Company coming? Visit La-Z-Boy for creature comforts.
Company coming? Visit La-Z-Boy for creature comforts.
By
Richard Pacheco, Standard-Times correspondent 
A "Secret Garden" is growing in
Fall River, under the careful tending of Robbie Morgan Burke. And the director for the Little
Theatre of Fall River is ready to throw the gates wide and invite everyone in
tonight. "The Secret
Garden" has long proven itself a favorite among young and old alike. The book
and its movie incarnations have attracted audiences of all ages, so it's no
surprise that Ms. Burke thinks the stage musical will prove to have equal crowd
appeal. The show has certainly found its way into the cast's heart. The
journey to the stage for the Fall River troupe started some time ago, when
Director Burke heard about the New York production from a friend. "Everybody knows the book, but
they don't associate it with the musical," Ms. Burke said. "Mandy Patinkin
starred in it in New York and after hearing about it from my sister-in-law, we
got the CD and fell in love with the music. "Then, one Saturday, my husband
and I and two other couples went to New York to see it. By the end of the show,
all six of us were in tears, it was so beautiful." Even in the face of that stirring
experience, Ms. Burke knows why many community theater groups have not attempted
this musical. "It's not
your typical Broadway musical. But the key that makes it so marvelous is the
music, which was written by Carly Simon's sister," Ms. Burke said. "The music is
a cross between English folk music and Indian music and you need some
unbelievably good singers to do it. We were most fortunate when we began to cast
it. People we did not know came into auditions and were perfect for certain
roles with wonderful voices." For several years, Ms. Burke was
on the play reading committee and always wanted to do the project. Finally, last
year, it was up for a vote against "Peter Pan." There were three tie votes and
finally, at last, it won. But there was a catch. Ms. Burke had to agree to
direct. She too had a
condition. She'd direct if she could persuade Beverly Robinson to be her
stage manager. It was a long couple of days while Ms. Robinson thought it over.
Ms. Burke thought it was because she would not do the project. "Then she called and said she'd
love to do the show," Ms. Burke said. The production has proven to be a
challenge for set designer Fernando Goulart as well, according to Ms. Burke. The
Broadway show used complex lighting and lush sets to create the atmosphere of
the garden, something that is costly and technically prohibitive for any
community theater budget.
"The costumes are not hard -- there are 11 dead people," Ms. Burke said with a
grin. "So, who changes clothes when you're dead? So there was no costume problem
there. We did not try to duplicate the set. We used simplicity in the set and
made the cast bigger than life. "I'm so happy to be doing this
show. People have said to me, 'I'll bet you'll be glad when it's over,' and I
tell them no. The cast has been so cooperative; I've never had to yell once. The
cast has been unreal."
There are 23 on-stage roles, with six offstage in the children's chorus. Ms.
Burke is most pleased with the young people she has in the performance, Alayne
Sadler and Christopher Melanson. "They are so natural and sincere
-- just like two 11-year-old girls fighting and bickering, not acting," Ms.
Burke pointed out.
Throughout the play, ghosts and living characters occupy the same stage
together, but they never touch or mingle. Ms. Burke said that was one area of
confusion she felt marred the New York production, that it would sometimes be
difficult for the audience to know who was a dead person and who was not.
"Everyone who dies wears
a red rose and there's no communication between the ghosts and the real people
until the very end," Ms. Burke said. "Everyone knows the story. It was read to
them as a child or they saw the movies or it was read to them in a children's
group." Ms. Burke is
confident that the audience will share the company's enthusiasm for the
production. They are so sure of that, that they have prepared some tissue
flowers that the audience will receive when intermission comes, for the
emotional climax in the end. Just in case they haven't brought their own.
"They're going to need
it," Ms. Burke said. The
cast includes Alayne Sadler as Mary, Jay Burke as Archie, Lisa Reynolds as Lily,
Jessalyn Sadler as Martha, John Dias as Dickon, Ron Robinson as Ben, Gary
Bigelow as Neville and Christopher Melanson as Colin. Musical direction is by
Jane Fiore Bigelow. The
production, which closes out the theater group's 62nd season, will be performed
at 8 tonight through Sunday at Bristol Community College Arts Center Theater.
Tickets are $15. For
reservations and information, call (508) 675-1852.
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