LOS ANGELES — Girl Scouts know a thing or two about nature. In fact, Madar Mee’s troop is getting ready for a big outdoor adventure.

“With like this year’s cookie proceeds, we’re gonna, like, go on a rafting trip,” she explained.

An outing to the theater may be less splashy but not less exciting. Madar and her friend Aixa Quindel Peral were among some 550 Girl Scouts who recently attended a matinee of “The Secret Garden” at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Madar knew the story going in.

“I read the book when I was 7,” she said, so she was eager to see it come to life.

Walking to her seat in the mezzanine, she was immediately captivated.

“I’m really intrigued,” she said, peering down at the billowing gold fabric floating a few feet above the stage. “The set pieces look amazing.”

This production is the first major revival of the musical since its original Broadway run in 1991. Director Warren Carlyle had been working closely with the original creative team to reimagine and update the material since prior to the pandemic.

Lucy Simon, the Tony-nominated composer and sister of musician Carly Simon, had been very involved in the project before her death in October of 2022.

Sierra Boggess, who plays the ever-present ghost of Lily, said Simon’s presence is still very much felt.

“I think about Lucy all the time. I talked to her all the time. I invoke her all the time,” she explained. “She is so much a part of this. There’s no way that she couldn’t be.”

In fact, she said, she received a personal message from Simon before her passing at the age of 82. 

“She said, ‘I was going to ask you to carry my voice forward,’” Boggess recalled. “So it is my responsibility to do just that.”

“It’s the most amazing thing to get to have that honor,” she added. “She’s so with me every step of the way. And she’s with all of us.”

Boggess is also grateful for the support and presence of Simon’s daughter Julia, who she said has also been very involved in the production.

“It’s also part of her healing,” she said. “So this show is moving on many levels.”

The operatic soprano, who made her Broadway debut as Ariel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and has played Christine Daaé in both “Phantom of the Opera” and “Love Never Dies,” praises the updates and changes to the lush score that is being introduced to a new generation.

“It still celebrates the show we know and love. It is just updated for this time that we’re in now,” she explained, adding that this is exactly the type of music she loves to perform. “The way that [Lucy Simon] wrote this music, especially Lily. It’s like you wait for shows like this where you can just sing!”

Julie Lester, who plays Martha, is also thrilled to be a part of this revival and this legacy.

“I love women lead things and to know that I’m singing a score and saying words that are all by women is so special to me,” she said.

The actress, best known for “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” has loved “The Secret Garden” since she was a girl growing up in Woodland Hills. She even performed the role of Martha in her local youth theater program when she was 15.

“So she holds such a special place in my heart,” she said of the character. “I’m 23 now, so getting to redo it sort of in my adult life is really wonderful.”

The redhead who attended Calabasas High School has been performing in musicals since she was 8 years old and made her Broadway debut last year in the highly acclaimed revival of “Into the Woods.” (That production, now touring, will be playing at the Ahmanson this summer.)

Lester knows how powerful theater can be for a young person and suspects that for kids in the audience, seeing performers their own age take center stage may inspire them to want to follow in their footsteps.

“I think theater is such an important place for children to learn how to speak up, how to work together, how to follow direction,” she said. “And even if I wasn’t looking to pursue it as a full-time career, I think it still would have given me all the tools that I needed to use in my everyday life as a teenager and adult.”

Following the performance, the Girl Scouts were invited to a talkback with the cast where they asked questions about the show, acting and, of course, about the cast members’ favorite cookies.

Vishal Vaidya praised Tagalongs but then credited Peyton Crim with introducing him to Adventurefuls. 

Crim, who plays Major Holmes, had a box in his hand and sang their praises.

“I just want to say, if you put Adventurefuls on top of ice cream and you microwave it a little bit, it’s a real good time,” he told the scouts.

It was clear from her answers and the way she engaged the crowd that Lester thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity. She admits, as a young girl seeing theater, all she ever wanted was a chance to ask the actors questions.

“So the fact that we got to give them an opportunity to ask us some real pressing questions like, ‘What’s our favorite Girl Scout cookie?’ I mean, that’s every kid’s dream!” she laughed. “Also, Tagalongs are my favorite, in case you were wondering.”

At the end of the afternoon, each girl scout left with a Secret Garden badge to commemorate the outing. As for earning an actual gardening badge, Madar might be open to the idea.

“Just gardening in general would be fun,” she said. “Especially after coming out of this and having a new appreciation for it, considering what it did for most of the characters.”