Playhouse plants an enchanting ‘Garden’

TOM TITUS

FYI

* WHAT: “The Secret Garden”

* WHERE: Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 611 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa

* WHEN: Thursdays through

Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. until March 13

* COST: $15

* CALL: (949) 650-5269

Any stage production adapted from a novel is bound to be

particularly demanding on the show’s technicians, if only because of

its multiple setting requirements, and a project like “The Secret

Garden” presents even further complications.

The Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse does not offer one of the

comparatively enormous stages, such as those found in Huntington

Beach or Laguna Beach, and to mount this large a show in this small a

venue would seem fraught with peril. Yet director Ryan Holihan and

his industrious cast and crew have found a way to make the show work,

and work quite nicely.

“The Secret Garden,” Marsha Norman’s musical adaptation of the

classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a haunting blend of the

real and the unreal as characters struck down by cholera in the

opening scene return, garbed in white, as dream figures influencing

subsequent events. Among the ghostly troupe is Lily, wife of an

English nobleman, who died in childbirth and who exerts a

particularly powerful influence.

The story, however, centers on young Mary, a rather strident young

girl whose parents were among the cholera victims. Sent to live with

the aforementioned nobleman, her uncle, Mary discovers the secret

garden of the title and changes many lives in the process.

Alyson Fainbarg, a diminutive college student easily credible as a

preteen lass, renders a touching and powerful performance as Mary,

whose bratty nature melts into a splendid sense of humanity with the

help of several house servants. Mary’s transformation parallels that

of the garden, also nurtured with tender care after a prolonged

period of neglect.

As her grieving uncle, Marc Montminy is quite convincing, holding

Mary at arm’s length while he nourishes his memories of the lovely

Lucy, beautifully played and sung by Laura Lindahl. The requisite

“heavy” in the piece is the uncle’s physician brother, Jason Holland,

who covets both Montminy’s estate and his abbreviated life with Lucy,

and whose remedies for his stricken nephew may not be in the lad’s

best interests.

Spirited performances come from Cynthia Acevedo as Mary’s maid,

Michael Dale Brown as the wise old gardener, Enrique Munoz Jr. as the

enthusiastic young gardener and, particularly, Barbara Duncan Brown

as the no-nonsense housekeeper. Chandler Stager grows in the role of

Montminy’s ailing young son.

Director Holihan also has designed the settings -- an intricate

compilation of set pieces, which appear from and disappear into the

wings, propelled by an active backstage crew and the actors

themselves. A large cast is almost mandatory for this sort of

production, if only to effect the numerous scene changes.

The intricate movements of the dream figures through the live

action are nicely choreographed by Megan Endicott Morrow, whose

parents Kathy and Steve Endicott head the backstage crew as stage

managers. Musical direction by Stephen Hulsey and Ryan Hood’s

lighting effects further enhance the production.

Musically, there are few numbers which genuinely stick to the

ribs, but the duet by Montminy and Holland, “In Lily’s Eyes,” is a

dramatic show stopper, as is Acevedo’s inspirational solo, “Hold On.”

Lindahl’s vocalizing in her duets with Montminy also touch the heart.

Many hands and talents have gone into making this “Secret Garden”

bloom at the Civic Playhouse. They illustrate the good things that

may occur in small staging venues.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.