The National Tour of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
*I wrote this shortly after I saw the show in January, but I am only publishing it now because I am awful*
"The candy man. The candy man can." These are words that I imagine everyone in the English speaking langauge has heard sung at lease once or twice in their life. Even if you haven't seen the movie versions or read the book, you probably have still heard at least that one part of the song. Just like the song, most people seem to have an idea or be aware of the story of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka, the famous candy maker. There have been numerous adaptations of the story and the latest version of the story is the musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened on Broadway in 2017, hit the road in 2018, and has been on tour across North America since. The aforementioned song, aptly titled, "The Candy Man" is the opening number of this musical adaptation, which I found to be absolutely charmless and devoid of anything that made the book or the original film adaptation (starring Gene Wilder) memorable. The show is clearly meant to be catered to a wide audience and play to crowds similar to those who would attend shows like The Lion King or Wicked. Well, this show is no The Lion King or Wicked. Although you would expect a musical adaptation of this story to be packed to the brim with a lavish set, gorgeous costumes, and memorable songs, I don't think that Charlie and the Chocoalte Factory had any of that. I thought that it was a dissapointing and even at times, boring, staging of what should have been an incredibly memorable musical.
Although I didn't find this show to be unbearable, I cannot bring myself to a point to say that I enjoyed it, because it really was not a good show. The book and score were not Broadway material, by any standards, and although the production quality did live up to the budget of a standard Broadway national tour, I didn't care for the direction or design of the production at all. There were some cool effects, such as the puppetry (by Basil Twist), but Christine Peter's scenic design was unattractive and the show lacked any sort of sparkle or dazzle in essentially each department.
David Greig's book is all over the place and doesn't make very much sense at all. The show is having a the biggest idenity crisis I have ever seen a show, play or musical, have. This show has absolutely no idea when it takes place. Throughout the show, they mention various forms of technology and social media, including, but not limited too, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, and yet Mrs. Teavee (Mike Teavee's mother) is dressed as if she is a 1950's housewife, meanwhile the rest of the cast looks like they are coming from the time period in which the Gene Wilder film took place. The way the set and costumes (by Mark Thompson) were designed, in addition to the way the individual characters spoke, it is impossible to tell when this show is supposed to be taking place. The only ones who I would by as people of the 21st century are the Beauregards and the Teavees. Furthermore, I do not appreciate how the show exaggerated how poor Charlie & his family actually are. I feel as if the show overexaggerated how poor his family was, to the point that it almost it seemed ridiculous that his family could be that poor. When Charlie's mother comes onstage and says she found a water damaged notebook for Charlie and a table leg to use as firewood, it almost seems like a joke that simply isn't very funny.
The show incorporates a plot element where in Charlie Bucket (played by Ryan Umbarila at the performance I attended) is friends with an incognito Willy Wonka (played by Cody Garcia), who runs the candy shop that is down the street from his house. Although there was an oppurtunity to create a compelling plot and a more intersting take on the show with this alone, after the character of "The Candy Man" exits the plot and we see him as Willy Wonka, it is never mentioned again, aside from maybe one line, where Charlie says "Aren't you the candy man?" and Wonka brushes it off. The idea is never revisted again. There are also attempts to further the character development of these characters that don't work. For instance, in this adaptation of the story, Charlie's father has passed away and about halfway through the first act, his mother (played by Caitlin Lester-Sams) sings a ballad entitled, "If Your Father Were Here," in which she dances in a fantasy sequence with Charlie's late father. This was a moment in the show that just left me wondering, "Why?"
Speaking of Wonka, the character of Willy Wonka is so unlikable in this version. As the candy man, we watch him be intenionally rude to Charlie and the same goes for when he is Willy Wonka. We watch him be perfectly okay with what happens to each of the children and he is continously mean spirited throughout the entire show. I don't see how at the end of the show, we are supposed to like this man. He is horrible to each of the characters onstage and comes across as one of the most pretentious people you will ever meet. I think one of the biggest misfires of this show, is that you can walk away saying that you do not like the character of Willy Wonka.
Cody Garcia plays the role of Wonka in this production and honestly, he is fine. As I said, I think they did to the character in this adaptation is disgraceful, so I had a hard time enjoying his performance. He has a nice singing voice though, and I am interested in seeing him in other roles in better shows. Ryan Umbarila is a lot of fun as Charlie, making everyone wish they coud be half as talented as an 8 year old. But alas, not all of us can be child actors on national tours of Broadway musicals.
