The Secret Garden Blooms Brightly at The Ahmanson

Center Theatre Group Los Angeles welcomes the classic 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, with Director Warren Carlyle also choreographing this uplifting story, performed by a stellar cast for a new generation to appreciate.

The original creators – Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman and the iconic Grammy Award-winning composer Lucy Simon debuted “The Secret Garden” on Broadway in 1991. The late Ms. Simon, sister of singer Carly Simon, was the third woman in history to compose a Broadway show. I hope she was felt the love from the cast and audience during the opening night sold-out show last Sunday, February 26, 2023.

Taking our seats, a storm was brewing onstage with an artistic blue hue cyclone funnel by set designer Jason Sherwood as a showpiece on center stage. One single flowing sheer white horizontal fabric rippling in sync to the sound of wind by sound designer Dan Moses Schreier, adds a sense of drama and intrigue. Throughout this musical, this cyclone funnel looking structure also resembles dead roots of the garden, and a creative hidden floating stairway for cast members to enter and leave. Carlyle brilliantly choreographs how cholera intrudes on Captain Albert Lennox’s home during a dinner affair. One by one, every cast member on stage is infected, except young Mary Lennox, leaving her orphaned in Bombay, India.

Tony Award winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward (Beauty and the Beast) dresses those who passed from the plague in ethereally sheer white period dresses and suits, enhancing their flowy, graceful movement.

As W.C. Fields coined the phrase 'never work with children or animals' if you don’t want to be upstaged, and the young actress Emily Jewel Hoder, who plays Mary Lennox, does steal the show in both acts. She is perfectly precocious and demanding, just as she is supposed to be, stomping her feet, putting her hands on her hips and inquisitively disobeying rules. Hoder sings beautifully with the various spirits and the living in the show. Her scenes with Dickon (John-Michael Lyles) are fun to watch. These two exude not only melodic harmony, but exciting dance moves and engaging personalities in “It’s a Maze,” “Winter’s on the Wing.” “Show Me the Key,” and “Wick.”

Sitting behind the parents of actress Julia Lester who plays Martha, the young maid to Mary Lennox was a thrill to watch. She received applause the minute she walked into Mary's new bedroom at Mr. Archibald Craven’s Misselthwaite Manor. While tending to the new guest, her Yorkshire accent was entertaining to watch. Her proud parents enthusiastically led cheers and applause every time she walked onstage. When she sang her solo “Hold On,” she received the well deserved loudest applause of the evening, and again with others during the curtain call.

W.C. Fields should have added ghosts or spirits to the list, as Broadway and Tony-nominate Sierra Boggess is magnificent as Lily Craven, the dead wife to Archibald Craven (Derrick Davis), and sister-in-law to Dr. Neville Craven (Broadway great Aaron Lazar). When she sings, the audience can’t take their eyes off of her, no matter who else is on stage, especially during "Come to My Garden" and the haunting number “Lily’s Eyes” sung beautifully by Davis and Lazar.

Mary's unapologetic curiosity is fueled by ethereal spirits guiding her on an adventurous quest to reveal pieces of her family's past and inspire the living to discover the strengths within themselves, as well as herself. One of her most impressive scenes was with Martha, Dickon, and members of the company during “Come Spirit, Come Charm.” This young actress sings in Hindi, casting a exotic spell to inspire the bedridden Colin Craven (Reese Levine) to explore the magic and beauty of the healing secret garden.

Warren Carlyle’s fast-clip pace offers a fresh and authentic take on this beloved timeless musical. It’s a joy to watch this beautifully haunting story with a culturally color blind cast. This show leave audiences uplifted and hopeful while watching how a child's love can heal emotional wounds.

Tickets for “The Secret Garden” are on sale now and start at $40. They will be available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre) at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012. Performances run Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.