REVIEW: Spotlight in Moline Powerfully Resurrects Beautiful, Inspiring “Secret Garden”
Watching the spectacular, mesmerizing new production of “The Secret Garden” Friday night at Moline’s Spotlight Theatre made me cry.
Not only because of the tremendously powerful performances in this story of loss, grief and death in the haunting, breathtakingly beautiful musical — which premiered in 1991 and is based on the classic 1911 book of the same name. But also since it took me straight back to six years ago, when I accompanied rehearsals for the planned QC Music Guild production, which was to open March 27, 2020.
Five weeks into our grueling, productive rehearsals, everything came to a screeching halt two weeks before opening (thanks, COVID), depriving us of an outlet to display the bountiful bloom of what we had planted, nurtured and seen grow before our eyes. When we were notified by the Guild board’s leaders (on the Guild stage), many of the cast and crew (myself included) struggled in vain to hold back tears. Talk about a bone-crushing loss.
These actors and singers are some of the most talented in our area, and they were lending their time and talents (for free), out of the goodness of their big hearts and tremendous passion for this great art form. I shared their deep frustration and disappointment to not be able to give birth to this child they had conceived and labored over. I recalled Guild director Jeff Ashcraft’s commitment to quality from the first potluck we had in the theater lobby — he told us he was determined to not just produce a good show, but a great one, which audiences would never forget.
Abigail Bennett as Mary and Danny Hauskins as Dickon in Spotlight’s “The Secret Garden.”
In his director’s note (for a program that was never printed), he wrote this was “an astounding team of talented actors, musicians, technicians, and all types of devoted theatre artists who have committed countless hours of energy to bring you this beloved story of spirit-crushing loss, enchanted hope and soul-saving redemption.”
While I was crushed that Music Guild never rescheduled “The Secret Garden,” we are so lucky that the dedicated Spotlight Theatre team (led by the great director Noah Hill) has resurrected this enchanting, magical musical – with an even more impressive cast than we had six years ago, particularly in the two main child roles here.
Any performance of “Secret Garden” (with book and lyrics by Marsha Norman, and music by Lucy Simon, older sister of Carly) is bound to be special, but the 2020 version was likely to be unforgettable since then-music director Keith Haan (my colleague as choir director at Zion Lutheran Church, Davenport) is a retired St. Ambrose music professor, who in 2020 reunited with Lauren VanSpeybroeck as chambermaid Martha. She had played the pivotal Mary Lennox in “Garden” at age 10 in a 2006 SAU benefit for the Children’s Therapy Center, and Keith played Ben.
Julian Vandervelde, left, and Matthew Downey play brothers Neville and Archibald Craven in “The Secret Garden.”
Lauren — who at Guild was to be the upbeat, inspirational Martha – said Mary was one of her favorite roles, “so this show holds such a special place in my heart. I read the book and watched the movie at my grandma’s house probably a hundred times when I was little,” she told me six years ago. “ ‘The Secret Garden’ is such a beautiful story.”
At Spotlight (opening just five days after Easter Sunday), I couldn’t help pick up on parallels to the Biblical Resurrection story, since “The Secret Garden” also centers on a father and son (who rises), and many holy ghosts. The inspiring, faith-filled musical is set in the early years of the 20th century, and Mary – an English girl born and raised in India — is orphaned by a cholera outbreak (another eerie parallel to the 2020 pandemic) when she is 10.
The outstanding Spotlight cast revolves around Abigail Bennett as Mary (initially spoiled, disagreeable and misbehaving), and Matthew Downey as her reclusive uncle Archibald Craven, the grieving widower of Lily (the regal, heavenly operatic Marissa Elliott) who takes Mary in but doesn’t know how to handle her. His young son Colin (Chrisopher Peake) is bedridden with a mysterious illness, which renders him unable to walk.
One of the most brilliant features director Hill has here is casting the relative QC theater newcomer Julian Vandervelde as Archibald’s controlling, manipulative brother Neville – the pair are virtual twins, both bald, with closely-cropped beards and sporting white shirt and dark vest. They are both suitably intense, dramatic and unfurl wonderful singing voices. Their first act duet “Lily’s Eyes” is a jaw-dropping showstopper.
Abigail Bennett, left, as Mary, and Heather Foss as Martha in Spotlight’s “The Secret Garden.”
Downey is the only member of the 25-person Spotlight cast who was to perform in the 2020 Music Guild version, having originally planned to play one of the Dreamers – spirits from Mary’s old life in India. Noting that today getting to portray the haunted Archie (who undergoes his own resurrection to new life) is a dream come true, Downey, who also played Daddy Warbucks in Annie and Juan Peron in Evita at the Spotlight, recently said, “I just love the music. It was so inspirational. That was part of what I’ve carried with me (from 2020). It’s a full, beautiful choral sound through the whole show. The warmth and the blend of the ensemble is hard to beat.”
Under the assured expertise of music director Amy Trimble (who leads the 11-member orchestra behind the set, occasionally revealed in the show’s Act II), the bewitching, emotional score is a consistent delight, often with Celtic and Irish flavors. The strong and sensitive choral ensemble here shines, particularly in “The House Upon the Hill” early in the show.
The 14-year-old Abigail Bennett (mature beyond her years) shows off a very bright, strong voice, and an equally boisterous, determined character as Mary, and we root for her and endearing Christopher as the cute, spunky and frustrated Colin – who each long to find a friend and to start over. Resurrecting that gray, isolated secret garden into the bursting rainbow of colorful flowers at the story’s close is the ultimate new day of Easter life, joy and the fresh promise of spring.
Marissa Elliott is both a quiet, understated force as the imposing, wandering Lily, and an awe-inspiring, authoritative, and mighty soprano. Her soaring, shattering singing voice is lovely throughout, especially in the second half’s “Quartet,” “Come to My Garden” (a perfect duet with Peake there and in “Lift Me Up”) and her beguiling duet with Downey, “How Could I Ever Know?”
Marissa Elliott and Matthew Downey.
The high quality of the cast extends to supporting roles, such as Yvonne Siddique as the strict housekeeper Mrs. Medlock, Danny Hauskins as the playful, ebullient sprite Dickon, and Heather Foss as the upbeat, comforting and friendly Martha. Another casting masterstroke was in the key Dreamers couple of Albert and Rose (Mary’s dead parents), embodied by the ideal, solid real-life spouses, Matthew and Brianna Call.
The profoundly moving arc of the show (with neat lighting effects by Brent Tubbs, set by Dana and Mari-Ann LisenBee, and costumes by Heather Blair) brings Mary and Archie, her cousin Colin, and the spirit of Lily, together and looking toward a bright future. Hill also works in a number of birds and animals, operated as puppets at key points. My only quibble is that Archibald is supposed to be a hunchback (referenced a few times in the dialogue), and in Downey’s portrayal, he clearly is not.
Joe Urbaitis (left), Abigail Bennett, Marissa Elliott, Christopher Peake, Heather Foss, and Danny Hauskins
You have just two more chances to revel in this garden, at Spotlight Theatre, 1800 7th Ave., Moline. Remaining performances are tonight (Saturday) at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is $24-$30, and more information and tickets are available by calling 309-912-7647 and visiting TheSpotlightTheatreQC.com.
The musical “The Secret Garden” will finish its run at Moline’s Spotlight Theatre Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m.
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