Award Winning Family Musical THE SECRET GARDEN Comes To Ocean Grove

NENAproductions Theater Project, Ocean Grove's resident theater company, presents "The Secret Garden," a musical adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel of the same name.

Performances will take place at The Jersey Shore Arts Center, 66 Main Avenue, Fridays and Saturdays, September 28 to October 6 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, October 7 at 3 PM. General admission for both performances is $25 per person, while children's admission is $19. Tickets are available at www.ticketleap.com by calling 732-988-1007 or at the door.

This production is directed by Nick Montesano, Artistic Director of NENAproductions, with music direction by Jeff Brown.

The musical is the story of young Mary Lennox, played by Maura Whalen. Miss Whalen returns to the NENA stage following he acclaimed performance last year as Small Allison in "Fun Home" Mary Lennox loses her parents to a cholera outbreak in India and is sent to live in Britain with her morose uncle Archibald Craven, played by Jeffrey Fiorello. Young Mary's liveliness changes the atmosphere of Craven's manor and her discovery of a once-beautiful but hidden garden captures audiences with a story of transforming love and redemption.

The cast of "The Secret Garden" also includes Amanda Munice as Lily, Kevin Polke as Dr. Neville Craven, Christina Ryan as Rose, Emily Monus as Martha, and Thomas Panzera as Dickon.

The cast of 20 also includes Tara Beams, Dan Beams, Tess Beams, Frank Van Note, Frank Meybohn, Christie Leigh Carver, Lydia Szlasa, Gina Whalen, Neal Zucker, Joe Hausvater, Kieran Varian, and Jack Kelly.

The mission of NENAproductions Theater Project is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior live theater experience. We shall encourage the imaginative and societal importance of theater through plays, musicals, children's theater, youth educational programs and community outreach efforts.

NENAproductions Theater Project strives to produce classic and seldom seen theatrical pieces that provoke meaningful discussions about the human condition while bringing a sense of pride to our community.

The original broadway productions of "The Secret Garden" won 3 Tony Awards in 1991, for Best Score, Best Scenic Design and one for its young star, Daisy Eagan.

In March of 2019, NENAproductions will stage the classic musical comedy, "Nunsense".