Auditions

Main Stage

The Secret Garden

• Audition dates: Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 and Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

• Callbacks:  Tuesday, Apr 22, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
• Rehearsals begin: Sunday Apr 27, 2008 at 7:30pm
• Directed & Musical Directed by Steve Isaacson
• At the Hoblit Performing Arts Center, 607 Pena Drive

Authors

Character Descriptions

Mary Lennox: A spoiled unloving child who is sent ot live with her reclusive Uncle in England after her parents die in India at the turn of the 20th Century. She eventually finds her Aunt Lily’s “Secret Garden” and learns to love again. Strong Singer and actress.
Age range: 10-13
Accent: British

Lily Craven: Mother of Colin, wife of Archibald, aunt to Mary, Lily passed away just after giving birth to Colin. Fun-loving, vivacious and full of love before she died, her spirit still lives vividly in the minds and the hearts of those she left behind.
Character Age: Early 20's
Vocal Range: Lyric Soprano
Accent: High British

Archibald Craven: Haunted by the memories of Lily, his late wife, Archibald Craven, himself like a ghost, walks the earth incessantly searching for any sign of her, in complete denial of her death and as such totaling ignoring responsibilities that should be his alone. He is shaken by the arrival of his niece, Mary, who reminds everyone so much of Lily and begins a journey that sees him learning to accept his loss, move on, and live life fully again.
Character Age: Early 30-40's
Vocal Range: Tenor/High Baritone
Accent: High British

Colin Craven: A sickly child who eventually is “cured” by the magic of the Garden. Must sing very well.
Age Range 10-13.
Accent: British

Dr. Neville Craven: As devastated as his brother Archibald over the death of Lily Craven (his secret love) Neville takes responsibility for maintaining the ancestral house and lands in his bereaved brother's stead. He appears the archetypal Victorian hero - young, intelligent, good looking and capable - but unfortunately, Neville makes some very serious errors in judgment. Only after his nephew Colin comes well does Neville see the folly of his behavior.
Character Age: Late 20’s-30's
Vocal Range: Baritone
Accent: High British

Martha: Brimming with life and enthusiasm, Martha has just been promoted from Misselthwaite's scullery to be maid to young Mary. She possesses an earthy common sense and a wisdom well beyond her years; it is her compassion and advice that help set Mary straight.
Character Age: Late Teens
Vocal Range: Mezzo-Soprano
Accent: Yorkshire

Dickon: Dickon is Martha's brother, a local Yorkshire lad with no formal education. Something of a loner, he spends hours by himself out on the moor but he is clearly an exceptional, mystical youth. It is he who introduces Mary to the wonder of the natural life surrounding Misselthwaite Manor, including one very clever robin and it is he who inspires and then helps Mary to nurse Lily's garden back to life.
Character Age: 14-21
Vocal Range: Tenor
Accent: Yorkshire

Ben: Gruff and crotchety, Ben, Head Gardener at Misselthwaite Manor, seems an unlikely friend to a small girl. But Mary's semblance in figure and in spirit to Lily moves Ben to risk everything to help her.
Character Age: Mid 40-60's
Vocal Range: Baritone
Accent: Yorkshire

Mrs. Medlock: Dour and stern, Mrs. Medlock runs an efficient house for Archibald Craven but despite her common sense she neither sees the world how it truly is nor offers compassion to those in need.
Character Age: Mid 30-50's
Vocal Range: Alto
Accent: British

Rose Lennox (Dreamer): Mother of Mary and sister to Lily, Rose appears covetous, stubborn, and self-centred; she ignores all of her responsibilities including her daughter, her husband and the very real threat of cholera that eventually kills her and most of her household in India. Her spirit, however, does not rest until Mary is once again, safely on her way.
Character Age: Early 20-30's
Vocal Range: Mezzo
Accent: High British

Supporting Cast (Dreamers and Doubled Roles) These are average British people who serve the British Empire in India. They are those present in Mary's home on the night or the morning after everyone she knew and loved - her whole world - died. As such, they inhabit her unconsciousness and haunt her bereaved mind. Throughout the show, these "Dreamers" help to recall actual events, haunt as ghosts, become the embodiment of a little girl's bereavement and fear, and actively help Mary uncover secrets in the Manor. Players may also be called upon to cover the non-singing doubled roles.
Accent: British

Captain Albert Lennox (Dreamer): Husband to Rose and father of Mary, Albert is a loving but remote father. He dies of the cholera in India but remains as a benevolent figure in the mind and heart of his daughter.
Character Age: Late 20’s-30's
Vocal Range: Broadway Baritone

Fakir (Dreamer): The Fakir was a mysterious man who used charms and magic to help him run the Lennox household in India. Mary holds onto his memory long after his death as a person of wisdom and guidance.
Character Age: Mid 20-40's
Vocal Range: Tenor

Ayah (Dreamer): Nursemaid to Mary in India, her Ayah was compassionate and caring woman.
Character Age: Mid 30's
Vocal Range: Mezzo / Alto

Mrs. Winthrop: Double cast with a "Dreamer" role. Mrs. Winthrop runs a girl's "school" to which Neville Craven plans to send Mary. Winthrop is a strict authoritarian who is not afraid to be cruel to achieve obedience.
Character Age: Mid 20-50's.

