And here's my tiny little section on The Secret Garden!
musical book and lyrics by Marsha Norman, music by Lucy Simon
based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I discovered this musical while I was Quasting....(ummm, you know, the same way I discovered The Fix...that is, expanding my Philip Quast collection...)
Anyway, I'd heard about the spectacular duet with Philip Quast and Anthony Warlow...Lily's Eyes, and I just had to hear it!
Let me tell you, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard!!! Philip was of course, fantastic beyond belief...and Anthony...well, I had to listen to the other songs as well...Anthony Warlow's voice is also fantastic beyond belief..
So, having listened to the other songs, and being moved to tears, even by the abbreviated form of the story, (the Australian highlights CD only has 8 of the 20+ songs) that I was absolutely unfamiliar with (yes, yes, I know...The Secret Garden is a children's classic novel, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett...timeless, and one that's been out there since...the early part of the last century, I think...but I missed it!!!) I was compelled to read the book!
Read it, I did...and fell madly in love with it...I was on a mission...
It so happens, that my mom had taped a movie version...so I finally decided to watch it...it was the old version starring Margaret O'Brien and Dean Stockwell (you know, Al...Sam's hologram, from Quantum Leap? Well, he was quite the child actor back in the day...but I digress...)
I watched and enjoyed, in spite of the diversions from the book...but since The Secret Garden is *not* the same thing as Les Miserables, it did not make me angry, only amused...(but I still loved to be able to point out where it was different from the book...)
So...by that time, I finally felt ready and able to hear the OBC version...this one has most if not all of the songs, (I'm still unclear as to whether it's complete, like the Les Miz CSR, or not, like many OBC recordings...) without automatically dismissing the actors who played the Craven men, because they are neither Philip nor Anthony!!!
I checked it out from the library...and after one listen...and getting used to a different Lily's Eyes...I immediately ordered the CD for my own collection! Mandy Patinkin sings the same part as Anthony Warlow...and while he is definitely *not* Anthony, I'd forgotten how nice Mandy's voice really is! He does a beautiful job! The man in the role Philip played...again, *not* Philip...is Robert Westenberg. I'm going to have to seek him out, because he has a fine voice...and I'm sure I will find a way to appreciate him fully in a role I don't associate with PQ...actually, I am beginning to fully appreciate him in this role...overall, I prefer the singers on the Australian CD, but the OBC singers are wonderful as well!
Then, I had to find all the film versions I could...and I found two more...one made for the Hallmark Hall of Fame series, and another made in 1993.
Of course, the musical, and the films all changed things from the book...different things...I'll go into more detail later, but first, a synopsis of the story is in order!
The Secret Garden has quickly become one of my most favorite musicals of all time! I hope to actually get to see it one day!
I'll also draw some pictures and maybe even write some fanfiction on the subject...so watch this space!
I told you I'd do it! Here's my first Secret Garden Fanfiction!
It takes place ten years before the events in the story, and is based on the characters as seen in the Lucy Simon/Marsha Norman musical!
