STAGE REVIEW : ‘Secret Garden’ Has Theater Magic : Play: Great American Children’s Theatre show playing in San Diego has a kind of magic that captivates youngsters.

SAN DIEGO —  The word magic recurs at least a dozen times in Robert Styndel’s adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden.”

And the magical experience keeps growing during the production of this Great American Children’s Theatre show, playing through Saturday at the Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego.

The magic is not the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t rabbit-out-of-the-hat kind, but rather the sort that transforms a frightened, spoiled child into a caring, compassionate person who learns the joy of helping a garden--and, ultimately, another person--flourish and grow.

Good old-fashioned theater magic is in plentiful supply too, to judge from the way it transformed an unruly full house of elementary school students Monday morning into a quiet, appreciative and effusive audience.

Part of the credit goes to Burnett’s original story, a timeless tale about a rich, spoiled girl who finds herself suddenly orphaned and sent to live with a reclusive uncle. While on his estate, young Mary Lennox learns that, if she doesn’t make friends with the birds and the servants, she won’t have anyone to talk to.

As she learns to be a nicer person, she discovers a secret garden that has been locked up for 10 years and determines to make it grow. She also discovers a mysterious bedridden boy in one of the estate’s 100 rooms and determines to make him well.

In helping the garden and the boy, she helps herself become more likable and almost unrecognizable from the contrary girl who wouldn’t so much as be bothered to dress herself without servants’ help at the beginning of the story.

Credit, too, goes to Styndel’s adaptation, newly commissioned by the Milwaukee-based Great American Children’s Theatre Company, which gracefully compresses Burnett’s long, winding tale into 70 minutes. The production itself is delivered handsomely, with fine, straightforward performances cleanly directed by Leslie Reidel and vibrant, swiftly revolving sets by this 16-year-old company that went professional just last year.

In the interests of simplicity and speed, the themes and the performances do not evolve as slowly and subtly as they do in the book, but the points are made clearly and effectively. Even the smallest viewers seemed to understand what the action was about.

Although the cast ranges in age from 21 to 53, actors Rebecca Kessel, who plays Mary Lennox, (and who played Charlie in the company’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which toured here last year) and Mark Insko as the mysterious young Colin Craven capture the feeling of childhood without condescension.

Alison Stair Neet plays Martha, a young Yorkshire servant, with infectious charm. Ellen Lockhead plays the seemingly mean Mrs. Medlock with a heart under her starchy frock. And Leon Wilson III is quite the free spirit as the boy Dickon, Martha’s brother, who helps heal the children’s spirits by putting them in touch with the wild things--the animals and plants.

The swiftly shifting sets keep the action visually exciting. A backdrop of India, where Mary Lennox first finds herself orphaned, gives way to a train and then a carriage ride to her new home. The action moves smoothly from her bedroom to an area outside the estate to the secret garden itself, which “grows” with greenery and flowers each time it is revealed.

“The Secret Garden,” a $1.5-million production, is in the midst of a 23-week, 12-city tour. All shows except the 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday performances are sold out.

The Great American Children’s Theatre Company producer and founder, Teri Solomon Mitze, is already planning to bring the company back to San Diego with a new show for a fourth-annual trip next year. If she comes back with a show as polished as this one, it will be welcome indeed.

‘THE SECRET GARDEN’

Adapted by Robert Styndel from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Director is Leslie Reidel. Music and sound by Ricky Ian Gordon. Set by Allen H. Jones. Costumes by Gene Davis Buck. Lighting by Spencer Mosse. Stage manager is Brett Reynolds. With Michael Duncan, Mark Insko, Rebecca Kessel, Ellen Lockhead, Howard Lucas, Alison Stair Neet and Leon Wilson III. At 9:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. through Thursday; 9:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Friday, and 1 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $2.50 for families with military ID for Saturday performance only; all others $4.50-$5.50 weekdays, $10-$15 weekends. At 121 Broadway, San Diego. Call 1-800-852-9772.