LOS ANGELES — Gardens can be magical places, even if that garden is your own backyard.

Sadie Reynolds loves wandering through hers, smelling the many herbs and fruits that grow there. 

“We grow rosemary, lavender, apples, pomegranates and lemons,” she listed, stopping to point out one in particular. “Lavender. This is where the bees hang out.” 

Sadie even has her own special spot, although it’s not among all their fragrant blooms.

“It’s a journey,” she giggled as she walked through a gate and down a stone path that winds under a low tree branch and around the side of the house.

That’s where Sadie's secret bit of earth is — her happy place, as she put it, where she goes when she needs some quiet time.

“I bring a little pillow,” she said. “I usually take a beach towel of some sort and lay it down here. It's just always been somewhere very peaceful for me.”

For the next few months, though, Sadie will be spending a lot of time in a different garden. The 11-year-old was just cast as Mary Lennox in a production of "The Secret Garden" that will be playing at the Ahmanson early next year. She says her mother, Nora Brickman, heard about the open call on social media and brought her. It was her first professional musical theatre audition.

“We received the news I got the part, and that was really exciting,” Sadie said, a beaming smile spreading across her face.

This would be a big deal for any child, but for Sadie, it’s a dream come true. She admitted she’s obsessed with musical theater, a seed that was planted pretty early, when her mom played music from "Wicked" in the car.

“And that was it," said Sadie. "I just knew that I loved musical theater.”

That love and Sadie's natural talent has been well cultivated since then. She comes from a family of performers. Her father is a musician, and her mom is a dancer. Even her little brother Hudson plays the drums.

As for the sixth grade rising star, Sadie attends a performing arts school, has done voiceover work and on-camera acting. But while she’s been on stage since she was a "tiny child," she says, Sadie has never done theater professionally — and certainly never in a house this large. 

Walking into the Ahmanson for only the second time, Sadie was filled with awe. The only other time she was there was as an audience member a few months ago, unaware that her turn was right around the corner.

“I mean, I saw ["The Prom"] and I was like, 'Wow, that must be amazing to be on there,'" she recalled, looking across the empty theater to the large stage. “And I'm actually going to be performing there, and I can't believe it.”

Mary Lennox is an iconic role, in literature and in Broadway history. Daisy Eagan was 11 when she played the part in the original cast and became the youngest female actress to win a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. Sadie will be working alongside Sierra Boggess, Broadway’s original "Little Mermaid."

It’s been more than 30 years since the Broadway run of "The Secret Garden," and the show being produced by Center Theatre Group has been reimagined by the original creative team, including composer Lucy Simon, who died last month at the age of 82.  

The show opens on Feb. 19, and Sadie’s mom Nora is already preparing to bring several boxes of tissues. She remembers listening to the songs with Sadie as she prepared for her callback.

“You started crying,” Sadie said.

“It was like tears were just being shoved out of my tear ducts,” Nora confirmed. “It was just all happening, and I could just see you up there singing it so clearly, like such a clear vision of it. I was so over the moon and so taken with emotion that other people saw what, you know, we see in you every day.”

Rehearsals start soon. But in the meantime, Sadie is researching the role, reading the book and practicing her British accent. She has always dreamed of a career in musical theater, and this opportunity makes her feel like anything is possible.

“I really am really grateful for this part because it's just the world to me,” she said.

Looking up at the ornate giant banner hanging outside the theater and announcing the future show, Sadie seems to grow more radiant by the minute — a budding star blossoming right here on her home soil.