Spring Musical
Come spirit, come charm!
Leanna Flexo '24
Features Content Editor
Louisville’s Spring Musical, “The Secret Garden,” is one full of magic and mystery; it is a unique musical, consisting of immensely complex music and set changes.
“The Secret Garden” features the life of a temperamental orphaned girl by the name of Mary Lennox, sent from her home in India to live with her uncle Archibald Craven on the Yorkshire Moors in Northern England. She initially loathes everything about her new life, but as she makes new friends and uncovers a big secret within this house upon the hill, she begins to change for the better.
Several of the lead roles were double-casted, split between the Pink Cast (with senior leads) and the Green Cast, which consists of young and talented freshmen as their counterparts.
The freshman leads performing at rehearsals.
The freshman leads will be performing on the second weekend alongside the rest of the cast, and the senior leads will take on the first; there are not only two opening nights, but also two closing nights for each cast.
Ella Blount '27 and Brielle Iaccino '27 in their rolls of Martha and Mary.
Elle Blount ’27, the counterpart of Eva Lloyd ’24 for the role of Martha, expressed that having a lead role was initially intimidating at first, but Lloyd helped her to learn each scene and discover the character of Martha together, granting her the confidence to perform on stage.
“I’m really grateful for the experience I got to have playing a lead role in the musical alongside seniors, especially Eva,” Blount stated.
Additionally, both Emilia Brown ’24 in the Pink Cast and Isabelle Balderrama ’24 in the Green Cast are counterparts for their first lead role of Lilly. They noted that having a lead role entails a lot more responsibility, but it has allowed both of them to feel increasingly engaged and enjoy the play even more than when they were ensemble members.
For an abundance of Louisville seniors who have been involved in various plays and musicals throughout their 4 years at Louisville, “The Secret Garden” is their last high school production.
Brown described it as “a bittersweet feeling” to know that this is her last ever performance at Louisville and that she has to leave such an amazing community of people.
I, myself, am one of the seniors who holds the performing arts program close to my heart, and I am truly not ready to leave all the people in the musical who shaped me into the person I am today.
Despite how chaotic the rehearsal schedule can be, there is a systematic way in which the cast learns the play. Mr. Smith, the music director, teaches all the music throughout the entire show. Mr. Smith knows the music like the back of his hand, from everyone’s harmony down to the beat of the music, and that didn’t happen overnight.
Mr. Smith notes (pun intended) that what sets this play apart from any other Louisville production is that the musical has older “classical music, whereas all the other plays have been modern pop musicals.”
“The music in this play is better-suited for my voice, which makes it more fun for me”, Balderrama stated, as she is a classical singer and plans to pursue opera professionally.
After learning all the music, Ms. Powell stages all the scenes, which are primarily blocking rather than dance numbers, which keeps her from splitting her focus between different numbers in the musical, as she had to do with “Mamma Mia!” or “Shrek the Musical.”
Another extraordinary aspect of this production is the live music.
Having live music “offers independence,” as Mr. Smith stated, as the band follows the actors' voices and their tempo rather than a specifc track.
Isabelle Balderrama '24 singing "Girl in the Valley."
The set, costumes, sound and lights, all of it is run by the stage crew. Mr. Dan mainly focuses on planning out the costumes and set pieces for every scene of the show.
“Both the costume and staging departments work as one to make sure it looks like they belong together,” Mr. Dan states.
Lola Lambe ’24, the one and only stage manager, has her own method to this madness of rehearsals and blocking.
“My script may look like a complete mess to some people, but to me it’s my bible,” said Lambe.
Lambe states that compared to past shows that she has managed, “The Secret Garden” has challenged her responsibilities as stage manager because the set has a lot of moving pieces and props throughout the show.
Overall, “The Secret Garden” is unlike any other production Louisville has done. It has challenged not only the directors and set designers, but also the actors and actresses themselves who have all worked so hard to bring this incredible story to life.
From the breathtaking music down to the detailed costumes, this play will be unforgettable. Come see “The Secret Garden” on the first weekend to see the Pink Cast on the 15th, 16th and 17th of March and the Green Cast on the 22nd and 23rd!