#british musicals

[lost-the-plot-reviews]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (UK Tour) – 2023 Production (Original Production 25th Jun 2013)

Dir. James Brining           Based on the novel by Roald Dahl

Book: David Greig            Music: Marc Shaiman      Lyrics: Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

Date watched: Mar 17, 2023  Venue: His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

TW: Poverty, Obesity, Comic Violence and Child Abuse, Alcoholism.

Synopsis: In the shadow of a famous chocolate factory, Charlie Bucket lives in a decrepit shack with his overworked mother and four bedridden grandparents. When the mysterious Willy Wonka offers a VIP money can’t buy tour of his factory, Charlie and his family set their hopes on being one of the lucky five people who find a golden ticket in one of Wonka’s chocolate bars. By sheer luck modest Charlie joins four spoilt children and their families on a wacky tour that will change their lives for better or worse. Based on Roald Dahl novel of the same name this 2013 musical adaption takes you through the magical world of Willy Wonka through the eyes of the ever optimistic Charlie Bucket.

Rating: 3/5

Review: I want to preface this that going to the theatre is almost never a waste of time and I would highly recommend this show to anyone, particularly if you have children as this show makes a great family show with a familiar story and characters to get lost in. However I ultimately wasn’t as wowed as I expected to be. The tickets were not the cheapest I have seen Aberdeen offer and the show was running longer than the usual 5-6 days at the venue, so I was gearing up for a big spectacle. Now this show has spectacle, yes. An example would be the rubbish pile set piece adapted from the original London production that hides Mrs Pratchett’s sweet shop. The Bucket’s house with all the grandparents lying in a bed in the attic whilst Mrs Bucket makes cabbage soup below and Charlie climbs between them. The practical effects in this show are fantastic, for a touring production that at some points appears low budget, the quality of the effects and the way the actors effortlessly pull them off is admittedly a lot of fun. But this show relies a lot on screens and projections, sometimes this was successful and other times it made the stage feel empty and it took me out of the immersion. The second half which has better songs and story - Willy Wonka barely features in the first half – is unfortunately very reliant on projections to create the chocolate factory scenes. For people that know the story all the pivotal factory scenes feature one to two large set pieces that although mostly functional for the story appear cheap in comparison to the set pieces in the first half, I believe the first half pieces are either original to the first production or have been adapted from that original production. If you are familiar with the West End show that opened in 2013 – I didn’t get the chance to see it but remember the trailers and the TV doc - than you might be aware that the production values in the second half were just as high as the first with huge interactive backdrops and puppetry. The Oompa-Loompas actually made sense in that production, compared to this touring one, where they are played as robots that look suspiciously like Cybermen in a doctor who episode from 1966.

In the wake of the pandemic and a current cost of living crisis, it ultimately makes sense why this production is scaled back. Even when this show moved to Broadway it lost a fair bit of production value. Smaller set pieces that would stop the stage feeling so empty would not have gone amiss such as candy foliage in the chocolate room or more control panels in the TV or inventing rooms. I understand that as a touring production they have to accommodate for different stages – At HMT, for example, we were missing the second set piece/platform for the nut room – But smaller props and set pieces are more versatile in this way and could be moved about and swapped out when needed. I’m not sure how I would change the Oompa-Loompas because they felt like an afterthought but it was because they wanted to feature a diverse ensemble and unless there is a lower budget way to bring back the puppet illusion I am not sure but the weird robot narrative felt off. The saving grace with the projections was the way the cast interacted with them, there’s a magical moment mid show where Wonka appears to throw a pixie dust type light back and forth through the screen as he sings ‘Pure Imagination’ to the children welcoming them into the chocolate room. Most of the illusions are well done but I was able to work them all out from the back of the balcony, compared to last year’s tour of Bedknobs and Broomsticks where after two viewings in different venues I still don’t know how most of the illusions work. However I am impressed with the creativity involved in showing how a character falls in a chocolate river and gets sucked through a pipe, or turns in a blueberry, or is teleported and shrunk into a television live on stage. It would be an insult to not call it ambitious and I think all these scenes were executed successfully.

I am not too familiar with any of the music from the show outside of the one or two songs from the 1971 film. I didn’t find any of the songs particularly memorable and occasionally the lyrics were a little bit too wordy especially when sung over a loud and complex score that I felt I could have needed subtitles. Some of the lyrics were original Dahl lyrics so it could maybe explain that but weirdly because I know those lyrics quite well, those songs were the few I was able to successfully make out. Kudos to the lead Noah Walton playing Charlie on this particular night, I could clearly hear everything he was singing and his acting was spot on. Genuinely no shade to the cast, I do not believe they were at fault, could be the original score and or the sound mixing wasn’t to standard. Also genuinely cannot really remember any of the songs three days after seeing this show so yeah don’t think I’ll add this to my musicals playlist anytime soon. As mentioned the cast were phenomenal, I wasn’t sure how I would feel with adults playing the other four children besides Charlie but it absolutely worked. Good trans representation here with Teddy Hinde playing Mike Teavee and Robin Simões da Silva playing Augustus Gloop (I saw Robin in Bedknobs last year so was excited to see him again in this show playing a principal part). Also hard of hearing actor Leonie Spilsbury plays Mrs Bucket and rather appropriately the show has incorporated sign language in her scenes which is nice to see, but sometimes you feel like if it can be incorporated it so easily there why not include it in the whole show à la Deaf West but maybe that is still a pipe dream. The iconic Willy Wonka was played by Gareth Snook, if you like a darker more sarcastic Wonka then he is your man. If you are more protective of the whimsical charm of Gene Wilder’s Wonka (though many would disagree with me but I always found Wilder both creepy and angry, and no I am not a Johnny Depp stan), then maybe Snook’s interpretation won’t be your cup of tea. I really enjoyed Snook as Wonka, I was worried I wouldn’t, but the car was divided on the way home so I understand he won’t be for everyone.

I found this show to be a lot of fun even though it has been scaled down and reliant on screens to tell the story. It was an enjoyable show that I am glad I got the chance to see. Also it makes me happy seeing the sheer amount of children in the auditorium as someone who fell in love with musicals as a child, I have no doubt that this show would have brought me so much happiness and wonder if I had first seen it at that age. Even though I know the plot pretty much inside out I still found myself rooting for Charlie to find an elusive golden ticket and got goose-bumps when he did. This show has a lot of the magic from the original Dahl story so you can’t really go wrong. It isn’t the best I have seen but really not a bad production by any means and I would still recommend it.

[the-evil-clergyman]

Sea Melodies by Herbert James Draper (1904)

[hollywoodcomet]

Musical Monday: Murder at the Windmill (1949)

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: Murder at the Windmill(1949) – Musical #753 Studio: Grand National Pictures Director: Val Guest Starring: Garry Marsh, Jack…

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"IGGY POP BACK BEND" MICK ROCK // 1972 [archival semi-matte 260gsm | 30 × 24"]

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A Cavatina, 1888

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The Beatles

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A release from our Patreon! ☆

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Only Fools and Horses (TV series) - 1985

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Tina Turner backstage with The Rolling Stones during their 1972 American tour.

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sid and nancy shot at chalkie davies' house, north london, 1978

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Marianne Faithfull and her dog, Sara Bingley, at home in Reading, England. October 15, 1964.

Photographed by John Pratt.

[possible-streetwear]

OZZY