A Tender and Dreamy ‘Secret Garden’

YORBA LINDA — A child’s confusion and pain, then joy, are what moves “The Secret Garden,” one of the most poignant musicals to reach Broadway in recent years.

The show, put together by Marsha Norman (book and lyrics) and Lucy Simon (music), is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous children’s book.

Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera’s revival captures the show’s tender, sometimes overwrought emotions while impressing with fine singing and other sophisticated touches.

Anyone not familiar with Burnett’s story (there have been two movie versions) may be confused at the musical’s start. Scenes and people from the past and present mingle in a vaguely surreal environment, performing something of a dance that is evocative but not especially revealing. Director Ryan Holihan develops a lovely dreaminess that almost demands we learn about the tale beforehand.

At the center of “The Secret Garden” is Mary, a sad but resilient girl who was the only family survivor of a cholera epidemic in India. She is brought to England to live with her uncle Archibald, a good man who can’t get over the death of his wife, Lily.

Self-healing for Mary, and the other wounded characters she encounters, begins when she discovers Lily’s old garden and brings it back to life. Roses bloom, and so do Mary, Archibald and her cousin Colin, a sickly boy trapped in his bed. There’s not much tension in this musical, but there is quite a bit of expressiveness as Mary moves forward.

In Yorba Linda, atmosphere is key, with Todd Faux’s detailed scenery of both the dark manor and fertile garden helping to create the mood.

Jason N. Killelea’s varied lighting is even more instrumental, taking us from a stormy night to gloomy, gray interiors to the garden’s glowing entrance. Beyond the technical pluses, this production scores with its singing. To be sure, not all the voices are grand--the chorus and some second-tier players have rough moments--but the principals make up for these lapses.

Michael Hadley as Archibald is particularly strong, delivering on such pathos-rich songs as “A Bit of Earth” and “Where in the World.” Hadley should pull back on the acting, though; he gets a little overheated every now and then. Carolyn Casey as Lily and Molly Gutman as Mary also shine with this moody score. Casey has the older, more refined voice, bringing confidence and clarity to her set pieces including “Come to My Garden.”

And Gutman, although much younger than the others, has a commanding style, particularly with “The Girl I Mean to Be” and “I Heard Someone Crying.” She’s also one of the ablest actors on stage.

In supporting roles, Cindy Acevedo brings the requisite spunk to Martha, the servant who figures prominently in Mary’s life at the manor. Joseph Saenz also gives a puckish appeal to Dickon, Mary’s mentor, who convinces her that entering that overgrown, beguiling garden might be a pretty good idea after all.

BE THERE

* “The Secret Garden,” Forum Theatre, 1475 Fairmont Blvd., Yorba Linda. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $10-$18. Ends Aug. 24. (714) 779-1932. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.