Literature Network » Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden gives child stars the chance to blossom

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From: Evening Standard - London
Date: 20010228
Author:NICHOLAS DE JONGH

The Secret Garden Aldwych Theatre m

I suppose many little girls will thank heavens for the chance of seeing The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett's adored Edwardian classic for pre-teenagers, transformed into a blooming musical. But I am not with them.

This 1991 Broadway show by Marsha Mason and Lucy Simon, now performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, runs roughshod through The Secret Garden. It strips away the book's sense of mystery and subtleties . It plants in its place a weeping melodrama that bursts out in a riot of forgettable tunes, unexceptional songs and dreary dance ...

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