secret garden

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secret garden

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:18pm

so i've been wondering about this since i use a bit of earth a lot for auditions! i hate mandy's voice and i really hate rebecca luker's voice... so who would you guys like to see in a revival or a concert of this show?

i'd love to see audra as lily.
but who for archie and dr. craven?

Updated On: 6/24/05 at 11:18 PM

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:38pm

"i hate mandy's voice and i really hate rebecca luker's voice... "

OK...I'm going to pretend you didn't say that....LOL

Audra would make a good Lily....but it's too late for me to think about others.....

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:44pm

haha, sorry. they're just not two of my faves... who else do you think would be good for the show?

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:46pm

this is fun.

Anyone else?

"There is nothing scary about life, if you are not attached to the results." - Conversations With God

Updated On: 7/9/05 at 11:46 PM

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:51pm

oh i really like the brian d'arcy james/norm lewis combo.. lily's eyes would so incredible!!!

i see sara g more as martha. also, i see vicky clark as martha.

and what about jesse tyler ferguson as dickon?

come on guys! this is an amazing score. there's got to be some good voices to sing it!

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:55pm

how do you guys see Dickon cast? The original way...as a teenager/young twenties? A local production here did it with a boy of about 11 or 12...around the same age as Mary...and that seemed to work pretty well too!

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 12:03am

i like it as early twenties... he's martha's younger brother, but i think he still needs to be old enough to be someone that mary looks up to. i really like the pairing of vicky clark and jtf. both redheads for the irish part... they would both sing it well!

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 1:02am

Just let the the Australian cast Archie and Neville perform on Broadway. Anthony Warlow as Archie, Phillip Quast as Neville. Yes I know that Anthony will never perform in the US...but this the DREAM cast right? Too bad that production didn't have a full cast recording..but I am at least grateful for the highlights CD. However, I could also see Brian D'Arcy James as Archie. Stokes would be a good Neville...but I don't see him taking a supporting role. He could play Archie as well, Phillip Quast (a baritone) played Archie in the recent London production so anything is possible.

I think Kelli O'Hara would be great as Lily. Maria Friedman would make a good Martha.

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 10:46am

James Barbour as Neville. No second choice.

And I love broadway original cast, everyone, except Colin. I don't like Mandy Patinkin normally, but in that show he is fantastic.

#10

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 11:00am

Roger Bart played Dickon in some tour somewhere and I would die to see that performance.

I know he's too old now to play it, but that would have been excellent.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson sounds like a great choice though!

~Jessica

"If you start from a place of joy and charm, you can get away with a lot in the second act. It may be that that's my life. I'm not sure." ~Roger Bart

#11

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 11:19am

ANTHONY WARLOW was a perfect Archie and PHILLIP QUAST was an amazing Craven. However, I do think James Barbour could work as Craven.

#12

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 4:22pm

Please! Give us a revival! This is the most beautiful show ever!

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. --Dave Berry

#13

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 5:08pm

Roger Bart is Dickon in the first national tour. Douglas Sills was Neville, and Audra McDonald was the Ayah!

Ideally, the character of Dickon should come across as around 15 or 16, and Martha should be around 20. Alison Frasier was in her mid 30's when she played Martha, but she was totally believable as late teen's/early 20's.

#14

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 5:08pm

I agree, it is one of the most beautiful scores of a musical I have ever heard. I have all 3 recordings of it (Broadway, Australian, and London Casts). I have been performing Lily's Eyes and A Bit of Earth for years. I really think a revival of this show is due and could be successful. The original opened in 1991 and was up against shows like Miss Saigon, Once on this Island, and the Will Rogers Follies (yes not viewed as a juggernaut--but it did win the Tony that year for best musical!). The show still won 3 Tonys and played for almost 2 years (709 performances). If I remember correctly many of the critics at that time felt the show was overproduced and would have worked better if it were downsized a little. I think they also didn't like the way all the ghosts from India were integrated into the story. Still one of my all time favorite shows and I would love to see a rethought and retooled version back on Broadway!

#15

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 5:21pm

Bring on the revival!!! "The Secret Garden" has some of the most beautiful music EVER written for the Broadway stage.
Archibald........Brian Stokes Mitchell
Neville..........James Barbour
Lily.............Audra McDonald

#16

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 6/25/05 at 5:32pm

Wow,musicaldirector, your cast list is my Camelot dream cast.

I love all of three. However, Stokes and Barbour are both big baritones. I doubt their voices in "Lily's eyes" will sound similiar and lose the different character,just like Warlow and Quast in OZ cast recording.

For Archie, I perfer a tenor, Hugh Panaro may take a try.

Updated On: 6/25/05 at 05:32 PM

#17

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:23pm

i think i'll bump this due to recent news!!!

#18

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:28pm

I just finished rereading the novel, and Dickon is definitely supposed to be Mary and Colin's age or just a little older. Not in his twenties. It's interesting that the musical always seemed to cast people who were much older. I guess it could work well either way.

Can't wait to see who they cast for the concert!

~Jessica

"If you start from a place of joy and charm, you can get away with a lot in the second act. It may be that that's my life. I'm not sure." ~Roger Bart

#19

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:29pm

"Winter's on the Wing" is one of my favorite songs ever. I have never seen the show, but I am so attached to that song.

#20

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:30pm

calling jamie..........

#21

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/9/05 at 12:51am

Well, we haven't cast any of the roles yet...

But of course we have our dream cast in mind and we are working on it alongside Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon as well. But it will probably be a while before we announce anything...but feel free to make recommendations-perhaps you'll recommend something we haven't thought of yet. Let the games begin.

"There is nothing scary about life, if you are not attached to the results." - Conversations With God

#22

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:47am

Love rebecca

#23

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:54am

i am Hoping Michael Arden will sing Dickon

#24

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:57am

i'm hoping that jesse tyler ferguson will! but i think that you have a better shot with michael arden.

#25

re: secret garden dream casting.

Posted: 7/9/05 at 2:01am

I'd like to see Graham Rowat as Neville Craven. :)

It's interesting that the musical always seemed to cast people who were much older. I guess it could work well either way.

That reminds me, the first time I saw the show, it was a regional production with an excellent cast, but I wasn't all that well-versed in the show yet so I didn't realize they were sort of goign against the grain.

Dickon was nearly 40 and Martha was 19. But the actor who played Dickon really looked about 25 (I'm not exaggerating), so it worked. It was just interesting about the age reversal, when I later found out the musical usually casts Martha as older than Dickon.

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

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