'The Secret Garden' blooms in Naples

If you think the dead are buried just because they're in the ground, you'd be wrong.

As "The Secret Garden" demonstrates, it doesn't matter if you're a child or an adult; the past, and those we knew in it, continues to haunt us.

Playing at the Sugden Community Theatre in Naples through Aug. 2, this bittersweet musical is filled with ghosts. It's not giving away the store to tell you that within the show's first 10 minutes - if that, even - almost half the cast dies. That's so Mary Lennox, a most disagreeable girl with a sour disposition, can be uprooted out of India and sent to live with an uncle in a dark and dreary England.

Costume designers Dot Auchmoody and Mark Vanagas have done well here, outfitting the cast in India in ephemeral, breezy, turn-of-the-twentieth-century clothing, all in shades of white or ivory, which serves well for people who hover about the action as ghosts for most of the show. (In the program, they're called Dreamers.)

Conversely, for the most part, they've dressed the characters in England in heavy materials, mostly in black. Not a hip black, but a somber, mournful black.

Mary ( Paige Raleigh) listens as Dickon (Jordon Chestnut) talks about the Secret Garden. And it seems as if everyone else, besides Mary Lennox, is also mourning someone or something. Her Uncle Archibald (John McKerrow) is mourning the death of his wife Lily (Jane Armstrong, in one of her strongest roles.) Lily died in childbirth maybe 10 years ago. The surviving child, Colin (Thomas Raleigh, alternating with Daniel Meeks), is isolated and bed-ridden, starving for love and attention. He believes he's so ill he will die at any minute. Archibald's brother, Dr. Neville Craven (Paul Graffy), was secretly in love with Lily. He not only mourns her loss, but the fact that he's not the firstborn and heir to everything his brother received.

And the housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock? God only knows what all she's mourning, but Beverly Canell plays her with such thorough dourness that you'd believe the woman never cracked a smile in her life.

Based on the classic children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, this Tony Awardwinning musical is a keen look at the grieving process. Archibald, who can't let go of the memory of his wife, sings of "sleepless nights, aimless days" and asks, "How can I hope to go on without you?" His life has pretty much stopped, and he's let his wife's special garden become neglected. Mary, on the other hand, deals with her grief with anger. And ghosts of those they loved and lost follow them all around throughout the show, though the living cannot see them.

The secret garden and Colin both serve as metaphors for what happens when people grieve. The once beautiful garden appears dead, neglected, tangled. And nature, of course, echoes the human life cycle as people grow older and die. And while it's not a term used nowadays, Colin is referred to as "crippled," an accurate word for how death and loss have affected so many of the characters.

Dickon (Jordon Chestnut), an almost magical creature who has a special rapport with nature, seems to know that there can be life after the death of a loved one, though it may take a while. As he says to Mary, "some things that look dead are just biding their time." And that's what it's like grieving, going through an emotional long winter before spring finally comes. As they sing in the song "Wick," "When a thing is wick, it has life inside of it....it's safe to grow again."

With book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, "The Secret Garden" consists almost entirely of music, with minimal dialogue. And while very melodic, it's also highly complex, with various duets, trios and quartets, in addition to solos and ensemble numbers. That's a challenge for any cast, especially a community theater. And the Naples Players, for the most part, perform it very well, though on the night I attended I did occasionally hear some notes that didn't quite hit their mark.

With over 30 songs (and two dozen cast members), it's impossible to give everyone praise, and mention the show's many highlights.

McKerrow and Paul Graffey have a show-stopping powerful duet in "Lily's Eyes," and later, McKerrow and Armstrong share the 11 o'clock number in "How Could I Ever Know." McKerrow brings a tenderness and depth to his role. Graffey seems underutilized in this show, but his moments of cruelty and meanness sparkle, and he's also vocally at his apex.

Mary Anne McAvoy McKerrow, as a maid, brightens the stage every time she appears, with her character's saucy attitude and wry sense of humor. For a while, she is the only warmth shown to poor Mary Lennox. Her two solos, "A Fine White Horse" and "Hold On" are stand-outs, specifically the latter, in which she urges, "Hold on/Hold on to someone standing by/Hold on/Don't even ask how long or why!/Child hold on to what you know is true/Hold on 'til you get through/ Child, oh child!/Hold on."

Paige Raleigh, as Mary Lennox, is the heroine of the musical, and a lot rides on her young shoulders. (She alternates shows with Sydney Robicheaux.) Raleigh is very much at home on stage, and perfect as the petulant and defiant Mary. Somehow, she makes you care about her character, even when she's throwing a temper tantrum.

Michael McAvoy as Mary's father, Capt. Albert Lennox, is an especially outstanding member of the ensemble, with a gorgeous voice. I wished he'd been cast in a bigger role so I could hear him sing more.

Musical directors Charles Fornara and Julie Shaffer put together a 17-piece orchestra that sounds grand, and is the perfect accompaniment for the singers.

Matt Flynn's sets are stunning, with multiple horizontal and vertical layers that quickly transform the setting from scene to scene. Much is suggested with just minimal panels. And while some applauded the last set of the secret garden in full bloom, it seemed too literal - and disappointing - for me, though it did provide nice bright color.

Meg Pryor works magic with getting nondancers to dance, and the opening dream number, a ballroom scene in which practically everyone dies of cholera, is especially creative.

Director Dallas Dunnagan has done an outstanding job with this production, from casting to directing to staging. This is a big musical, challenging and complex, and under her direction the Naples Players carry it off with professionalism.

It's somewhat fitting that "The Secret Garden" is offered after their production of "Wit," in which the protagonist dies of cancer. While "The Secret Garden" also deals heavily with death, it also deals with all the stages that come after, resulting, ultimately, in healing.

Be forewarned: this show is a weepy, so bring your handkerchiefs.

Although I was moved by much of the action, I also felt manipulated emotionally toward the end; we're not really allowed to get to know Colin or care about him as much as we do Mary, and we don't get to see their friendship develop much. The denouement seems a little sudden.

"The Secret Garden" teaches us that grief and loss is a journey we all have to travel through, but that we have choices in our life, and we should all be free to resume our own lives.