This is an absolutely enchanting adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel "The Secret Garden," with book & lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon. The story is of young Mary Lennox, whose parents die in a cholera epidemic in India. Mary is packed off to her last relative on earth, a reclusive Uncle Archibald who lives on a moor in Yorkshire. Faced with a gloomy life, Mary tentatively makes friends with the maid Martha, her brother Dickon, and old Ben the Gardener. From them she learns something of the history of the house and its occupants, and of a Secret Garden that becomes her obsession. She also learns the source of the crying she hears sometimes in the middle of the night.
The inspired idea in this production is that the dead--her mother and father, her Aunt Lily--are characters in the drama. This allows the ghosts to confront and comfort those they left behind. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Mandy Patinkin as Archibald and 11-year old Tony Award winning Daisy Eagan as Mary. Musically the highlights of this album are the duets: Archibald and Lily on how they first met in "A Girl in the Valley," Archibald and his brother Neville singing of their love for the same woman in "Lily's Eyes," Mary and Dickon on "Show Me the Key" and on making the garden grow in "Wick," and the final confrontation between Archibald and Lily in "How Could I Ever Know?" But I have to make special mention in this regard of "Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up," a duet between Lily and Colin in the most glorious duet between a soprano and boy soprano since Lloyd Webber's "Requiem." There is also a nice trio between Mary, Archibald and Lily in "I Heard Someone Crying" while the servants and ghosts have several effective choral interludes. Patinkin shines in a couple of key solos, "A Bit of Earth" and "Race You to the Top of the Morning," that will convince you he was perfectly suited to this role. John Cameron Mitchell easily establishes his character in "Winter's On the Wing," but special mention must be made of Alison Fraser as Martha must be made, not only for her charming "If I Had a Fine White Horse," but for her heart felt "Hold On." "The Secret Garden" is truly one of those marvelous albums that manage to capture the emotional impact of the show in live performance.
This Original Cast Album also benefits from the inclusion of enough dialogue to help you follow the story, on the off chance it is unfamiliar to you. Not only that, there are a couple of important sound effects when Mary finds the key and then finally unlocks the door to the Secret Garden. A final note: it is too bad there are not pictures of the breathtaking stage design by Heidi Landesman. If you ever have an opportunity to see this set, based on a Victorian dollhouse, you should take a look. But even more importantly, if you have a chance to see this musical staged in any format, please take your children or the people you love and go see it. I never get tired of listening to this one.
