Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...this Porchlight Music Theatre revival is exceptionally strong. It's not only marked by several honest and moving performances but uncommonly well sung. And with ticket prices topping out at half of what you pay downtown, it is an excellent Easter choice for family entertainment. Especially for tween girls."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...The musical's power has always been in the transformation of its characters, its music and in the blossoming of the dead garden into a colorful work of art. The set design by husband-and-wife team Richard and Jacqueline Penrod falls short in this respect. When I saw the original Broadway production, set designer Heidi Landesman's garden drew gasps from the audience."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Director L. Walter Stearns and musical director Eugene Dizon re-imagined the show by Marsha Norman (book and lyrics) and Lucy Simon (music) as a chamber musical, the way they re-imagined “Sweeney Todd” in 2004. Like that stellar, Jeff Award-winning production, this intimate, pol-ished version proves a resourceful theater company can make an impressive statement on a small scale."
SouthtownStar
- Highly Recommended
"...With the intimacy and immediacy of Porchlight Music Theatre's jewel-box setting, and with director L. Walter Stearns' masterful staging and Eugene Dizon's musical direction, this endearing musical is made richer and more meaningful than ever before."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1909 novel was half wishful thinking, half unforced feeling as it celebrated the persistence of the past and the power of one garden to literally heal the sick. In this 1991 musical adaptation Lucy Simon's score has enough uplift to float a dozen dirigibles, but they're anchored by the raw heartache of Marsha Norman's book. Porchlight's production, directed by L. Walter Stearns, is fluid and deeply felt, and the singing soars. The cast is unimprovable, though Mallory Baysek and Drew Mikusha stand out as the troubled children who are healed."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Like many a Porchlight production, the music is by far the strongest element. A handful of distractions (albeit footnotes) include some severe and inconsistent miking, bits of static staging, and the constant onstage presence of an Indian mystic whom Stearns depicts one-dimensionally as “exotic.” Yet with a deeply sympathetic Lindner leading a thoroughly commanding ensemble, it’s as lush as a greenhouse."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...The Secret Garden is a mysteriously enchanting feel good musical that will leave you tear-eyed and fulfilled. The journey to unlock the secrets of the past through flashbacks, dream sequences with the aid of a strolling chorus of ghosts gave The Secret Garden an enchantment rich in atmosphere and emotional tones that ultimately shows us that we must let go of the past and enjoy the possibilities of life."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Musically speaking, this is one of the most satisfying and thrilling musicals you will probably see this season. Music Director Eugene Dizon has the uncanny gift of making a few musicians sound like a full-fledged chamber orchestra and the vocalists are pretty near heavenly. It is rare to come across a musical of this quality and a production as affecting. Don't miss it!"
