THE SECRET GARDEN to Play SCERA, 3/20-28

Captivated by the music and compelled by the story, director Kathryn Little is delighted to take on the spellbinding musical drama "The Secret Garden" as the culminating stage production for SCERA's national award-winning high school company, Acting Up.

Forty high school students, who had to audition to be accepted into Acting Up, will present the Tony Award-winning show that is based on the classic piece of literature by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Reimagined brilliantly by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, "The Secret Garden" will play at SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem March 20-28 @ 7:30pm (daily except Tuesday 3/24).

Reserved-seat tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children (age 3-11) and seniors (age 65 and older), and are available at www.scera.org, by calling (801) 225-ARTS, or at the main office at SCERA Center, 745 South State, Orem, open 10am-6pm weekdays and 12Noon-6pm Saturdays.

"The musical catches the essence of the book so well," Little says. "It is lovely to see rich elements of spirituality as forces that lead two children toward finding the love of a family."

She particularly likes the themes of heaven on earth, Indian magic on the side of the children, and many other forces that come together to bless these children and bless a father who has been dysfunctional as a parent.

"The Secret Garden" tells the story of unruly 11-year-old orphan Mary Lennox who comes to live with her embittered, reclusive Uncle Archibald and his invalid son Colin. The estate has many wonders, including a magical secret garden that has been left to grow wild. The garden becomes metaphor for renewal, forgiveness and redemption, with spirits from Mary's past who guide her through her new life.

Mary is the catalyst for changing the lives of all the people around her as well as her own life. A brat in the beginning whose late mother wanted nothing to do with a baby, she has become a difficult, demanding charge for her servants. Colin, also ignored, is also challenging, but the two meet their match in each other and learn their lives can be quite wonderful.

"I am a gardener myself," Little says, "and as I work in my yard and in my house I have listened to the music and become immersed in the loveliness of this story."

While all the Acting UP students will be in the play, several are taking lead parts and include Sarah Carr as Lily Craven, Skyler Kawai as Archibald Craven, Jethro Davis as Neville Craven, Zachary Thorn as Colin, Abby

Garner as Mary Lennox, and Dresden Means as Dickon Sowerby.

Shawn Mortensen has designed the set with a garden that is going to be a beautiful array of flowers and topiaries. As a secret garden, it is also designed to have passageways for the performers to go through, with the result being a wonderful playground.

Little is music director with assistance from Andrew Walsh, and Brodee Ripple is the choreographer and costume designer. Elizabeth Griffiths is light designer.

Acting Up recently returned from the Musical Theatre Competition of America in California, where they competed against school from all over the country. They came in second place overall and several of the students received first place in individual events.

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