The Secret Garden 2016 Concert Presentation- Page 10

[lite2shine]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 10:52am

I agree with Lizzy, since it's a concert version, you have to use your imagination a lot for some scenes. Like the actual Secret Garden itself, they tried to show the transformation via lighting but it was a challenge. Collin is supposed to be bedridden but of course in this version he is on the wheel chair all the time. 

Although I enjoyed TSG tremendously, if you talk about the revival, I'd push Parade more than TSG. Because TSG has been produced throughout the country at prominent regional theatres but not so many theatres have taken on Parade. And last year's concert version was as good as TSG. If they are going to do Grand Hotel, I'll be there again. I bought the orchestra tickets without knowing the cast (other than Sydney) but it was well worth it.

[nyc88]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:02am

JBroadway said: "LizzieCurry said: "the concert was basically made for people who already knew it. And she's right; they didn't bother to explain anything."

How so? Did they only perform the songs and not the scenes? I seem to recall in Parade they performed the full thing, or if not the full thing, enough of the book to set up the songs."

Ok, maybe I'm missing something. Again, I knew nothing about the show, but this all seemed to be made clear.  Mary is the lone survivor of a cholera outbreak.  She is sent to live with her uncle Archie who was married to her mother's sister Lilly.  Lilly died during child birth of her and Archie's son Colin. Archie is a broken soul who is haunted by dreams (visions) of his dead wife. Colin is kept sickly by Archie's brother Neville who is a handsome Doctor either because of anger, jealousy or greed.  It is repeatedly made clear that Archie is ugly yet the beautiful Lilly chose him and not Neville. Lilly had a secret garden that Mary finds and with help brings back to life. Ultimately, as the garden comes to life so to do Mary, Colin and Archie.

And that doesn't include details about the staff. Am I totally off base on the story?

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:14am

I personally think SG can be a little confusing as to what is real, what is a dream, what is a memory, and what is taking place now.  Not everyone is able to follow the story all that easily..especially when it's done in a concert version without scenes being fully acted out.

Some of us read the book or saw a previous version of this...which is a HUGE help (although the musical does differ from the book in many ways).

Just because some people can follow doesn't mean everyone can. That said, I don't know if it's the show's responsibility to fill you in on what's going on. While I sometimes like to go into shows "blind", sometimes with a concert version its helpful to read a bit ahead of time.

[nyc88]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:22am

^^^ Agree with this. As I said before, it is all very subjective. Put synopsis in to see if I just missed the boat, which is certainly possible. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:23am

You got it! You figured out Rose, Albert, the Ayah, and Fakir too, right?

[nyc88]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 12:59pm

LizzieCurry said: "You got it! You figured out Rose, Albert, the Ayah, and Fakir too, right?"

Ok, I'll bite lol. Rose and Albert were Mary's parents. Ayah was the women who took care of Mary in India. Fakir seemed mystical, though not sure of his exact relationship to Mary in India. 

Again, please know I understand that a concert like this is hard to follow.  I meant no offense with my synopsis. 

[mpkie]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 6:32pm

nyc88 said: "I knew nothing about the story, but I found it easy to follow. Thought they did a great job getting the facts out. Just shows this is all subjective.

Also, thought the performances were great. Really happy I went. "

 

You were either sitting in a better spot acoustically or just have way better hearing / deciphering skills than me and some other people. The sound is all muffled from third tier partial view seating. So imagine if you are only able to catch half the words (or none of the words) being said. My friend was able to understand less than I could. There are many, many Yelp/Tripadvisor reviews slamming the inferior acoustics of the Avery Fisher Hall / David Geffen Hall if you are sitting beyond the optimal radius from the stage. She warned me heavily before I bought tickets and I suggested we give it a try since we've never been to this venue. Words literally become unintelligible. Think MTA train station garble.

 

We struggled while watching to figure out who all those random extra people were on stage beyond Mary, Lily, Archibald, Neville, Colin, Dickon. Turns out they were the (living) soldiers, dead parents, dead house servants from India, and living English housestaff (or something??). I mean, I had no idea there were so many dead characters... Lol. Been too busy to read up on it still. There were clearly major things I missed because I didn't even realize there were any dream sequences. Living and dead people were standing in random places at different times. The lighting did nothing to indicate if someone was dead or alive.

 

By the way, I'm not complaining, I was glad I got to go, but I felt really bad for dragging my friend out. Just stating the facts of what I experienced.

 

I did walk away understanding of the story (nyc88's recap is how I would recap it). But what's the point of that when you didn't hear the jokes or the understand the music? The music was so lovely but don't ask me what any of the lyrics are because I only made out 40% of it = not enjoyable = made us want to go to sleep.

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 06:32 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 6:39pm

I actually think the proper place to do a revival of THE SECRET GARDEN would be the New York City Opera. Now that they are being revamped, perhaps it might someday happen. The show really demands that operatic size orchestra and large chorus to be powerful.  The 'ghosts' have always been a rather controversial (i.e. potentially confusing) aspect to the musical, but the revised production that was produced several years ago at the RSC that cut those elements really came across as children's theatre.

I also somehow doubt this title would be commercially viable on Broadway these days, so a rep production at an opera company seems ideal.

 

[nyc88]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 7:56pm

"You were either sitting in a better spot acoustically or just have way better hearing / deciphering skills than me and some other people. The sound is all muffled from third tier partial view seating. So imagine if you are only able to catch half the words (or none of the words) being said. My friend was able to understand less than I could. There are many, many Yelp/Tripadvisor reviews slamming the inferior acoustics of the Avery Fisher Hall / David Geffen Hall if you are sitting beyond the optimal radius from the stage. She warned me heavily before I bought tickets and I suggested we give it a try since we've never been to this venue. Words literally become unintelligible. Think MTA train station garble."