The choice to have the children (aside from Charlie) who win the other Golden tickets played by adults is an interesting one. Perhaps it is so we don't feel as bad when we see how each character ends up at the end of the show, but it was quite interesting. Most of the time, I didn't notice, but it was a little bit bizzare. My favorites of the children were Angela Padalinni as Veruca Salt (who is performing on point!) and Zakiya Baptiste as Violet Beauregard. Sam St. Jean is a lot of fun as Augustus Gloop and I found the character of Mike Teavee (played by Matthew Boyd Snyder) to be rather irritating, but he is supposed to be. I found the rest of the children to be awful, yet lovable brats.
Caitlin Lester-Sams was lovely as Charlie's mother and although Steve McCoy is a charismatic performer, Grandpa Joe is not the most well written character in this adaptation. Although it is clear that most of the things he is telling Charlie are just stories, that is all that he does. It may be my lack of memory, but I cannot remember if it is revealed if he was actually one of Willy Wonka's security gaurds. Maybe it was, and I just don't remember, but most of the time the character is just fabricating stories about his life. It's clear that he is and everyone knows it, and it's not a bad thing. But that is about all Grandpa Joe does in this adaptation of the story. The parents of the other children are quite good as well, with the standouts being Audrey Belle Adams as Mrs. Gloop and Katie Fay Francis as Mrs. Teavee.
Jack O'Brien's driection (recreated for this tour by Matt Lenz) might be a bit of what contributed to the downfall of this production. Although there are many moments in the staging that are very funny and quite entertaining to watch (for instance, the way that the Oompa Loompas) were portrayed, but some of the choices made were outlandish and there was ultimatley nothing about the staging that I found to be particularly creative. Joshua Bergasse's choreography was probably one of my favorite elements about this production. It was quite adorable and engaging to watch. Seeing the ensemble dance in the opening number and Angela Padalinni dance as Veruca Salt were easily the strongest points in this production, which says something, considering the fact that this is a show that didn't have very many.
Honestly, this show was incredibly underwhelming and a weak to start to our touring season. Charlie and the Chocolate was trite and obnoxious. The rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it, but I personally just couldn't find that much of the show that was redeeming. I don't know what the creative team was thinking when they strayed so far from the movie that we know and love. I understand that the likely did not want to create a carbon copy of either of the film versions, but this production would have been so much better if there were hints of nostalgia, or absolutely any bit of pure imagination.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYBook by David Greig
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Whitman & Mark Shaiman
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl
For more information, please visit https://www.charlieontour.com/
At the time I saw the show the cast of the national tour of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY consisted of:
Willy Wonka- CODY GARCIA
Charlie Bucket- BRODY BETT & RYAN UMBARILA
Mrs. Green- DOMANICK ANTON HUBBARD
Grandpa Joe- STEVE McCOY
Mrs. Bucket- CAILTIN LESTER-SAMS
Grandma Josephine- JENNA BROOKE SCANELLI
Grandma Georgina- NICOLE ZELKA
Grandpa George- RYAN KEIRNAN
Jerry- JUSTIN WHITE
Cherry- NICOLE HALE
Mrs. Gloop- AUDREY BELLE ADAMS
Augustus Gloop- SAM ST. JEAN
Mr. Salt- SCOTT FUSS
Veruca Salt- ANGELA PALLADINI
Mr. Beauregarde- BRANDEN R. MANGAN
Violet Beauregarde- ZAKIYA BAPTISTE
Mike Teavee- MATTHEW BOYD SNYDER
Mrs. Teavee- KATIE KAY FRANCIS
Ensemble- DAVID NICK ALEA, BELLA CALAFIURA, NICOLE HALE, ALYSHA MORGAN HARRELL, DOMANICK ANTON HUBBARD, RYAN KEIRNAN, DANIEL PHAL, JENNA BROOKE SCANELLI, LAUREN SOTO, LUIS VILLAR, JAMMAL K. WADE, JUSTIN WHITE, NICOLE ZELKA
Swings- GINA DAUGHTERY, MELISSA HUNT, JUSTIN WILLIAM SCHAFNERR
"The candy man. The candy man can." These are words that I imagine everyone in the English speaking langauge has heard sung at lease once or twice in their life. Even if you haven't seen the movie versions or read the book, you probably have still heard at least that one part of the song. Just like the song, most people seem to have an idea or be aware of the story of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka, the famous candy maker. There have been numerous adaptations of the story and the latest version of the story is the musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened on Broadway in 2017, hit the road in 2018, and has been on tour across North America since. The aforementioned song, aptly titled, "The Candy Man" is the opening number of this musical adaptation, which I found to be absolutely charmless and devoid of anything that made the book or the original film adaptation (starring Gene Wilder) memorable. The show is clearly meant to be catered to a wide audience and play to crowds similar to those who would attend shows like The Lion King or Wicked. Well, this show is no The Lion King or Wicked. Although you would expect a musical adaptation of this story to be packed to the brim with a lavish set, gorgeous costumes, and memorable songs, I don't think that Charlie and the Chocoalte Factory had any of that. I thought that it was a dissapointing and even at times, boring, staging of what should have been an incredibly memorable musical.
