The Secret Garden - Full - Studio Playhouse - 2008 

Wow! Thank you so much! I love it when people actually watch and give their honest feedback! You know the show, clearly...and as you said--it is not an easy score...and it is a LONG show. This company is semi-professional. They'd hire a few equity and then the rest was from NYC/NJ and non union. The year before (and it's on my channel!) was Urinetown. I was Bobby Strong in that one. I had a blast...but there was jealousy among our understudies/the supporting cast. The leads missed most of the drama because we were too busy learning our material. Anyway, the following season was Secret Garden. I'd say most of the Urinetown cast auditioned...and it was like they didn't even know SG at all. All the men came in and demanded Archie or Neville or they'd walk. Same with the women. It was Lily or Martha or nothing. That being said, we wound up with a great leading cast...but all the really talented people who would have been fantastic in the supporting roles wanted nothing to do with it. So, honestly...a lot of this ensemble (Rose, Albert, Lt. Wright, Lt. Shaw, Alice, Claire, Ayah, etc) were all cast with different actors who all were insulted and turned it down. EVERYONE has solos. EVERYONE has specific characters. There is no "ensemble." So...the funny thing is, even as Dickon, I was one of the people standing behind those walls moving them! :) Martha and I weren't in the trio so we would standing there for 20 minutes moving scenery. I was actually just thrown in the opening as a "guest" to fill out the group. Not gonna lie...I hated that because I couldn't get into Dickon gear before the show for photos and whatnot. :) I was glad, in a way, that it was a second choice ensemble because it made the actors work harder and get a chance to actually do some solo work on stage. (Also...I was 60 lbs heavier in Urinetown, lost all of it before Secret Garden auditions, the director told me over the phone I could play Albert and not to bother coming to auditions. I told him I'd just come to callbacks...and got cast as Dickon on the spot.) :) Learning that dialect was invaluable! Plus...I was pushing 30 at that point so it was basically my last chance to ever play the role before I aged out. Sadly, this theater decided to turn completely amateur, they make more money that way...especially with children's shows. The last thing I did with them was play Max in Lend Me A Tenor. It was hellish working with the theater and their board, but all three shows were the same director so we just shut out the noise and put up a great production.

@@GeorgeAdamo oh wow! It's always fascinating to hear some of the Behind-the-Scenes, though I'm sorry to hear about cast drama. I hope there was no hard feelings in the aftermath. And yeah, that's one of the cool things about SG is that there isn't really much of an ensemble since every "background figure" is actually a character.

What's critical role?

Jester Eric Me a year late

its a group of people playing something called D&D and they said something about this musical in one of the many videos they do.

Me!!

Jester Eric yes!

Oh my goodness! You're going to make ME cry! I am so glad you enjoyed it! It is such a beautiful piece of musical theatre...so many layers. It has such a noir/transcendent feel because of all the ghosts and the score...and also has such beautiful ballads and songs with so much heart. I just adored playing Dickon. If you like musicals, in general...check out my channel. There's a lot of different clips and full shows, like this one! :)

Thanks so much! I am so glad you enjoyed it! I'd love for you to subscribe!

Would love you to check out my performance as Lily on my channel :)

Karenina Angelique. I'd love to! Thanks for sharing the link with me I can't wait to watch! I hope you enjoyed my Dickon. The accent was a monster but once I had it down, it was hard to not randomly fall back into it during normal conversations outside the theater. Lol. I'm going to subscribe to you and hope you return the favor! Thanks for watching! I love it when fellow actors share their productions of shows I have up here. There's quite a bit on my channel...hopefully some of the other shows are in your faves list. If you played Lily...you'd be great vocally for Luisa in the Fantasticks! I have that up!

Accent can be a bitch but when you give a great performance they are completely forgivable. As an Aussie I'm completely proud of the actor Abbie Cornish and how far she's made it in Hollywood but she doesn't even try to do accents anymore, but keeps getting hired. So just perform your best and the audience will love you anyway!

