Reviews: The Secret Garden presented by Albert Einstein HS
Written by Alden Walcott of South Lakes High School
Hope can spring from just a little bit of earth - even through the vines and snarls of grief. With friendship, love, and a dash of Yorkshire magic, Albert Einstein High School's production of The Secret Garden beautifully reinvigorates the blooms of the past into a tribute to those we've loved and lost, who it turns out, never really leave us.
Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden tells the story of young Mary Lennox, orphaned in India by a cholera epidemic, who is sent to live with her ill-tempered widower uncle on his estate in the moors of Yorkshire, England. As she heals from her grief, she not only brings her late aunt's garden back to life, but restores the spirit of her uncle and young cousin, showing them how to live with hope again. With book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, The Secret Garden musical opened on Broadway in 1991, running for more than 700 performances and winning three Tony Awards.
Haunting the halls of the manor with his commanding presence, wry humor, and crippling grief was Seger Ott-Rudolph's Archibald Craven. Ott-Rudolph's vocals were as consistently poignant as they were rich and mesmerizing, captivating audiences with his nuanced portrayal of a man struggling with the loss of his wife while longing to connect to his sickly son. While Ott-Rudolph's vocal prowess drew audiences in, he was equally at home delivering Archibald's self-deprecating, subtle lines with comedic timing, humanizing an otherwise larger than life figure. Serving as Archibald's perfect foil was his long-suffering brother Dr. Neville Craven (Abimael Reyes Jimenez). Just as Archibald's grief has consumed him, Neville's unacknowledged love for Archibald's wife, Lily, has simmered for years, adeptly played by Reyes Jimenez as a barely contained resentment that occasionally bubbles over. The standout song of the show was their duet, "Lily's Eyes," in which both men powerfully conveyed the depth of their grief and the weight of their rivalry through perfectly harmonized vocals, each uplifting the other.
Mary Lennox (Devyn McHargue) infused the cold English manor with youthful optimism. Balancing the confusion of an orphaned child with the energy of a girl longing to run free, McHargue mastered both a British accent and dainty, child-like mannerisms so deftly that audiences cheered her on. Providing welcome comic relief was housemaid Martha (Arwyn Hager). Martha's spot-on Yorkshire accent and hilarious insights (“Don't forget your skipping rope!”) drew consistent laughs that were matched by her powerful vocals in "Hold On," an audience favorite.
The Secret Garden wouldn't spring to life without the standout contributions of the technical elements. Creating a world both minimalist and versatile, the AEHS Set Design Crew built pieces ranging from a fully climbable tree on a moving platform to wooden windows held up with subtly angled braces, before immersing audiences in a garden in full bloom, striking in its use of color and neatly strung fairy lights. Equally transporting were the costumes, by Josh McClendon, Lorrilee Soderstrum, and the AEHS Costumes Crew, which made use of a range of vintage wedding dresses and World War I-inspired military uniforms to depict both Victorian England and colonial India, often on stage simultaneously. The handmade bouquets, delicate food and 1920s-era cameras and decorative items (Axel Eagle, Birdie Kelly, & the AEHS Props Team) added to the ethereal yet historically accurate allure, elevating the performance.
Albert Einstein High School's The Secret Garden was a life-affirming tale of the triumph of the human spirit, giving audiences hope that even from the darkest of times, life can bloom again.
Written by Iris Cooper of Westfield High School
"The Secret Garden" is a story of both longing and loss, as well as growth and youth, highlighting the potential a young girl can possess if given the opportunity. In Albert Einstein High School's adaptation of the classic, a young orphaned girl, Mary Lennox (Devyn McHargue), is taken to live with her grieving uncle, the widower Archibald Craven (Seger Ott-Rudolph). The original book, published in 1911, has become a classic coming-of-age story, alongside works like Anne of Green Gables and The Chronicles of Narnia. But unlike the Pevensies, Mary has no magical escape—only her sharp tongue, a weapon she wields masterfully.
During the production, we gradually learn about Mary's past in India, including the sudden and tragic loss of her parents. Lily (Amelia Beard), Mary's aunt, is portrayed as a beautiful, non-judgmental woman who loved Craven despite his hunchback and her sister Rose's criticism. Beard's stunning performance and powerful vocals left a lasting impression on everyone who heard them. Unfortunately, she'd passed away ten years ago, leaving behind her son, Colin Craven (Audrey Kirby). Colin was spoiled and fearful, having grown up under the shadow of death and the fear of deformity, convinced he'd inherited his father's hunchback. However, after meeting his cousin Mary, he decided to hope for more than just pre-mortem stories heard while stuck in his sickbed. When not visiting her cousin, Mary was often accompanied by Martha (Arwyn Hager), her Irish maid, who was consistently driven to both inspire and improve her ward.
The Secret Garden explores death through ghostly spirits known as 'Dreamers'. They appeared as family, old friends, and wandering spirits. Outside the Manor walls, Mary often escaped to the gardens, distancing herself from the creatures that haunted her. By doing so, she met Ben the Gardener (Adam Augusteijn) and the lively Dickon (Boaz Levone), a bird whisperer, who shared tales of the secret garden, hidden behind a wall of ivy and locked away with a long-buried key. However, by using their playfully conjoined musical efforts, the key is eventually retrieved with help from the birds.
Accompanying the actors' emotional performances, the world around them is often gray and dreary, reflecting their grief-tinted worldview. Led by Mads Maarbjerg and their team, this dreary set design was only offset when everyone finally saw the secret garden in the spring, restored to its former glory and bursting with lights, plants, and 'fountains of roses.' The lighting crew, led by Kaia Codon, played a crucial role, especially in the poignant second-to-last scene where Craven is summoned back by his late wife. In the song "How Could I Ever Know," he stands alone, bathed in a vibrant yellow light, while his wife is shrouded in a ghostly white glow, only fully illuminated when she embraces him on the line "I am alive inside you." This poignant portrayal of life and death is mirrored in the costuming, where the Dreamers wear all-white attire, while the living often wear a mournful black. Led by Joshua McClendon, the costume team placed particular emphasis on color, also using a vibrant red to draw our attention to those who died from cholera, as opposed to the resident spirits of Craven's household.
Poetically, throughout everything, Mary herself is the most alive. She refuses to back down, even under threats to be sent away, determined to help her cousin walk again. Wherever Mary goes, she takes each lost life with her and gives it back to those who have lost their own. She is proof that there is potential for a restart—and just as 'dead' flowers will rise again after winter, spring promises to bring with it bigger and better blooms than ever before.