Although I didn't find this show to be unbearable, I cannot bring myself to a point to say that I enjoyed it, because it really was not a good show. The book and score were not Broadway material, by any standards, and although the production quality did live up to the budget of a standard Broadway national tour, I didn't care for the direction or design of the production at all. There were some cool effects, such as the puppetry (by Basil Twist), but Christine Peter's scenic design was unattractive and the show lacked any sort of sparkle or dazzle in essentially each department.
David Greig's book is all over the place and doesn't make very much sense at all. The show is having a the biggest idenity crisis I have ever seen a show, play or musical, have. This show has absolutely no idea when it takes place. Throughout the show, they mention various forms of technology and social media, including, but not limited too, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, and yet Mrs. Teavee (Mike Teavee's mother) is dressed as if she is a 1950's housewife, meanwhile the rest of the cast looks like they are coming from the time period in which the Gene Wilder film took place. The way the set and costumes (by Mark Thompson) were designed, in addition to the way the individual characters spoke, it is impossible to tell when this show is supposed to be taking place. The only ones who I would by as people of the 21st century are the Beauregards and the Teavees. Furthermore, I do not appreciate how the show exaggerated how poor Charlie & his family actually are. I feel as if the show overexaggerated how poor his family was, to the point that it almost it seemed ridiculous that his family could be that poor. When Charlie's mother comes onstage and says she found a water damaged notebook for Charlie and a table leg to use as firewood, it almost seems like a joke that simply isn't very funny.
 |
| The cast of the national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. |
The show incorporates a plot element where in Charlie Bucket (played by Ryan Umbarila at the performance I attended) is friends with an incognito Willy Wonka (played by Cody Garcia), who runs the candy shop that is down the street from his house. Although there was an oppurtunity to create a compelling plot and a more intersting take on the show with this alone, after the character of "The Candy Man" exits the plot and we see him as Willy Wonka, it is never mentioned again, aside from maybe one line, where Charlie says "Aren't you the candy man?" and Wonka brushes it off. The idea is never revisted again. There are also attempts to further the character development of these characters that don't work. For instance, in this adaptation of the story, Charlie's father has passed away and about halfway through the first act, his mother (played by Caitlin Lester-Sams) sings a ballad entitled, "If Your Father Were Here," in which she dances in a fantasy sequence with Charlie's late father. This was a moment in the show that just left me wondering, "Why?"
Speaking of Wonka, the character of Willy Wonka is so unlikable in this version. As the candy man, we watch him be intenionally rude to Charlie and the same goes for when he is Willy Wonka. We watch him be perfectly okay with what happens to each of the children and he is continously mean spirited throughout the entire show. I don't see how at the end of the show, we are supposed to like this man. He is horrible to each of the characters onstage and comes across as one of the most pretentious people you will ever meet. I think one of the biggest misfires of this show, is that you can walk away saying that you do not like the character of Willy Wonka.
Cody Garcia plays the role of Wonka in this production and honestly, he is fine. As I said, I think they did to the character in this adaptation is disgraceful, so I had a hard time enjoying his performance. He has a nice singing voice though, and I am interested in seeing him in other roles in better shows. Ryan Umbarila is a lot of fun as Charlie, making everyone wish they coud be half as talented as an 8 year old. But alas, not all of us can be child actors on national tours of Broadway musicals.
