" />
Glenn Wagstaff
Areon Mobasher, playing the role of Archibald Craven at the dress rehearsal perfrmance of the musical "The Secret Garden" in Stewart Theater on Tues. Feb. 14th, 2017. Archibald Craven is the reclusive uncle of of Mary Lennox, an 11 year-old who was orphaned in India. The production will run from Feb. 15th until Feb. 19th, 2017 in Stewart Theater in on the second floor of Talley Student Union.
NC State University Theatre wrapped up a successful run of “The Secret Garden,”based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous novel with the same title. The cast received enthusiastic applause and standing ovations from the audience throughout the play’s five-night run in Stewart Theatre.
“The Secret Garden”is set in 1906 in Colonial India and North Yorkshire, England. The protagonist is Mary Lennox, an orphaned girl who is sent to live with her reclusive Uncle Archibald at his estate. The time period made an assortment of beautiful period costumes possible, and the variety and elegance of the costumes made for several visually impressive scenes. The acting and singing were well done, and the conclusion of each song brought applause. While all the cast did admirably, Archibald Craven, played by Aeron Mobasher, brought a particularly raw emotional power to his vocal performance that was key to the success of the production.
“[The] characters just seemed to come to life and have so much emotion,” said Sarah Beth May, assistant director of the University Scholars Program. “‘The Secret Garden’ was captivating. It’s amazing to think of the hours and time that the cast and crew contributed to make it such a wonderful evening.”
May brought a group of University Scholars to view the production, and many were enthusiastic about the play and performers. A recurring thought was how impressive the broad array of fields of study the cast and crew represent. This production involved students in disciplines as disparate as psychology, bioprocessing, industrial design, anthropology, and fashion and textile management. The cast and crew of “The Secret Garden”truly embody the University Theatre mantra: “Major in anything, participate in theatre.”
The diverse assortment of students and paid staff who produced this successful musical put in tremendous amounts of time to make the show the success that it was, and had a great time doing it. Jessica Hamm, a freshman studying materials science and engineering, spoke enthusiastically about her experience portraying the ghost of Mary Lennox’s mother Rose.
“I love getting to know everyone in the cast and crew,” Hamm said. “After weeks and weeks of rehearsal, you really become a family.”
It’s no surprise that the cast became close over the course of preparing for the performance, as the weeks leading up to opening night involved three-hour practices every night. Since “The Secret Garden”is a musical with fairly complex pieces, extensive practice of the music is required, and several actors also had to master the Yorkshire accent to lend authenticity to the play.
Additionally, nine musicians, eight of whom are NC State students, performed the score for the play live.
Hamm indicated that the cast is thrilled with how the play has gone, and that she personally is excited to be part of another University Theatre production in the future.
“Every night we always talk about how amazing the show was that night and how it just keeps getting better and better,” Hamm said. “We all have put a lot of time into this musical, and we are all proud of how it’s turned out.”
Even as it basks in the success of its most recent production, University Theatre is already preparing its next play, “The Real Housewives of Windsor,” a spoof of William Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor,”which will run from March 30 through April 9.