Easy Stages 2011 - 'The Secret Garden'
In August 2011 students from Stagecoach schools throughout the UK, the USA, Germany, Ireland, Malta and Spain came together to stage a lavish production of the musical 'The Secret Garden' at the Leatherhead Theatre in Surrey.
Earlier in the year approximately 600 students from around the country and abroad had auditioned to join the cast of 'The Secret Garden,' this summer's Easy Stages production. 'Easy Stages' is an annual musical produced by Stagecoach and directed and choreographed by a professional team, featuring students over the age of eight who have been at Stagecoach for more than three years.
Under the skilful team of director Veronica Bennetts, musical director Paul Leddington Wright, Francesca Haslam (music and vocals) and Tony Aiken and Daniel Todd (choreography) a talented cast of 78 Stagecoach students triumphantly brought this classic story to life, with strong singing, spectacular dance routines and polished performances.
Appropriately enough this summer marks the hundredth anniversary of the original publication of the book upon which the show is based. 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett tells the story of Mary Lennox, a young English girl born and raised in the British Raj, who is orphaned by a cholera outbreak when she is eleven years old. Sent away to Yorkshire to live with relatives she's never met, Mary's personality blossoms as she and a young gardener bring new life to a neglected garden, as well as to her sickly cousin and uncle.
The musical version started life in 1991 when composer Lucy Simon and lyricist Marsha Norman brought their acclaimed adaptation to the Broadway Stage. The production ran for 709 performances and was nominated for seven Tony awards, winning Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Since then the show has been regularly revived across the world, most notably in 2000 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with their production transferring from Stratford to the Aldwych Theatre in 2001.
With just two and a half weeks to cast and rehearse the production before opening night, the Stagecoach students and production team had a real challenge on their hands, as Stephanie Manuel, Executive Producer and Dialogue Director, explains: "Musically this is, perhaps, one of our most demanding shows to date, possibly only matched by Pirates of Penzance. As we did last year, we have taken the decision to 'double cast' so the part of 'Mary' is split between two young actresses and they each have an understudy to play the matinee. This gives four of our talented younger performers a showcase. Our aim, as always, has been to find as many opportunities as possible for the students to demonstrate their skills."
An opportunity the performers rose to admirably, according to Director Veronica Bennetts: "With our greatest musical challenge yet on our hands, rehearsals have been intensive and highly focussed. The music of the show is complex with a lot of four-part harmony work to deliver, but the students have astounded us with their ability to learn it all so easily. Having said that, they have all worked immensely hard and with great dedication throughout. This musical has not been easy to interpret and many long hours have been spent at home working out how to adapt what was originally written for a smallish cast into a musical for a cast of nearly eighty! We have had a serious and self-inflicted challenge on our hands one way and another, but it has been hugely worthwhile."
And judging by the applause the audiences wholeheartedly agreed. Congratulations to all those involved for another wonderful Easy Stages show!
Photographs from the production coming soon
Earlier in the year approximately 600 students from around the country and abroad had auditioned to join the cast of 'The Secret Garden,' this summer's Easy Stages production. 'Easy Stages' is an annual musical produced by Stagecoach and directed and choreographed by a professional team, featuring students over the age of eight who have been at Stagecoach for more than three years.
Under the skilful team of director Veronica Bennetts, musical director Paul Leddington Wright, Francesca Haslam (music and vocals) and Tony Aiken and Daniel Todd (choreography) a talented cast of 78 Stagecoach students triumphantly brought this classic story to life, with strong singing, spectacular dance routines and polished performances.
Appropriately enough this summer marks the hundredth anniversary of the original publication of the book upon which the show is based. 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett tells the story of Mary Lennox, a young English girl born and raised in the British Raj, who is orphaned by a cholera outbreak when she is eleven years old. Sent away to Yorkshire to live with relatives she's never met, Mary's personality blossoms as she and a young gardener bring new life to a neglected garden, as well as to her sickly cousin and uncle.
The musical version started life in 1991 when composer Lucy Simon and lyricist Marsha Norman brought their acclaimed adaptation to the Broadway Stage. The production ran for 709 performances and was nominated for seven Tony awards, winning Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Since then the show has been regularly revived across the world, most notably in 2000 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with their production transferring from Stratford to the Aldwych Theatre in 2001.
With just two and a half weeks to cast and rehearse the production before opening night, the Stagecoach students and production team had a real challenge on their hands, as Stephanie Manuel, Executive Producer and Dialogue Director, explains: "Musically this is, perhaps, one of our most demanding shows to date, possibly only matched by Pirates of Penzance. As we did last year, we have taken the decision to 'double cast' so the part of 'Mary' is split between two young actresses and they each have an understudy to play the matinee. This gives four of our talented younger performers a showcase. Our aim, as always, has been to find as many opportunities as possible for the students to demonstrate their skills."
An opportunity the performers rose to admirably, according to Director Veronica Bennetts: "With our greatest musical challenge yet on our hands, rehearsals have been intensive and highly focussed. The music of the show is complex with a lot of four-part harmony work to deliver, but the students have astounded us with their ability to learn it all so easily. Having said that, they have all worked immensely hard and with great dedication throughout. This musical has not been easy to interpret and many long hours have been spent at home working out how to adapt what was originally written for a smallish cast into a musical for a cast of nearly eighty! We have had a serious and self-inflicted challenge on our hands one way and another, but it has been hugely worthwhile."
And judging by the applause the audiences wholeheartedly agreed. Congratulations to all those involved for another wonderful Easy Stages show!
Photographs from the production coming soon
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