I am back from the Garden. I'll say a bit in the notes - our Ava was excellent especially considering that NO ONE worked with her or Sadie. That's right - one put in and on you go. We'll start with the anemic ten-piece band playing a score that demands more of a band. First, I have never seen The Secret Garden and I'm not sure I've ever heard the entire score. I do know they've mucked around with, cutting two numbers, moving one to the first act, etc. Well, let me cut to the chase - it's one of the worst directed shows I've ever seen. Whatever talents the director has as a choreographer have clearly not followed him into directing. The blocking is high schoolish, and his choreography is just people flitting about the stage occasionally, not that there's really room for choreography. One of his most inane decisions was to have cholera, yes, the disease, embodied by a female dancer flitting about the stage offing people. And I don't believe I've seen an uglier and more misbegotten set than this one. You can find pictures online, although the one they use most of rain falling in the middle of that hideous "S" thing that takes up most of the stage looks great in the photo because - the photo is staged. I doesn't really look like that in the show. I know Ken Billington is a fine lighting designer, but the lighting is just not good and perhaps that's what the non-director wanted. The costumes are the same - drab and dreary straight down the line. The cast is okay - very multi-racial, of course - it's fine. The Archibald - they keep calling him a hunchback but there's no hump or anything at all that would lead you to believe that's true. He sings well, but his acting is very declamatory in style and, for me anyway, playing AT things. The Neville is okay but I gather the cut stuff affects both roles. Julia Lester is good as the maid - just a few years ago she was a schoolmate of Sami. Theater needs magic and there is zero magic to do here. The most fun was watching Ava take the stage and own it. We hugged after the show and she'll be returning to Kritzerland very soon.