I really admire Abbie Cornish, as well! I was glad to see her in such a main stream film, this year. I am amazed at anyone mastering an "American" accent, just because there are so many regional dialects and we speak in such slang, without even realising it. As far as booking this role...it really did come down to who was able to get a hold on the accent, because there were definitely a few other singers who struggled. I got lucky!

Thank you so much! I,too, always loved that dynamic and was always trying to be conscious of the vibe I'd be bringing to our scenes and songs. I love the way Mary finally drops her guard when they meet in the garden. I hope you liked this version!

Cool! Happy belated birthday! Hope you enjoyed the show!

The character? I don't know...I always liked to think he had a kind of ethereal quality who was touched with a gift. I mean, he has no specific residence. He's Martha's brother and we know she lives in the house. He literally only appears in scenes outside. Plus, he's able to conjure up whatever it is that saves the day, in the end.

Two Birds On One Stone Or did you think I was dreamy? 😉

That's literally the point. Martha brings Mary her skipping rope so she will LEARN how to do it. When she first comes in with it, she sees no one is around and takes a break from being a chamber maid and utilizes the rope, herself. Martha and Mary are not far in age. Then, during "It's A Maze," Mary slowly teaches herself how to skip rope. I'm pretty sure the book has a similar section.

yeahhh I'm playing Martha in a production of this at the moment and that's the direction I'm going, haha...just to cover all my bases ;) (I'm American and sometimes I sound Jamaican...oops.) It's a work in progress, lol.

It's a difficult accent :) My family is from Yorkshire and they all have very thick accents. Maybe you should look up some Yorkshire ladies on RU-vid :D Break a leg with your production/I hope it went well :)

I am laughing so hard right now. Anyone who knocks an American trying to nail down that accent needs to walk a mile in that dialect! I always slipped into Jamaican, too! And the, when I did my next show, Summer of '42, the Yorkshire would randomly pop out whenever my lines were questions! How did your production go??

Also...the other thing is that if we did FULL ON Yorkshire accents, you would have no idea what we were saying. My dialect coach was VERY specific and certainly knew her stuff...but didn't know how to translate it into intelligible Yorkshire :) Thanks for watching! That's pretty cool that your family has the accent!

Eric Valdes I sure am! ☺

Maiden of Cats Does thanking you over a year later count?

Or two years?

Alexia Carter How am I just seeing your comments now?! I'm so sorry! How was your production? I wanna hear all about it! How was your Dickon? Did you have fun? xoxo

The actress playing Lily was unable to make one of the performances, so since it was a relatively long run, another actress played the role for two performances. You're seeing the "real" Lily in this recording.

Other than that, a very nice performance.

Haha...yes...that was definitely one of those "OMG!" moments, when the dress had to be altered or mended quickly in between shows. We kept the wooden hanger in the theater to make sure it made it back with the dress and threw it on a plastic hanger...and then that's how the crew set it. I can remember our set designer screaming when she saw it on the monitor in my dressing room.

It was at Studio Players in Montclair, NJ. They rarely put on musicals...but when they do, they go all out. We did Urinetown, the year before. It is on here, as well! :) I'm so thrilled you enjoyed! studioplayhouse.org

George Adamo Bravo, Bravo, I have seen this performed three times, twice Chicago and in Atlanta,too. All three casts are wonderful

Thank you Lucie! That really means the world to me. I just love being able to tell a story through music...and this is definitely a great show for that! :)

George Adamo You are welcome. I love this music and The USA has always out done London anyway. London cast was not as our Broadway cast.

Thanks again, Gavin! Hope school is going well.

George Adamo school is really going well I start spring semester on Monday and I'm rehearsing for Monty Pythons Spamalot

@@GeorgeAdamoI perform the summer production of West Side Story this weekend at my college I’m playing as Officer Krupke

Eric Valdes The channel shares revenue with the copyright owner. Don't lose too much sleep over it.

directing and acting make all the difference. its a great story.

I agree with ucenigma...I felt the same way about it...and kinda stayed away from it, until I finally broke down the 4th or 5th time I was called in for it. The Dickon/Mary/Martha stuff is certainly the highlight for me...that and some of the gorgeous tenor and soprano pieces Archie and Lily sing.