Megan Wheeler, left, plays Lily, and Hannah Trowell plays Mary in Peach State Summer Theatre’s ‘The Secret Garden.’ Twelve years ago, Wheeler played Mary in the show about loss and the redemption of love.

Megan Wheeler knows just how Hannah Trowell feels playing young Mary Lennox in Peach State Summer Theatre’s “The Secret Garden.”

Wheeler played the same role at the age of 11, under the same director, 12 years ago when PSST was the Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival. But for Wheeler, this year’s “Secret Garden” represents her childhood dream come true.

Playing Mary back in 1998, Wheeler dreamed of one day playing the hauntingly beautiful Lily.

“I remember thinking she was so beautiful and she had such an amazing voice,” Wheeler says of the actress playing Lily in the 1998 production. “I wanted to be able to play Lily one day. It was something to aspire to.”

Now, she has come full circle.

Playing Lily, Wheeler gives one of her most memorable performances in her PSST and Valdosta State University Theatre careers. This newspaper’s review of Wheeler’s performance in “The Secret Garden” noted, “Her Lily is a radiant angel, which makes the intensity of Archibald’s grief all the more palpable.

Wheeler is striking in the role of Lily, from the range of her voice to the grace of her movements to the power of her appearance. Megan Wheeler brings Lily to awe-inducing life.”

So does Hannah Trowell as Mary.

The Times sat down with these two performers who share something in common with Mary and this production.

Recently, director Randy Wheeler recounted seeing “The Secret Garden” many years ago on Broadway with eldest daughter Melissa. At the time, youngest daughter Megan was about 3 years old, he says. Coming out of “The Secret Garden” on Broadway, Melissa told her father that Megan should be the right age to play young Mary Lennox when the show became available to other production companies.

She was right.

In 1998, Megan was the perfect age to play Mary Lennox in the Jekyll show. “The Secret Garden” was her first major role on stage.

Given the stage time, she recalls being intimidated by the role but well prepared for the Jekyll Island performance.

Months prior to the production,  Randy Wheeler began rehearsing Megan to play Mary. They practiced staging, the British accent, the songs, and more.

Randy Wheeler took a similar approach this year with Hannah Trowell as Mary.

In February, he began meeting with Hannah weekly working on the same techniques to prepare her performance for Mary in advance of the brutal three-weeks spring rehearsal time for the rest of the PSST cast.

“It’s funny,” Megan says of watching Hannah’s performance. “I sometimes recognize some of the same movements and mannerisms that my dad taught me for Mary.”

As for their father-daughter rehearsals for Mary, Megan seems to recall, with a chuckle, they were more often than once a week.

Hannah, 13, enjoyed the rehearsals.

The daughter of Sam and Sandy Trowell, Hannah learned of the role last year while starring in the title role in the Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta’s production of “Peter Pan.” As Peter, Hannah spent the majority of the show on stage, a good experience given she does nearly the same again in “The Secret Garden.”

As for advice, Megan did not offer Hannah any tips on playing Mary. Megan didn’t want to interfere with any of her father’s direction. She has been available if Hannah has any questions.

As for Hannah, she’s spent the summer impressed by her PSST colleagues.

“I’ve learned a lot just by watching everyone,” she says, adding that theatre is what she hopes to pursue as an adult.

While Megan Wheeler is working professionally as an actress, scheduled to tour with a live Veggie Tales show in the fall, she originally did not see theatre as a career. The daughter of VSU Theatre’s Randy and Jacque Wheeler, Megan considered marine biology.

Gaining more performing confidence as a senior in a Valdosta High cabaret, she discussed theatre with her parents before deciding to pursue it.

Both Megan and Hannah also share experiences of having their families involved in theatre.

With the Wheelers, theatre has been their career.

For the Trowells, Hannah’s parents have spent time at Gingerbread Players rehearsals sewing costumes and building sets.

And they both know from experience, too, there’s something about Mary.