FUMC PAC Theatre production of The Secret Garden July 2009

Sunday, July 19, 2009

FUMC PAC Theatre production of The Secret Garden July 2009

FUMC PAC production of The Secret Garden July 2009, the final production in the old theatre. New PAC will be opening in the fall of 2010. Sorry, all you skateboarders including my grandsons who loved to ollie the brickyard where the new theatre is now being built.

I had not seen nor heard of the musical Secret Garden before I received my part although I had seen a movie version in the last 10 years which I dearly loved. This particular score is the touring version which in actuality means that all the parts have been rewritten to cover multiple parts. It's called a reduced score. However, to the musicians who play the instrumental parts it isn't really reduced. Just more work. Lots of doubling for flute, clarinet, trumpet, oboe and percussion. Two keyboards are used and the Horn parts are dangerous if not treacherous. Trombone and trumpet use multiple mutes as do the horns. In addition there are two violins, 1 viola, 1 'cello and 1 bass. Yes, that's the extent of the revised instrumentation we used. Without much individual dialogue for relief, the story line truly depends on the written music of Lucy Simon for both the singers onstage and the instrumentalists in the orchestra pit.

The English accents were amazingly good and I hear the sets (because I couldn't see them from the pit) were beautiful. Here's to next year in the new theatre.

Photos provided by yours truly