Such a shame to have the garble. Really no excuse to have crappy sound at the home of the New York Philharmonic. I was second tier, but straight on so pretty clear sound. I read some of the Geffen money is going to be used for renovations. Hopefully, that will solve the sound problem.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 8:54pm

QueenAlice said: "I actually think the proper place to do a revival of THE SECRET GARDEN would be the New York City Opera. Now that they are being revamped, perhaps it might someday happen. The show really demands that operatic size orchestra and large chorus to be powerful.  The 'ghosts' have always been a rather controversial (i.e. potentially confusing) aspect to the musical, but the revised production that was produced several years ago at the RSC that cut those elements really came across as children's theatre.

 

I also somehow doubt this title would be commercially viable on Broadway these days, so a rep production at an opera company seems ideal.

I think Lincoln Center would be a great venue for this.  They usually have a large, lush orchestra.  I think that there could be a commercial production of The Secret Garden and it would do just fine.  It's a familiar story to many, it's family friendly, and it has opportunities to cast big stars.

I would be very sad if the New York City Opera did this instead.

 

 

"

 

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:07pm

Hmmm, I know nothing about the NY Opera, but having a full orchestra and choir definitely sounds enticing. What would the downside be of doing in that setting, instead of a Broadway house (doesn't have to be commercial, I was thinking of LC right away when I was thinking about a potential Bway revival)?

 

About being able to follow the plot, I'm sort of in the middle. I've worn the cast recording out over the last few years, and read the synopsis on wikipedia the first time I listened (my usual method when listening to a show I've never seen to fill in the blanks). Knowing that helped a lot but some details were definitely lost to me, and some characters I had to struggle a bit to figure out what they were. The ghosts on the other didn't confuse me personally at all, I was well aware of who's dead and who's alive from the cast recording.

But Avery Fisher / David Geffen Hall is not my favorite venue for sure. Surely they could have built the tiers in a way that not every seat in them is limited view?! My seat was fine (was on the first seat in a box in the 2nd tier), but my friend next to me was already a lot more limited. And the staging didn't help, did they really have to put so many of the scenes on the sides of the stage where either the entire left or right tiers can't see them? Not a big fan of Carnegie Hall either, but the view in the tiers there is a lot better.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:16pm

Yeah, I wasn't happy that I couldn't actually SEE the garden, but I was nearly in the same seats for Sweeney Todd, so I roughly knew what I was missing.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:29pm

 

Presenting a revival at the Vivian Beaumont would be wonderful, but remember that is a not-for profit theatre. Also, it would be somewhat unheard of for LTC to do a revival of a contemporary Broadway musical. They have in fact never done a revival of a musical written after 1951.

 

That's why I suggested NYCO.  In their heyday, they presented lavish full orchestra revivals of shows like 110 IN THE SHADE, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, and THE MOST HAPPY FELLA.  THE SECRET GARDEN seems much more in their wheel-house.

 

I can't even begin to imagine what it would cost to re-mount the Original Broadway production of THE SECRET GARDEN in today's economy. Over 12 million I bet.

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 11:29 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 11:38pm

Also -- I understand this is designed to be programming for Lincoln Center and specifically Avery Fisher Hall, but the acoustics are legendary awful there. They have spent millions over the decades trying to improve them, but nothing has ever worked.

 

It's also not a venue designed for sight lines.  Why couldn't they do these concerts instead on the stage of the Met or the David Koch Theatre?

 

I wouldn't want a concert version of GRAND HOTEL without staging. The whole show is about the staging. How about a 10th anniversary concert of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA?

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 11:38 PM

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 2/24/16 at 9:05am

Is it designed for LC? It's my understanding that MCP is just renting out the space, so they could just rent another venue such as City Center, which I think would be best suited, or even Carnegie Hall. Maybe it's a price thing?

 

Light In The Piazza has already announced it is going to have an anniversary concert with some of the original cast. I can't remember the details now but it was not associated with MCP.

I don't know Grand Hotel, but if they can do SG without a garden, Grand Hotel without a hotel should work just as well? (I'm teasing)

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:07am

If they are considering Broadway in the future, I hope they find a smaller rather than larger venue. This is a very intimate personal kind of show - and works best when not too grandly presented. No offense to the Lincoln Center concert - but a concert is very different than a full show. You don't need a huge cast or chorus to pull this off well.

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 2/25/16 at 9:05am

agree with Kathy about the smaller venue. 

I knew going in that it was going to be confusing because I've always found Secret Garden confusing. It relies much too heavily on staging for story telling which can make regional and school productions really sink if they have a bad director. 

My biggest complaint was casting. I love Ramin and Cheyenne but they were both miscast in this. Gorgeous voices but neither could really pull off the parts acting-wise. 

However Ben Platt was phenomenal!!! This is the best thing I've ever seen/heard him do. Super excited about DEAR EVAN HANSEN now...

also... poor Daisy Eagan... does she have vocal problems? When she sang her voice was very pretty but she seemed to lose control over her air-flow and support in a lot of sections which can be characteristics of vocal nodules. It would explain why she doesn't get as much work as she should. The audience didn't seem to care because they cheered her on which was quite nice and supportive. 

[caitlinette]

Posted: 2/25/16 at 8:42pm

Not trying to rag on Daisy, but her singing is not Broadway quality...wondering if she has some vocal issues, as MadonnaMusical mentioned .

Updated On: 2/25/16 at 08:42 PM

[GigiColette]

Posted: 2/29/16 at 9:50pm

OMG me too!!!  Can someone please bring it back to Broadway?!