Charlie and The Chocolate Factory Playhouse Edinburgh 2nd April 2023 Review
Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical is at The Edinburgh Playhouse (Wed 29 Mar - Sat 15 April) and it is simply a show for the whole family, young and old alike.
This show is of course based on Roald Dahl's classic book from 1964, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and obviously from the reactions of the many children in the audience for this show, this story is as popular as ever with them, and of course those older people too, who might have used their younger guests for the night as an excuse to see the show for their own self and relive their own childhood memories of the book too.
Visually, this production, for me, very much has the look of the now classic, 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder which I remember so well, albeit with some obvious updates to some of the Golden Ticket winners. Changes to some of the story by another screen writer who was brought in to do a rewrite of Roald Dahl’s screenplay did result in the author disowning the film. Despite this, the film was a huge success. Musical numbers were written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and two classic songs “The Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination” from the film have become musical standards covered by many different artists over the years. “The Candy Man” is very much still THE song from this new musical. There are of course new songs for this musical written by Marc Shaiman (composer/lyricist) and Scott Wittman (lyricist). Many of these now fit seamlessly into the world of Charlie Bucket and Willie Wonka whilst keeping the timeless feel of the book and updating this stage show for contemporary times.
If you plan to go and see this show, then it is only fair to say that this is really a production in two halves. Here Act 1 is almost taken up with introducing us to Charlie Bucket (Isaac Sugden) and his almost unbelievably poor family, including his mother (Leonie Spilsbury) and of course his much loved Grandpa Joe (Michael D’Cruze), as well as setting the scene for his hopes and dreams of finding a Golden Ticket in his favourite Wonka bar of chocolate that he and his family are too poor to buy. There are only five of these golden tickets, granting the winner the chance to meet Willie Wonka, tour his factory, and other promised prizes, but taking the whole of Act 1 to introduce us to all the winners as they are found did slow the pace of the story down somewhat.
By almost total contrast, Act II, once we are inside the Chocolate Factory, is like being at a completely different show, and this is where young and old alike in the audience were captured by a story that they knew so well being brought to life on stage by cutting edge technical imagery that allowed us in the audience to, at times, feel like we were on stage with the cast in this wonder world of chocolate, sweets and pure imagination.
This Willie Wonka (Gareth Snook) on stage is very much an old fashioned showman, full of pomp, splendour and more than a little bit of self-importance which contrasts perfectly with the humbleness of Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe. Charlie Bucket on stage is very much an ordinary boy who, despite his poverty, lives in a house full of love and there is a real connection on stage between him and his grandpa
There are some good character performances here by our other four Golden Ticket winners, but a special mention has to go Leonie Spilsbury as Charlie’s Mother, who was also using sign language when speaking to Charlie and the family.
Overall, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical is a big budget production with tight direction by James Brining and good choreography by Emily Jane Boyle, and the complete package is obviously delighting a whole new generation of fans of this book, and probably other Roald Dahl stories.
If you go to this show, be prepared to immerse yourself in the wonderful worlds and characters that Roald Dahl conjured up for his stories, prepare to look at the world through young eyes again and feel once more why this and other stories by this author have enchanted children for generations by their wonder and at times grossness all rolled into one glorious package.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This show is of course based on Roald Dahl's classic book from 1964, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and obviously from the reactions of the many children in the audience for this show, this story is as popular as ever with them, and of course those older people too, who might have used their younger guests for the night as an excuse to see the show for their own self and relive their own childhood memories of the book too.
Visually, this production, for me, very much has the look of the now classic, 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder which I remember so well, albeit with some obvious updates to some of the Golden Ticket winners. Changes to some of the story by another screen writer who was brought in to do a rewrite of Roald Dahl’s screenplay did result in the author disowning the film. Despite this, the film was a huge success. Musical numbers were written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and two classic songs “The Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination” from the film have become musical standards covered by many different artists over the years. “The Candy Man” is very much still THE song from this new musical. There are of course new songs for this musical written by Marc Shaiman (composer/lyricist) and Scott Wittman (lyricist). Many of these now fit seamlessly into the world of Charlie Bucket and Willie Wonka whilst keeping the timeless feel of the book and updating this stage show for contemporary times.
If you plan to go and see this show, then it is only fair to say that this is really a production in two halves. Here Act 1 is almost taken up with introducing us to Charlie Bucket (Isaac Sugden) and his almost unbelievably poor family, including his mother (Leonie Spilsbury) and of course his much loved Grandpa Joe (Michael D’Cruze), as well as setting the scene for his hopes and dreams of finding a Golden Ticket in his favourite Wonka bar of chocolate that he and his family are too poor to buy. There are only five of these golden tickets, granting the winner the chance to meet Willie Wonka, tour his factory, and other promised prizes, but taking the whole of Act 1 to introduce us to all the winners as they are found did slow the pace of the story down somewhat.
By almost total contrast, Act II, once we are inside the Chocolate Factory, is like being at a completely different show, and this is where young and old alike in the audience were captured by a story that they knew so well being brought to life on stage by cutting edge technical imagery that allowed us in the audience to, at times, feel like we were on stage with the cast in this wonder world of chocolate, sweets and pure imagination.
This Willie Wonka (Gareth Snook) on stage is very much an old fashioned showman, full of pomp, splendour and more than a little bit of self-importance which contrasts perfectly with the humbleness of Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe. Charlie Bucket on stage is very much an ordinary boy who, despite his poverty, lives in a house full of love and there is a real connection on stage between him and his grandpa
There are some good character performances here by our other four Golden Ticket winners, but a special mention has to go Leonie Spilsbury as Charlie’s Mother, who was also using sign language when speaking to Charlie and the family.
Overall, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical is a big budget production with tight direction by James Brining and good choreography by Emily Jane Boyle, and the complete package is obviously delighting a whole new generation of fans of this book, and probably other Roald Dahl stories.
If you go to this show, be prepared to immerse yourself in the wonderful worlds and characters that Roald Dahl conjured up for his stories, prepare to look at the world through young eyes again and feel once more why this and other stories by this author have enchanted children for generations by their wonder and at times grossness all rolled into one glorious package.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com