THEATER / T.H. McCULLOH : Unlocking Allure of ‘Secret Garden’ : Orange Coast College Production of Children’s Classic Captures Its Timeless Charm

Some stories are truly timeless. No matter how often they unfold before you, no matter how many versions appear, there are always a few tears left when that right moment comes.

One of those tales is Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden” which, in spite of a few flaws in this Orange Coast College production, keeps the eyes of its predominantly young audience glued to the stage.

The adaptation is by Pam Sterling, mostly in story theater form, with opening and closing narration by the cast, and a central narrator (Sofia Moraes), who also plays the friendly red-breasted robin who becomes the first real friend the young heroine finds in her new home.

Some of Moraes’ lines are lost in indistinct diction, but she’s a delight as the recorder-tootling bird that guides little Mary to the key to the secret garden and to her happiness.

Orphaned in India, Mary Lennox is thrust into an unfriendly, typically British Gothic manor house, Misselthwaite, in Yorkshire. Her dour Uncle Archibald (Troy M. Johnson) is a cipher, still mourning the death of his young wife 10 years earlier.

Mary’s new world is forbidding, from the generic bitter housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock (Debi Ham), to Archibald’s physician brother (Donovan T. McGrath), who is out to take the estate on Archibald’s death. The only problem is Archibald’s son Colin, Mary’s cousin, who is secreted in his room and kept ill by his grasping uncle.

The production lights up when Mary finally discovers Colin and realizes that he is no more ill than she is. Heather deMichele’s direction is sure throughout, her staging inventive on the large Robert B. Moore Theatre stage, and she has imbued the production with a fine sense of place, period and mood.

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What she hasn’t done is give some of her actors a sense of the style this gentle, wispy piece needs, nor the feeling that they’re doing much more than reciting lines.

Ham’s housekeeper, McGrath’s doctor, and Eric Scott Holme’s stagy, affected Dickon--the boy who helps Mary bring the garden to life--are cardboard figures. Johnson’s uncle is miles ahead in believability, as is Peter Kreder’s warm, befuddled gardener Ben.

Michelle Rypinski is a delight as Mary, snippy and sour on her arrival, gradually and seamlessly waking with bubbling high spirits to the joy of her new life and her new friendships.

Anna Fitzwater’s servant Martha, Dickon’s sister, sparkles with humor, even in her moments of terror at Mrs. Medlock’s approach. And Steven El Ray Musil is a marvelous Colin, spoiled and unhappy when first discovered, then seamlessly changing his image to one of hope and health as his relationship with Mary grows. Both Rypinski and Musil are taller than some of the adults, but they actually foster the belief that they are small, and very young, and very vulnerable.

* “The Secret Garden,” Robert B. Moore Theatre, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Ave., Costa Mesa. Friday, 10 a.m., Saturday, 2 p.m. Ends Saturday. $5-$7. (714) 432-5880. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Michelle Rypinski: Mary Lennox

Steven El Ray Musil: Colin Craven

Anna Fitzwater: Martha Sowerby

Troy M. Johnson: Archibald Craven

Peter Kreder: Ben Weatherstaff

Eric Scott Holme: Dickon Sowerby

Sofia Moraes: Narrator/Robin

Debi Ham: Mrs. Medlock

Donovan T. McGrath: Doctor Craven

An Orange Coast College Theatre Arts Department production of Pam Sterling’s adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s drama. Directed by Heather deMichele. Lighting design: Robert Stayner. Stage manager: D.P. Vining.