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Personally, I thought that The Secret Garden was the best play that we have seen by far this year. I though that everything about it was amazing! The cast knew what they were doing, and all portrayed their roles in a believable fashion. I thought that the simplistic set design and video integration enhanced the viewing experience. Since there were so many fast paced set and scene changes that also changed due to the mood that needed to be portrayed, the miniature set video helped create the scenes and mood in real time. I thought that this cast was casted phenomenally, especially the child actors. They child actors were very accomplished especially the girl. She had a very impressive biography, and her performance matched it to the T. I believe that the child actors enhanced the experience since they were so impressive and professional. Finally, I thought that this musical far surpassed Little Shop of Horrors due to the professionalism. Though this musical was more operatic that Little Shop, I still believe that it is fair to say that this musical had better blending in the vocals, along with better accuracy to pitch. Overall, I had nonstop chills of amazement watching this musical, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

2.

This musical play was so beautiful and mellifluous. The music was so nice and beautiful and the singing was much more professional than the one that we saw last week. The story of the Secret Garden was like a fairy tale but it was educational. Even though Mary lost her family and she came to a new and strange place, she learned to become stronger and get along with other people in a new place. I learned to be thinking positively and optimistically when I face difficulties. There is always a way out when facing obstacles.

In terms of the music and singing itself in this musical, the songs were so peaceful and nice. The musical play we watched had given me a very professional feel, along with artistic enjoyment, as there were various musical threads building up and I could recognize the different voice parts of the actors. In addition, I saw the lady had been playing the keyboard through the whole play at the back stage, as well as other orchestrations playing other musical instruments, making it a live music. The costumes were very nice and they represented exactly how people dressed like in the royal times in Britain. The seats were very comfortable in the theater and the performance venue was simple but nice. I recognized the steel stairs in the stage, helping the cast perform from different height level on the stage. What’s more, I was surprised to see how the white stairs were used in different functions on the stage, from changing into a bed to how they hid the plants in those white stairs. The lights and the sound helped the play perform successfully. Even though the theater was big, we could still hear clearly about the voices and sounds from the actors. I remember one scene that when Mary wrote a letter to his uncle, where the lights were stronger on the girl, but were darker on the uncle upper level on the stage. It made me feel so real.

One of the most important and unique designs in this musical was the integration of video and projector. The background scenes changed with the help of the camera on the set design of stage beneath, which was just a perfect match and made the play vivid. From the design of this play, I believe the budget of the play was not cheap However, I think this musical really deserves a big budget because it was wonderful. I was really impressed in the child actors and I felt they were awesome. Mary and her cousin, Colin, were one of the main casts in the play and I was impressed to see how they performed so confidently and they did sing pretty well at their ages.

This was the second musical we have seen. Compared to the last one that we saw, this one was more professional and the story was more in depth. I was touched to tears in the last scene of the play when uncle came back home to see his son, Colin stood up and walk through his effort and how they lived in harmony at last. Overall, I love this play, no matter from its story or the performance itself.

3. Finally, I have a favorite play for this quarter!

Firstly, the integration of the video is the most impressive part. This creative setting brings new experience to me and makes the play very modern. All the delicate paper cuttings, models and subtle arrangements of camera movement are making the play very attractive and interesting.

Secondly, this time, after comparison, I could tell the difference between professional actors and non-professional ones. Since, in the Secret Garden, the songs are fluent, beautiful and clean, and the actors are singing very professionally that I can barely hear their breathe. Recalling the Shop, the singing part would be less perfect than the part in the Garden.

I personally love this musical very much. The plots are connected tight and reasonable, the music is moving and the children actors are very fantastic too.

4. THE BEST PLAY I have ever watched. I did not expect something so amazing like this before the play started due to the topic and format of the play, I was in the mood of getting this done and let me go. However, the overall attitude and enjoyment of mine had totally changed after the first sight of this play.

Start with the overall story-line and the feeling that had been delivered by the casts. The story was clear, smart organized, mindful, and meaningful. Unlike other play I watched before, The Secret Garden was interesting and making me stay focusing on every details of the play. I was not confused by the role that casts play since they all play different one instead of one cast played numbers of different characters.

Set design was so unique due to the fact of the usage of the screen on the back of the stage. At the beginning, I thought the screen was the visual aid for the people on the back to watch the play better, but the importance regarding the role this screen played was way better than that. This was more than just a visual aid, this integration of video was so fun to watch and gave us a real feeling to dive into the story.

The child actors were necessary, and they did great overall. I felt like they got better skills comparing with some other adult actors. I could have sense of feeling delivered by the play of the little girl.

I would say The Secret Garden out-performed any other Musicals, even any other plays. This was the only one play that make me stop checking out how much time left. I did not feel this was a two and half hours play, and I believed that I would go to watch this play again once I got the chance.