Other Dreamers: Lt Wright, Lt Shaw, Major Holmes, Claire Holmes, Alice

Doubled Roles: Mr. Shelley, Mrs. Shelley, Nurse, Maid

Plot Synopsis

Act I
1911, India. Mary Lennox, a 10-year-old English girl who has been raised in India, dreams of nursery rhymes and Indian chants ("Opening"), and awakes to find her parents have died of cholera. She is found by survivors and sent to live with her uncle, whom she's never met ("There's a Girl"). Mary is met in Yorkshire by Mrs. Medlock, housekeeper to her Uncle Archibald, a hunchback who has been inconsolable since his wife Lily's death ("The House Upon the Hill"). (Note: Throughout the show, these and other songs are sung by a chorus of ghosts, referred to in the libretto as "dreamers," who serve as narrators and Greek chorus for the action.) Mary has difficulty sleeping her first night there ("I Heard Someone Crying") as she and Archibald both mourn their losses. The next morning, Mary meets Martha, the chambermaid who entices Mary outside with tales of the gardens ("If I Had a Fine White Horse"), in particular, a secret hidden garden. Meanwhile, Archibald continues to wallow in his memories of Lily ("A Girl In the Valley"). Mary discovers the garden, laid out in Victorian style as a topiary maze, as do gardener Ben and Martha's brother, Dickon, each with his own agenda ("It's a Maze"); however it has been locked since Lily's death as it reminds Archibald of her. Dickon, we learn, is something of a druid who comes to invoke the spring ("Winter's On the Wing"). He claims to converse with animals, and teaches Mary to speak the Yorkshire dialect to a robin ("Show Me the Key"). The bird, with Dickon's help, leads Mary to the key for the garden; but where's the door? Archibald has a formal meeting with his niece, who asks him for "A Bit of Earth" to plant a garden of her own; he is startled and compares her to Lily. As the Yorkshire gloom turns to rain ("Storm I"), we meet Archibald's younger brother and physician Neville. He and Archibald both notice that Mary resembles her aunt ("Lily's Eyes") and we learn that Neville had an unrequited love for Lily as well. As the rain continues, Mary again hears someone crying ("Storm II"), but this time she finds him: her cousin Colin, confined to bed since birth, during which his mother Lily died. He has been in bed his entire life because Archibald feared that Colin would also become a hunch back. Colin's spine is perfectly fine but his father is conviced that he has passed on his curse. Colin confides in his cousin his dreams of "A Round-Shouldered Man" who comes to him at night and reads to him from his book "of all that's good and true". However, just as it seems they have become friends, Neville and Mrs. Medlock burst in, intending to give Colin his nightly shot, and dismiss her angrily, telling her she is never to see Colin again. As the storm reaches its peak, Mary runs outside and finds the garden ("Final Storm").

Act II
The act begins with Mary dreaming of a birthday party being thrown in her honor with all the living and dead together at last. She has a reverie about "The Girl I Mean to Be," with "a place I can go when I am lost." But can the garden be that place? In reality, the garden is like her uncle and Mary herself, neglected and overgrown; it seems dead. Archibald relates his dream to Neville, a dream with Lily and Mary together in the garden. But Neville's dreams are darker; recalling Lily spurning him, Neville looks to the day when Archibald leaves for good and the house becomes Neville's ("Quartet"). At Neville's urging, Archibald agrees to send Mary to a boarding school and then leaves for the Continent, pausing only to read his son a fairy tale as he sleeps, having never woken Colin ever before when he does so ("Race You To the Top of the Morning"). Mary asks Dickon for help with the garden; Dickon explains that it is probably just dormant and that "somewhere there's a single streak of green inside it" ("Wick"). They even bring Colin in his wheelchair to the garden, as the ghost of his mother sings to him and with him ("Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up"). In the garden, the exercise and fresh air begin to make Colin well ("Come Spirit, Come Charm"). The dreamers sing the praises of the renewed garden ("A Bit of Earth (Reprise)"). Back in the house, Mary faces down Neville as he tells her of her uncle's plans to send her away to school. Martha tells Mary she must "Hold On"--"when you see a man who's ragin'/And he's jealous and he fears/That you'll walk through walls he's hid behind for years..." Mary writes a letter to Archibald ("Letter Song") urging him to come home. At first he feels defeated and frustrated ("Where In the World"), but Lily's ghost convinces him to return ("How Could I Ever Know"). Entering the garden, he finds Colin completely healthy; in fact, he is beating Mary in a footrace as Archibald walks through the door. Archibald, a changed man, accepts Mary as his own, and the dreamers invite all to "stay here in the garden" ("Finale").

Performances

• June 13-July 6, 2008; Fri & Sat at 8:15 p.m. and Sun at 2:15 p.m. (no show 4th of July)

Auditioning for Main Stage or YPT productions

• Auditions are held at The Hoblit Performing Arts Center, 607 Pena Drive. In Davis, drive East on Fifth Street, past the Post Office, past the new Police Department, and turn Right on Pena, which has a traffic signal. 607 Pena is on the right, midway down the block.
• All roles are open. We do not pre-cast.
  
• Please bring sheet music for a song you have already learned.
• Do not use a song from the show.
• Do not sing to taped music or sing a cappella.
• DMTC will provide a piano player at auditions to accompany you.
• You do not have to sing an entire song. We only want to get an idea of how well you can carry a tune and follow accompaniment. Sixteen to 32 measures should be sufficient. If you are "called back" for a principal role on callback night, we will ask you to sing some more.
  
• Bring comfortable shoes in case you are asked to dance. We do not expect you to be an expert dancer unless, of course, you are trying out for a dancing role.

Ensemble: Yes or No?