Live and in person at Young Peoples’ Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Running until Dec. 30, 2024
Book by David Greig
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl
Songs from the motion picture by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
Directed by Thom Allison
Musical director, Jeannie Wyse
Choreographer, Allison Plamondon
Set by Brandon Kleiman
Costumes by Ming Wong
Lighting by Jareth Li
Sound by Brian Kenny
Projections by Laura Warren
Joy with a pinch of bitter sweet. Goodness, kindness and humanity are championed along with imagination.
The Story. Willie Wonka, a reclusive eccentric candy-maker has decided he has to pass on his candy factory to the next generation, so he leaves his factory in disguise to find that perfect person. He opens a candy store in the ‘outside world’ full of his many and various creations.
One day Charlie Bucket comes into the store, curious about the candies. Charlie comes from a terribly poor family. The few pennies he has are used to buy food for his single mother and both pairs of grandparents. The food is usually best-for-the-trashcan-vegetables that he buys from Mrs. Green, a greengrocer.
Willie Wonka has created a contest. Inside five of his famous Wonka Bars is a gold ticket that entitles the person finding it to a tour of his chocolate factory. Willie Wonka urges Charlie to buy one. Charlie says he will, on his birthday. Four of the five tickets are already found by obnoxious, greedy, selfish children. One remains to be discovered. Will Charlie get lucky and find it?
The Production. Director Thom Allison continues to go from strength to strength. His direction of La Cages aux Folles this past season at the Stratford Festival is an example of a vivid imagination and a huge beating heart (I regret that time again got away from me and I have not reviewed it yet—it closes after being extended Nov. 17). In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Thom Allison and his design team have envisioned a world of vivid colours, patterns, designs and characters. Brandon Kleiman’s set has created a psychedelic world, set in Toronto (the CN Tower is front and center) of shimmer, neon colour, and eye-popping stimulus. Ming Wong’s creative, witty costumes add to that whimsy, especially the polka dotted Ooma Lumpas, a group who dispense with annoying children. And Laura Warren’s arresting projections complete the picture. Allison Plamondon’s choreography provides a regular swirl of activity.
Thom Allison has found the perfect Willie Wonka in Michael Therriault. Michael Therriault is agile, energetic, committed and watchful as Willie Wonka. His singing of “Wonka’s Welcome Song” (The Candyman) sets up the audience for what is to come—easily digestible tunes with some barbed lyrics thanks to the music of Marc Shaiman and the lyrics of Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. It would be helpful if the volume of the orchestra was dialed down a bit so we could hear the singers sing the lyrics clearly.
Breton Lalama as Charlie is a wide-eyed, kind soul. He is always curious, enthusiastic about his discoveries, resourceful and self-less. Charlie is a young man who always thinks of others. While the other kid-characters think only of themselves, are selfish, greedy and malicious, Charlie imagines treats that others would like. He thinks of the perfect candy for his mother and then a different one for each grandparent. It’s Charlie’s imagination that also sets him apart, his need to fill a blank page with ideas.
There is a scene when Charlie (Breton Lalama) shows compassion and understanding in that selfish world of spoiled children and Therriault looks at him, standing some distance away, and there is such quiet joy in Willie’s reaction, you knew that Willie found his perfect successor.
While the musical captures that larger than life fantasy world of the movie, director Thom Allison establishes and centers the beating heart of the work by adding touches that speak volumes about how Charlie Bucket and his family love each other. Mrs. Bucket (a gracious Zorana Sadiq) is always embracing him, encouraging him. When Mrs. Bucket has to go to her night job, she leaves by touching each of the grandparents who are sleeping. It’s a small gesture, but a gesture of love.
There is a lot of talent on the stage. Nick Boegel is a sullen, dangerous Mike Teavee; David Lopez brings out the goofiness of Augustus Gloop; Caitlyn Macinnis is demanding and petulant as Veruca Salt (I love that Roald Dahl has named her after a wart); and Ruth Acheampong plays the gum-chewing, self-absorbed Violet Beauregarde. Jacob Macinnis plays Mrs. Gloop with joy, yodeling and a soprano voice, and then there are the other characters Jacob Macinnis plays with distinction, detail and wit.
Comment. Roald Dahl, who wrote the children’s novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” on which the film and this musical are based, is no stranger to the darker side of childhood. There is always some sinister presence in his children’s books. In Matilda, about a curious little girl who loves to read, all the adults, except one, are horrible. Her parents are despicable and there is a vindictive bully of a teacher who bedevils Matilda. Only a kind teacher cares for her. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it’s the children who are horrible: greedy, selfish, self-absorbed and sociopathic. The parents don’t know how to handle them and let them have their way. If there is a happy ending, it’s very hard won. And his adult short stories are downright malevolent. It’s fascinating journeying through Roald Dahl’s world of children’s books and then adult books.
For all of Willy Wonka’s reclusiveness, he knew his way around childhood and how to spot a mean kid and the one who could be a kindred spirit. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a whirlwind of fun; a show with a sweet message and just enough tartness to make you sit up and notice.
Young People’s Theatre presents:
Plays until Dec. 30, 2024
Running time: 75 minutes (no intermission)