Even when Zempel's headstrong Mary studiously looks away, one never doubts she's paying attention to those around her, hoping they'll help her come out of her shell. But Claire Zempel's Mary would translate in any age as an intelligent and lovelorn child, lashing out at a world she never made to disguise how starved she is for attention.Īs with so many characters inhabited by this talented young actor, the put-upon pouts and scowls never quite hide the shy and sensitive soul beneath - hoping in spite of itself for a chance to germinate and grow. "Rough around the edges" would aptly describe 10-year-old Mary Lennox, who has little to be cheerful about upon arriving in Yorkshire from India, after her parents died there in a cholera outbreak.ĭirector Jillian Smith has elected to stage this "Garden" in modern dress rather than as an Edwardian period piece, hoping thereby to emphasize the ongoing relevance of this story in the here and now. So it goes in the moving and well sung Soulstice staging of "The Secret Garden," the musical adaptation of Burnett's novel by Lucy Simon (music) and Marsha Norman (book and lyrics) that was nominated for seven Tony Awards when it opened a long run on Broadway 25 years ago this spring.
Although it's been around since 2002, Soulstice Theatre is a bit like the secret garden made famous by Frances Hodgson Burnett's eponymously titled 1911 novel: hidden, sometimes rough around the edges, but nevertheless filled with breathtaking beauty.
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