A Secret Best Kept

Last Saturday, we went to see Repertory Philippines' staging of the musical, The Secret Garden. When I bought tickets, I asked the person at the ticket counter if she thought my 5-year old son would enjoy it, considering it was not children's theater. She responded by saying that the songs were nice, there were kids in the musical and if my kid enjoyed Cinderella, he'd like this too.

I took her word for it and what a mistake. We didn't enjoy the musical at all and it was nowhere near Cinderella. It was dark and hardly for kids. Sure, there were two children in the story but that was about it.

I spoke to a mother-friend who told me that another mother had warned her not to bring her kids to see it and for them not to consider the show for any school sponsorships. My friend then remembered that she saw the movie, of the same title and I suppose, based on the same material and she stopped half-way as it could not hold her interest.

Anyway, we did finish the musical. The good part, I was waiting for, however, never arrived. My son even slept through half of it which is not usual as he has seen The Little Mermaid and several Children's Theater presentations and stayed awake. Anyway, the time wasn't totally wasted since I had the chance to cuddle my son for the entire second half. Today, if you ask him if he liked the musical, he will answer you with an honest and straightforward: "No."