Secret Garden - FIRST POST

Somehow I'm the first one here...probably everyone else is enjoying the after party :P

let me just say-it was INCREDIBLE. another fantastic job!

Yes, where is your review?

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*bounces* Yes, I can't wait!

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I also thought it was a magical evening. I saw the original Broadway production a few times, and it remains one of my all time favorites. I have to say, I am now in love with Steven Pasquale!

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Updated On: 12/6/05 at 11:52 PM

Add me to the Steven Pasquale Appreciation Society. While I've admired his work in non-musicals before (I'd seen him in A SOLDIER'S PLAY, BEAUTIFUL CHILD, and SPINNING INTO BUTTER) but had never had the pleasure of witnessing him singing at full strength as he did tonight. What a heck of a voice. He and Will Chase all but stopped the show with "Lily's Eyes." Then again all the performances were first rate. Glad I went.

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The night was incredibly awesome. The show started about 30 minutes late. When the show started, they had a short video monatage of Camp TLC and then they had Joey DiPaolo and his mother come onstage to talk about the organization and how our money was going to be used. Then they had two women who had attended the camp talk about their experiences there (one of them who was very funny).

The show started and the cast came out onstage, with the main ones sitting on the sides of the stage when they weren't performing. The show was splendid. I am not going to go into a review of each song, but a few highlights were Lily's Eyes, Wick, and Hold On. A big surprise to me was how good Steven Pasquale is. I had no idea he had such an amazing voice. Laura Benati was excellent. She has such a pure voice and was great as Lily. I did not really care for Michael Arden. Maybe it was just the part of Dickon that I didn't like. Because of the accent that Michael was tryng to pull off, you could barely understand him when he sang. Celia Keenan-Bolger was AMAZING as Martha. Her Hold On was great and the last note in the song gave me chills. Will Chase was good with what he had. I felt like his role wasn't that big. His Lily's Eyes with Steven was amazing and had the longest and biggest applause of the night. Barbara Rosenblat was very convincing as Mrs. Medlock. Both kids were very good. Jaclyn Neidenthal was very good as Mary Lennox. She hit both the comedic and dramatic aspects of the role dead on. Her singing was very nice. I couldn't tell if she was making an English accent or if it actually was her accent. Struan Erlenborn was great as Colin Craven. He blended great with Laura in Come to My Garden and was very funny in the role. Overall it was a great night.

There were some celebrity sightings: Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs (Who I rode the elevator with!), Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Natalie Joy Johnson (I heard), and that is all I can remember.

Sanda: I guess we rode the elevator together!

Updated On: 12/6/05 at 12:29 AM

I'm totally in love with Steven Pasquale after this event. In my opinion, he totally out-sang Will Chase on 'Lily's Eyes' and his rendition of "Where in the World' and 'How Could I Ever Know' with Laura Benanti was amazing. The 2 kids were wonderful too and I have to say that I went in expecting to enjoy Celia and Michael a lot more than I did. I don't feel they were bad, just didn't wow me.

AMAZING night. The whole cast was incredible. Some highlights for me: Lily's Eyes, of course. HUGE applause, much much deserved. Steven Pasquale and Will Chase were incredible. Celia's Hold On was definitely memorable. What a voice. And just seeing Michael Arden on stage was breath-taking. I think he's absolutely amazing. And what about Jaclyn Neidenthal?! Great performance. Great night. Amazing score.

"Lily's Eyes" was the only point of the evening where I actually clapped out of appreciation for the performance, and not just to comment the cast for getting through the show. Will and Steven really woke me up with that number (I now know I am NOT a Secret Garden fan).

My complaints (other than the fact that I didn't particularly like the show) were the little girl (who is talented and a trouper, but a bit nasal sounding and annoying to me) and the fact that between the accents and the microphones I couldn't understand most of the dialogue. The only person I could understand throughout the entire show was Will Chase.

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Random question - are they using the original Broadway version (with the Quartet and Lily's Eyes in Act One), or the rejigged London script (with Lily's Eyes starting the second act)?

I'll give my two cents, just because.

I absolutely 100% agree about Steven. For me, he stole the show (followed closely by Michael Arden & Celia Keenan-Bolger, personally). "Lily's Eyes"... oooh my goodness. That's the one song I was looking forward to the most (I only know about three others) & it met my expectations. It was definitely a "Whoa, this guy is hugely versatile & he's done everything I've seen so very well." I'm just awestruck by his talent. "Race You to the Top of the Morning" was simply sweet, & "Where in the World" was iiiintense, followed beautifully by "How Could I Ever Know."

Laura Benanti was good, I just wasn't as captivated as I expected to be, having heard great things about her... I was far away though, so, you know, this is from a faraway standpoint. No real complaints, though. She's gorgeous & she has a grace about her that really worked for the part.

Michael Arden is adorable & has a great voice. His face is so expressive. "Wick" & "Winter's on the Wing" were easily two of the most enjoyable numbers in the performance. Celia Keenan-Bolger was great if only because it was so cool to see her do a complete turn around for Olive Ovstrovsky. She was charming, & "Hold On" blew me away.

I don't think Will Chase's part allowed him to do too much, but what he had was great! I can't wait to see his Roger in Rent, because after seeing him do something slightly more conventional in terms of what musical theatre is seen as, it'll be neat seeing him do a rocker roll, since I've only seen him do this accent-oriented, song/dialogue musical, if that makes sense... I was just amazed at how versatile the cast was, for what I knew that had done previously.

Max Von Essen also stood out a bit as Mary's father, but I really couldn't see his side of the stage very well because of the balcony seating in the ballroom. I had heard his name before but have never seen him perform, but he made an impression on me, which is the overall goal of a performer, I would imagine.

I hadn't seen a "concert" of a musical before, so it was a first experience for me.

Steven Pasquale is a star.

How he hasn't had a musical written for him is beyond me. Such control and passion all with an understated simplicity. He was stunning.

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Well, not much to add that hasn't already been posted. But I too agree it was simply fantastic. I had the cast recording for a little while and thought it was beautiful, and of course love the '93 movie, so it was so great to see this live. "Lily's Eyes" is my favorite too and it was so eargasmic to hear. Other highlights included "Come to My Garden," "Winter's on the Wing," "Hold on," and "How Could I Know."

I agree Stephen was fantastic--I've seen him in A Soldier's Play but never saw him sing, but what a voice! He was so great in the role and did wonderful w/ all of his songs. Michael Arden was adorable, I thought he did a great job w/ the accent and I totally was able to buy him as the friendly, sweet Dickon. And Celia...I've always liked her in Spelling Bee, but she was just amazing on Hold On, really showing off a voice I didn't realize she had.

And the orchestra was simply AMAZING. The actors, the chorus, along w/ them, gave me chills during the big number. Soo beautiful. I of course bawled at the end. What a wonderful night.

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