The choice to have the children (aside from Charlie) who win the other Golden tickets played by adults is an interesting one. Perhaps it is so we don't feel as bad when we see how each character ends up at the end of the show, but it was quite interesting. Most of the time, I didn't notice, but it was a little bit bizzare. My favorites of the children were Angela Padalinni as Veruca Salt (who is performing on point!) and Zakiya Baptiste as Violet Beauregard. Sam St. Jean is a lot of fun as Augustus Gloop and I found the character of Mike Teavee (played by Matthew Boyd Snyder) to be rather irritating, but he is supposed to be. I found the rest of the children to be awful, yet lovable brats.
 |
| The company of the national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Image |
Caitlin Lester-Sams was lovely as Charlie's mother and although Steve McCoy is a charismatic performer, Grandpa Joe is not the most well written character in this adaptation. Although it is clear that most of the things he is telling Charlie are just stories, that is all that he does. It may be my lack of memory, but I cannot remember if it is revealed if he was actually one of Willy Wonka's security gaurds. Maybe it was, and I just don't remember, but most of the time the character is just fabricating stories about his life. It's clear that he is and everyone knows it, and it's not a bad thing. But that is about all Grandpa Joe does in this adaptation of the story. The parents of the other children are quite good as well, with the standouts being Audrey Belle Adams as Mrs. Gloop and Katie Fay Francis as Mrs. Teavee.
Jack O'Brien's driection (recreated for this tour by Matt Lenz) might be a bit of what contributed to the downfall of this production. Although there are many moments in the staging that are very funny and quite entertaining to watch (for instance, the way that the Oompa Loompas) were portrayed, but some of the choices made were outlandish and there was ultimatley nothing about the staging that I found to be particularly creative. Joshua Bergasse's choreography was probably one of my favorite elements about this production. It was quite adorable and engaging to watch. Seeing the ensemble dance in the opening number and Angela Padalinni dance as Veruca Salt were easily the strongest points in this production, which says something, considering the fact that this is a show that didn't have very many.
Honestly, this show was incredibly underwhelming and a weak to start to our touring season. Charlie and the Chocolate was trite and obnoxious. The rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it, but I personally just couldn't find that much of the show that was redeeming. I don't know what the creative team was thinking when they strayed so far from the movie that we know and love. I understand that the likely did not want to create a carbon copy of either of the film versions, but this production would have been so much better if there were hints of nostalgia, or absolutely any bit of pure imagination.
 |
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Whitman & Mark Shaiman
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl
For more information, please visit https://www.charlieontour.com/
At the time I saw the show the cast of the national tour of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY consisted of:
Willy Wonka- CODY GARCIA
Charlie Bucket- BRODY BETT & RYAN UMBARILA
Mrs. Green- DOMANICK ANTON HUBBARD
Grandpa Joe- STEVE McCOY
Mrs. Bucket- CAILTIN LESTER-SAMS
Grandma Josephine- JENNA BROOKE SCANELLI
Grandma Georgina- NICOLE ZELKA
Grandpa George- RYAN KEIRNAN
Jerry- JUSTIN WHITE
Cherry- NICOLE HALE
Mrs. Gloop- AUDREY BELLE ADAMS
Augustus Gloop- SAM ST. JEAN
Mr. Salt- SCOTT FUSS
Veruca Salt- ANGELA PALLADINI
Mr. Beauregarde- BRANDEN R. MANGAN
Violet Beauregarde- ZAKIYA BAPTISTE
Mike Teavee- MATTHEW BOYD SNYDER
Mrs. Teavee- KATIE KAY FRANCIS
Ensemble- DAVID NICK ALEA, BELLA CALAFIURA, NICOLE HALE, ALYSHA MORGAN HARRELL, DOMANICK ANTON HUBBARD, RYAN KEIRNAN, DANIEL PHAL, JENNA BROOKE SCANELLI, LAUREN SOTO, LUIS VILLAR, JAMMAL K. WADE, JUSTIN WHITE, NICOLE ZELKA
Swings- GINA DAUGHTERY, MELISSA HUNT, JUSTIN WILLIAM SCHAFNERR
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