by Michael Dempsey
I RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH FRED AND RANDI STERNFELD to get an update on their adventures in the world of theatre producing. They’d had a whirlwind time over the last 3-4 years as co-producers of the sensational musical Be More Chill – first Off-Broadway, then on Broadway, then in London, Japan and elsewhere.
Now I wanted to learn more about their involvement as producers of another huge project – the revival of the beloved Broadway musical, The Secret Garden.
Q: How did you two become involved with The Secret Garden? This all actually began before Be More Chill, right?
Randi: Yes. At the time, we were interested in getting involved in the producing side of the business.
Fred: We’d already passed on some potential projects. We were waiting for that special project to come along.
Randi: Something that both excited us creatively and also had a strong potential for success.
Fred: Exactly. Secret Garden began when we were introduced, through a mutual friend, to the revival project’s Lead Producer, Jerry Goehring.
An excited audience in front of the Secret Garden stage at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre
Q: What stage of development was the show at?
Randi: Jerry was already working with the show’s creators, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Marsha Norman (writer) and Grammy Award winner Lucy Simon (composer). Marsha and Lucy were interested in reimagining and reworking the show with an eye to reaching a new generation of theatre goers.
Q: The original Broadway production was in 1991, right? Nominated for six Tony Awards.
Fred: It won three, including “Best Book of a Musical.”
Q: Jerry said, “It’s one of people’s favorite musicals, yet no one has gone back and revived it until now.”
Fred: There’s a unique kind of connection out there with it.
Q: The children’s book the show was based on, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, was already beloved.
Randi: Everywhere we go, we see that the musical has a special place in peoples’ hearts, too.
Q: So you became co-producers.
Randi: Before we said yes to getting onboard with the project, we had a series of phone conversations with Jerry and David Armstrong, who directed the development tour shows.
Fred: Very smart people. And we were hearing great ideas.
Randi: We were excited.
Fred: The other thing it had going for it was that there was a plan to do a development tour at multiple L.O.R.T. theatres.
Q: L.O.R.T. is the League of Resident Theatres.
Fred: Right, it’s the umbrella organization for union theatres, professional regional theatres. The plan was to stage development productions at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC, 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, and Houston’s Theatre Under The Stars.
Q: This kind of sounds like the modern version of the “out-of-town tryouts” Broadway shows used to do in Connecticut and elsewhere before moving to New York.
Fred: There’s nothing like a live audience to illuminate what’s working in a show and what may still need a little attention.
Q: So the development tour was extremely productive.
Secret Garden Technical Rehearsals in Los Angeles
Randi: Oh yes! And we really enjoyed the creative process.
Fred: Jerry, the creators, everyone – they all were very open to receiving feedback.
Q: They must have been. According to Jerry, some of your ideas resulted in a rewrite to a major scene and revisions to others.
Fred: Randi and I flew out a week before the first incarnation in Washington DC opened and sat through some of the tech rehearsals. Overall, it was gratifying to be able to not just be investors, but part of the process. I don’t think that’s always the case.
Q: So: the show’s reimagined new version is produced at these three theatres. Then – right when it’s time for the next phase – cue ominous music…,
Fred: The pandemic hits. And like pretty much every other live show in the country, The Secret Garden was put on hiatus.
Q: That had to have been nerve-wracking. To say the least.
Fred: The pandemic put the entire industry on hold. The future of almost everything was up in the air.
Randi: You know, we had great faith in the show. We believed it would still have a life. But beyond that, things were as uncertain as everything else in the world.
Q: There’s a danger, too, isn’t there – as the limbo gets longer, a show can lose performers, venues, staff…
Fred: Yes.
Q: Shows close and never reopen.
Fred: Yes.
Q: But not Secret Garden.
Fred: (smiles) No.
Q: Oh my gosh. When did things start back up? How did you find out?
Randi: About the middle of last year – middle of 2022 – Jerry called and told us that the show was back on track and headed for a production in Los Angeles.
Q: Just like that…
Fred: It was full steam ahead. And, you know, I think the pandemic made our show even more relevant.
Randi: There’s definitely a metaphor there. In the show, you know, Mary thinks the garden is dead –
Q: That’s right!
Opening Night in Los Angeles at Ahmanson Theatre
Randi: The show’s about this traumatized 10-year old girl, Mary Lennox, whose life drops out from under her when her parents die of cholera. She’s shipped off to an uncle and his family, who are also dealing with illness and mourning and loss. There’s this pall over everything – including quite literally the ghost of his dead wife Lily.
Fred: But then Mary discovers Lily’s secret garden.
Randi: And helps bring it back to life. And they all find a new path forward.
Q: That’s certainly a story that needs to be told right now. So, The Secret Garden rebloomed in Los Angeles. With the Center Theatre Group?
Fred: Right, that’s the producing organization. Jerry penned a deal with them and Tony-winner Warren Carlyle came aboard as the new director. The whole team was so talented. Some of Broadway’s best performers.
Q: Was the work continuing to evolve?
Fred: Oh, yes. There’d been a NY lab production, and a live-stream benefit during the pandemic. That’s actually when Warren Carlyle became involved. The original Broadway version was long – over three hours – and big, with lots of sets. The producers and creative team wanted to tighten it. For length, of course, but more importantly, to keep the story focused and moving forward. Hone in on Mary and her character arc and point of view, without losing all the other wonderful characters and events, of course.
Q: Alright. The Center Theatre Group’s production at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre just closed its February-March run. How’d it go?
Fred: Stellar. It got some rave reviews, and the audiences –
Randi: Huge crowds.
Fred: They were going wild for it.
Randi: They were hooting and hollering. They literally kept stopping the show with applause and they were on their feet at the end before it even finished.
Fred: All the elements were working. The humor was working, and it’s just…it’s just very moving.
Q: It must feel so good, after the long journey and obstacles.
Fred: There are always obstacles in theatre.
Q: Not usually a global plague!
Fred: (laughs) True.
Randi: It’s been an unforgettable experience so far, that’s for sure.
Q: And what does the future hold for this freshly bloomed Secret Garden?
Fred: Things I’m not allowed to talk about yet.
Q: (laughs) Geez. Turn into big-time theatre producers and suddenly your old friends can’t be trusted anymore…
Randi: All we can say for now is, stay tuned.
Q: Fair enough!
READ MORE about Fred and Randi’s national and international producing.
READ MORE about the Center Theatre Group production of The Secret Garden
