‘The Secret Garden’ reveals island’s young talents

The local version of the Broadway musical The Secret Garden that drew audiences to the Charley’s Cabaret of the Pacific Islands Club revealed a pool of young and homegrown talents from the various schools on Saipan.

The cast combined seasoned and promising performers, making the show an instant hit with the cast’s near flawless execution of the different challenging roles.

The lead role of Mary was played by Liezel Tiples, a freshman at Marianas High School, who at a young age is already a veteran, having performed in Into the Woods and Once Upon a Mattress.

Another veteran, who played the role of Martha, was Anna Rose Deleon Guerrero of Saipan Southern High, who has also performed in 20 previous plays, including 15 musicals.

Jane Mack of the Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands said the musical is extremely hard because it is almost operatic.

“The students rose to the challenge of a very ambitious production. The cast was also of diverse nationalities with all ethnicities on Saipan put together. It was a happy, harmonious collaboration,” Mack said.

She said the students did everything, including directing, with the supervision of Harold Easton, chapter Director of TWPI and Troupe Director of MHS.

“The artistic design down to the light plot was student created. I operated the light board, following their instructions, for example. Our student tech crew moved things along quite nicely,” Easton explained.

The lone performing adult, Ruthie Fruit, helped the students pulled the musical together. “The adults [music coaches and advisors] worked in the background to ensure the students had what they needed to do the their job,” she said.

The Secret Garden was the third Thespian Chapter play so far. “Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to stretch, to involve various Thespian Troupes in a large production, to provide the opportunity for artistic interaction between Troupes,” said Easton, who expressed hope that the production sponsored by the Chapter will allow the students to raise their standards.

Mack said the students did well and learned a lot.

“The opening night was exciting, with the prologue and first act well-paced and interesting. The second act on Friday was also well received, although there were a few glitches. Saturday’s production seemed a bit sluggish in the first Act, but was exceptionally good in the second Act,” assessed Mack.

She said the production required a deep field of talent, because many characters had important lines and singing time in the spotlight.

She explained that it was not a play where a few talented students could carry a large cast production.

“Nearly every one of the 20 or so named characters had songs that were either solos, duets, trios or quartets, and many of the characters had more than one important song. And the music was of an exceptionally difficult, but beautiful, nature.”

Mack lauded the wonderful support from the community. “We had adults helping in the background, especially vocal coaches. We had some businesses buy program ads.”

The people got their money’s worth, she added.

The Secret Garden is a musical based on the children’s classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett, originally published in 1909.

The story tells about Mary, an orphaned British girl recently arrived in England at her uncle’s manor. Mary was determined to tend to a secret garden she discovers with the help of the chambermaid Martha. The garden, which had belonged to the uncle’s wife Lily Craven (played by Miki Dela Cruz of Kagman High), was walled off when the wife died and the uncle Archibald Craven (played by Tommy Baik of MHS) was overcome with grief at her death.

With the help of Martha’s brother, Dickon (played by Reece Brown of SAEF), Mary brought the garden back to life.

Mary also discovered another secret in the manor, a sickly boy named Colin (played by Mikey Johnson of Saipan Community).

Mary helped Colin regain his strength so he could surprise his father, Archibald.

The story wove the regeneration of the garden and Colin and the emotional health of all the members of the family into a blooming confrontation and resolution.

Dennis Chan, Dowen Jocson and Joseph Martin, all from MHS, directed the show. The assistant directors were Merey Len Denora and Matthew Wheat and the stage managers were K.C. Marquez (SSHS) and Wheat.

PSS Technical Crew provided the set design/props while Kristina Alforeza was in charged of the artwork design.

Ruthi Fruit did the piano accompaniment.

The other main cast of characters (in North Yorkshire, England) were Dr. Neville Craven (Moon Hyo Lee, MHS), Mrs. Medlock (Adeleyah Mojica, MHS), Ben Weatherstaff (Christian Cruz, MHS), Jane the servant (Roseanna Sablan, SSHS), Nurse Betsy (Jan Kimberly T. Alcantara, SSHS), Photographer (Antonio Tiples, MHS) and Mrs. Winthorp (Judy Tiples, MHS).

Others (in colonial India, known as the Dreamers) were Fakir I (Loremel Hocog, KHS), Fakir II (Riya Nathrani, MHS), Ayah (Merey Len Denora, SSHS), Captain Albert Lennox (Roland Arii, MHS), Rose Lennox (Tori Brown, SAEF), Lt. Peter Wright (Sam Joyner, MHS), Lt. Ian Shaw (Matthew Wheat, MHS), Major Holmes (Jessie Boyer, MHS), Claire Holmes (Tanya Dela Cruz, KHS), Alice (Aisha Joyner, KHS), Major Shelley (Chris Barry, SIS), and Mrs. Shelly (Zalika Joyner, COV).

In the chorus (the rest of the Dreamers) were choral masters Kristina Alforeza and Wendy Dong of MHS; members Roseanna Sablan MHS; Jan K T. Alcantara MHS, Aleiko Dela Cruz KHS, Rochelle Dimapilis MHS, Chiantee Rosete MHS, Parks Keneisha MHS, Mary Ruth Quiatchon MHS, and Carlene Castro MHS.