On April 9-11, performances took place for the spring musical: “The Secret Garden.” The musical’s actors, music, lyrics, set, effects and story all blended together into one show and captivated audiences.
The set combined with the effects captivated and immersed me into the musical. The greenery and the trees were textured differently, giving the set more depth and personality, rather than just one texture that might make it look flat. The lighting paired really well with the set, evoking specific moods for certain scenes. The fog that rolls out from the sides of the stage during scenes creates an ominous feeling that gave me chills. The set and effects blended seamlessly together throughout the entire performance.
The harmonies, lyrics and the actors moved me with their musical pieces. The actors conveyed loving, caring and depressing emotions through their singing. The singing made me feel emotional at times, and the music paired with the lyrics captured these emotions to a greater extent. These same emotions were well conveyed within their acting as well. Each character was unique and had their own personality and personal issues that they had to deal with. The actors’ costumes were also able to capture some of their character’s personality, whether it was childish, playful, caring, depressed, loving or any other personality that the characters would exhibit during scenes.
The story itself was enough to move me in a way that made me connect and relate to some of the experiences that the character had to go through. I understood Mary Lennox’s feeling of loss of a loved one, even if it wasn’t to her extent. I also understood how it’s hard to let something or someone go that you’ve cared for for a long time. The characters expressed emotions and feelings that a lot of people would relate to, but also be afraid to share with others.
This story expressed many hard experiences that people still go through, but it also showed underlying hope that each character had within them. That hope kept each character going and pushing through until they became a reality. The imagination and creativity that was put into this production was astounding and extremely well done. I could see the amount of effort put into everything and the final results were well worth the wait.
