dicken (Lincoln J. Skoien) and the slightly more reluctant gardener Ben (Bill Chamberlain). Collectively they work in secret to restore the garden with the hopes that it may offer a cure for Mary’s cousin that Neville’s medicine does not.

Grief and the healing power of nature have always been central to the plot of both book and musical. Many of us will admit that our reaction to profound loss has been to wall ourselves off from the world. The show’s main message is universal: our lives our a garden of experiences; we bloom, grow and thrive if we nurture, tend and love ourselves and others.  

Director Christopher Pazdernik has parred down the show somewhat (one of the chief complaint of the original Broadway production was that there simply were too many ghosts –with the specters including additional Indian servants and various doomed British party guests). It feels more intimate as a result, which turns out to be a winning combination.

As Lily, Brennan Martinez’s soprano floats and hovers like the mist on the moors. Her vocal performance rivals the original Lily on Broadway, the late Rebecca Luker (whom I was fortunate to have known personally; I do not offer that praise lightly). Her duet with Kailey Azure Green on “Come to My Garden” is gorgeously sung by both performers.

Not to be outdone, Will Koski and Jeffrey Charles’ vocal work on “Lily’s Eyes” (surely one of the greatest male duets every written for Broadway) sparks with intensity as both brother’s express grief and longing for the deceased Lily.     

As Dicken, Lincoln J. Skoien’s is appropriately equal parts mischievous and mystical in “Winter’s on the Wing” and “Wick” as he explains to Mary the natural order of, well, nature. The most seemingly dead thing can bloom and grow with just the tiniest amount of love and attention.

It all leads up to one of the finest 11th hour songs of the last 30 years, “Hold On.” Dakota Hughes seemingly blows the roof off of the theater as she vocally strips away all the secrets of the house as she implores Mary to bravely keep fighting on. They are emotional and earnest as they perform the number and it just might be the best performance you are likely to see this or any other year.

It's also a message that I suspect more than a few of us need to hear right now. Kindness, respect and love are powerful enough to weather any storm.

They simply have to be.  

THE SECRET GARDEN is running through Jan. 5 at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston. Tickets at theo-u.com

All photos by Time Stops Photography, courtesy of Theo Ubique. 

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